World Match Racing Tour

World Match Racing Tour

World Match Racing Tour
Formerly	Swedish Match Tour
Founded	2001
Type	match-racing tour
Most recent champion(s)	Ian Williams (2014–15)
Most titles	Ian Williams (5)
Official website	Official website

The World Match Racing Tour is an annual match racing tour and World Championship in the match racing event of sailing. The World Match Racing Tour has "special event"-status from the International Sailing Federation. The Tour awards over US$1.5 million in prize money, with points awarded at each event culminating in the crowning of the ISAF Match Racing World Champion. A US$500,000 overall prize pool for the Championship is now on offer.

Tour events utilise the match race with racing taking place in identical supplied racing yachts which change for each event and which place a firm focus on teamwork and skill to win the race. Racing takes place close to the shore in order for the general public to follow the races as if they were in virtual on-the-water stadiums.

Media and television highlights coverage spans the globe, reaching millions of households in over 183 countries around the world.

The World Match Racing Tour in its current format started in year 2001. However, many of its regattas started earlier, e.g. the King Edward VII Gold Cup (now known as the Argo Group Gold Cup) in 1937 with American Briggs Cunningham as the first winner.

During the mid-1990s, match racing receives greater interest and Fabergé, the cosmetic manufacturer used the brand Brut to form a match racing series. The series offered USD 250,000 of prize money, the highest prize awarded in sailing regattas. To win the big prize – and the Fabergé egg, the competitor had to win three out of five regattas in Bermuda, San Francisco, New York, Lymington and Séte – the Brut Cup.

In 1997, Russell Coutts and his Team Magic wins the Fabergé Egg and the USD250,000 prize money. Brut left as a sponsor after that leaving the match racing series in a state of limbo. Swedish Match takes over as sponsors of the match racing series in 1998 and the creation of Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing began.

In 2000, the Swedish Match Tour (formerly known as the Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing) gets the official match racing sailing series sanctioned by the International Sailing Federation. Bertrand Pacé is the winner of the tour. In 2005, the first Asian event in the match racing circuit – Monsoon Cup – is added and marks the 50th event on the Swedish Match Tour.