Saturday 1st December 2007
Ian Williams crowned World Champion
First ever British winner
Ian Williams of Team Pindar, today won the 2006-07 World Match Racing
Tour, crowning him ISAF Match Racing World Champion, the first ever
British winner in the 19 year history of the event. Sailing in Malaysia
at the final event of the fifteen stage World Match Racing Tour,
Williams and his team won an incredibly close semi-final with Paolo Cian
(ITA), one of the six contenders for the World Championship, to win the
ultimate prize, the Wedgwood World Championship Trophy.
Williams, who is who is sponsored by print and electronic media company
Pindar , has had an incredible year,
leading the World Match Racing Tour for 10 out of the 15 months it has
been running. Having won events in St Moritz this year, and the Bermuda
Gold Cup last year, Williams and his team have put in a very consistent
performance to place themselves at the top. As no Briton has ever been
crowned ISAF Match Racing World Champion, Williams is undoubtedly
Britain's best ever match racing sailor.
Sailing at the Monsoon Cup, Malaysia, with Bill Hardesty, Mark Williams,
Mark Nicholls and Simon Shaw, Williams and his team still have one round
of the final Tour event remaining - the finals. Team Pindar will meet
match racing veteran Peter Gilmore, former winner of the Tour, in a best
of five finals tomorrow. Should Team Pindar beat Gilmore, they will also
win the Monsoon Cup, however the result of tomorrows matches cannot
affect the overall Tour standings, decided today by Williams beating
Cian. Frenchman Mathieu Richard, who led the Tour by eight points going
into this weekend's final event, finishes in second place on the Tour
having been knocked out in the quarter finals today.
Ian Williams, 30, from Southampton, UK, commented: "I am absolutely
elated - it hasn't even begun to sink in yet that we've won the World
Match Racing Tour. This has been my dream for the last ten years, it's
been a long road but this is a fantastic feeling. Often in match racing,
people refer to each team by the skipper's name, but in reality it's a
complex team sport - team work is the most important factor in
succeeding, and my team have been fantastic. Since giving up my 'day
job' in London to go pro and being able to cement a consistent team with
the aid of our sponsorship from Pindar and Capita Symonds, we've gone
from strength to strength. Our work is not quite done yet, though,
whilst we have secured the World Championship today, we must still go on
the water tomorrow to race Peter Gilmore, the reigning Monsoon Cup
champion!"
Andrew Pindar, Chairman of the Pindar Group commented: "Congratulations
from all at Pindar go to Ian and his team, they've put in an amazing
performance and I am thrilled to see them rightly rewarded by being
crowned World Champions. Ian is a brilliant sailor and a great leader,
and the whole team have proved that they are the ones to beat. The best
of luck to them for Sunday's Monsoon Cup final."
Team Pindar World Match Racing Tour Results 2006/7
5th - Brazil Match Race 07
12th - Bermuda Gold Cup 07
6th - Latium Match Cap 07
1st - St Moritz Match Race 07
3rd - Danish Open 07
2nd - Troia Portugal Match Cup 07
10th - Match Cup Sweden 07
11th - Match Race Germany 07
3rd - Monsoon Cup 06
4th - Allianz Cup 06
1st - Bermuda Gold Cup 06
10th - St. Moritz Match Race 06
5th - Danish Open 06
9th - Portugal Match Cup 06
- END -
For all press enquiries regarding Pindar, including interview requests
and images, please contact:
Kate Fairclough - Pitch PR
Tel: +44 (0)20 7494 1616
Mob: +44 (0)7789 268814
e-mail : kate@pitchpr.com
About Ian Williams
Ian Williams is Britain's top match race sailor. Born in Exeter, Ian
grew up in Exmouth, Devon within sight of the sea. His first English
Channel crossing came at the age of six weeks old and he has been
sailing ever since.
Ian began racing at the age of nine in the International Cadet Class.
His first match racing experience came in winning the UK Youth Match
Racing Championship in 1994, an event which Ian went on to win two more
times before becoming senior National Champion in 1997. Since then, Ian
has been concentrating on the match racing circuit with a brief break
for an Olympic campaign in a Soling for the Sydney Olympics (Ian
finished second at the trials). Concurrently, Ian has trained and
qualified as a solicitor with leading city firm Ashurst. Ian is a three
times National Match Racing Champion. He has been ranked in the top 10
of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Match Race Rankings
since July 2003 and in October 2005 broke into the top five.
In May 2005, Ian took a six month sabbatical from his job as a solicitor
in London to concentrate on the match racing circuit. Having won two
Grade 1 events in those six months, Ian took up sailing full time with a
view to continuing his progress up the match racing rankings and expand
his sailing experience. In his first full year on the World Match
Racing Tour (05/06 season) Ian finished in 2nd place overall. Ian
signed a fourteen month sponsorship deal with Pindar in October 2006.
For more information, please visit: www.williamssailracing.com
About the World Match Racing Tour
The World Match Racing Tour is the world's leading professional sailing
series. The events of the World Tour determine the ISAF Match Racing
World Champion, who will be crowned in December 2007. A total of 15
events comprise the 2006-07 World Tour schedule.
For more information on the World Match Racing Tour, please contact:
Yvonne Reid - Force 10 Marketing
Tel: +44 (0) 1590 679613
Mob: +44 (0) 7809 149268
e-mail: yreid@f10marketing.com
Website: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com
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