Match Race France ISAF World Match Racing Tour Stage 1 Final results

5:40 PM Sun 11 Apr 2010 GMT

'Match Race France 2010 - Marseille' Gilles Martin-Raget &copyPhoto Click Here to view large photo

Match Race France, Stage 1 of the ISAF World Match Racing Tour (WMRT)

Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN took on Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team, the French local, Richard, took a convincing victory winning both of the final two matches raced under a testing 6-7 knot westerly. Richard celebrated with local Marseille supporters, who were quick to take to the water in boats of all sizes.

Mathieu Richard (r) french match racing celebrates after winning at Match Race France in Marseille, France 11 April 2010 Photo: Brendon O’Hagan/Subzero images - Click Here to view large photo

Mathieu Richard, who is also tactician for the French America's Cup syndicate, Aleph, was in jubilant form with the back drop of Queen's famous lyrics playing 'We are the Champions'.

He said, 'it is really great to win Stage 1 of the 2010 ISAF World Match Racing Tour, we are very happy to have won here in Marseille. We had a slow start to the regatta, but a slow start motivates you to really improve when it counts. My team worked fantastically with great communication and tactics'.

Ben Ainslie from Tean Origin in action during the Finals of Match Race France in Marseille, France 11 April 2010 Photo: Brendon O’Hagan/Subzero images - Click Here to view large photo

Ainslie sees his time invested in attending WMRT events as a profitable way to keep his match race training fresh, 'My ultimate goal for the ISAF World Match Racing Tour events is to improve my match racing skills and rules knowledge'. The Tour forms an important ingredient in Ainslie's long term America's Cup ambition with TEAMORIGIN.

For Richard, today's victor heads home from Match Race France with a prize packet of 10,000 Euros. This is a very lucrative reward for five days of racing against some of the world's most esteemed match racers and also provides the French Match Racing Team with 25 points in pursuit of the ultimate ISAF Match Racing World Championship title.

11/04/2010-Marseille (FRA,13)-Match Race France-Jour 6- Finales - Winning crew : Mathieu Richard, Thierry Briend, Olivier Helerdant, Greg Evrard - Click Here to view large photo

This French event has seen a significant elevation of the Tour's profile across social media networks, the communication channel now essential in satisfying the public's thirst for 'real time' sports results.

The live blog, newly introduced to the WMRT media machine this year, has been a certain success. It has formed the engine to accelerate the Tour into virtual on line conversations through tweets and Facebook Wall posts. A one hour television show on Match Race France is also being broadcast internationally later this month.

The beach based prize giving closes Stage 1 of the 2010 World Match Racing Tour and leads us into the nine remaining Stages around the globe. Stage 2 of the WMRT will be run in Langenargen, Germany 19 - 24 May where Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team will again be racing.

Overall Standings After Stage 1

1 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 25 Points

2 Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN 20 Points

3 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 15 Points

4 Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia 12 Points

5 S?bastien Col (FRA) ALL4ONE 10 Points

6 Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 8 Points

7 Philippe Presti (FRA) 6 Points

8 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 4 Points

9 Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA)

10 Bertrand Pac? (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team

11 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing

12 Gian Luca Perris (MON)

2010 Tour Card Holders

Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team
Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team
Bertrand Pace (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team
Ian Williams (GBR) Sail Bahrain

About the World Match Racing Tour

The World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) is the leading professional sailing series featuring 10 World Championship events across the globe, sanctioned by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) with 'Special Event' status.

The World Tour awards over US$1.5million in prize money with points awarded at each event culminating in the crowning of the 'ISAF Match Racing World Champion'. In addition, an incentive to compete in the world's premier sailing series just got bigger. A US$250,000 overall prize pool for the top nine teams with a $50,000 bonus for the outright winner of next year's World Match Racing Tour is now on offer.

by WMRT- amended by Sail-World.com