Line 7 to Sponsor Australian Match Racer

Line7, one of the leading Sailing Clothing brands has announced its sponsorship of Australian Match Racing sensation, Torvar Mirsky and his MRT. Torvar is the leading Australian Match Racer on the ISAF rankings, ahead of heavyweights James Spithill and Peter Gilmour.

MRT will be joining Adam Minoprio and his Blackmatch Racing in becoming the newest members of Team Line 7. The clothing brand is also one of the leading sponsors of the World Match Racing Tour for the 2008 season, which boasts an impressive line-up of several America’s Cup syndicate teams, along with the new young prospects such as Adam Minoprio and Torvar Mirsky.

Mirsky, who is based in England for the European season, sails with a core crew of Graeme Spence on bow, Tudur Owen on trim and Kinley Fowler on trim. The team have achieved great results both in Match Racing and Fleet Racing over the recent years. Together they are able to compliment one another’s strengths and produce great results both on and off the water. As a self funded, self run team, each member must take on organisational duties in addition to their sports role.

Torvar Mirsky commented that 'It’s a really good sign that all of our hard work is being recognised by a top brand such as Line 7' after the deal was confirmed last month. 'The sponsorship has given us a stronger affiliation with the World Match Racing Tour, and we are a team that prides ourselves on being presented as professionally as possible. Now that we have a leading clothing brand supporting us, this is going to be much easier to achieve. We are still finding our feet on the Tour, but this deal has boosted our status, and is going to help us gain a permanent spot on the Tour.'

Pat Langley from Line 7 commented, 'We have been keeping a close eye on Torvar and the team for sometime now and have been really impressed with the professional approach they are taking towards reaching their goal of becoming the best team on the WMRT.

Combined with our support of Adam Minoprio and Blackmatch racing team, these two teams are a great representation of what Line 7 is all about - Australians and Kiwi’s taking on the world to be the best.'

INTERVIEW with BrunoTrouble

INTERVIEW OF BRUNO TROUBLE

(Originally Posted on Scuttlebutt)

Bruno Troublé's name is intimately linked with the business of yacht racing. Founder of the Louis Vuitton Cup and organiser of the event for many years, Troublé tells us what he expects from the World Yacht Racing Forum and why people involved in the industry can’t miss the event.

Bruno, what are the main assets of sailing as a top level sport?

For me, sailing means freedom (no yellow lines), elegance, purity (by opposition to pollution), travels (that’s why Louis Vuitton is there), responsibility and team work. You need to understand that just five generations back, the only link between the continents – to deliver love letters or a declaration of war – was a sailing boat. We all have this somehow in our soul, whether we are sailors or not.

How do you consider the current state of our favorite sport?

Our sport suffers from its huge complexity and variety. There are as many world champions as participants! The public just can’t understand it, and the abundance of trophies increases year after year.

We need to bring some order back; otherwise the media will just get tired of sailing.

What should be done to help promote our sport?

There should only be one world championship per discipline:

• Men’s dinghies / keelboats
• Women’s dinghies / keelboats
• Multihull
• Cruise-racers
• Offshore

And perhaps a yearly Nations Cup with one boat per country in each discipline. And an America’s Cup every 3-4 years.

Do you think the actors of the yacht racing industry need a platform to meet and discuss their key issues?

I think that the concept of a yearly meeting between all the actors of the yacht racing scene is a great idea, as long as all the world leaders of the industry are there, together with the participants, the organizers and the media.

Volkswagen Touareg King of Cowes is back

LaserPerformance (Europe) Ltd and Volkswagen are delighted to announce that 2008 will see the return of the Volkswagen Touareg King of Cowes at Skandia Cowes Week. With the question being, who will be crowned King this yer?

On Friday 1st August the class winners from Skandia Cowes Week 2007 will race in identical Laser SB3s off Cowes in a one-day, three race regatta. Following on from the hard-fought inaugural event held last year, some 32 leading national and international helms will have the opportunity to pitch their skills on the water against each other, to compete for the coveted 'Volkswagen Touareg King of Cowes' title. Competition is expected to again be fierce, with prizes of a Volkswagen Touareg, Laser XD and Laser BUG up for grabs. Plus a fantastic holiday to Mark Warner for the owner of the winning boat.

Three races are scheduled with no discard ensuring that the teams are given the most rigorous test. For 2008 the course format is revised slightly to include a Skandia Cowes Week style "round the cans" course in addition to the "windward leeward" format which was used exclusively at the inaugural event. The "round the cans" format gives a greater test of navigational skills and was introduced in response to the competitor's request for a competition that offered the broadest possible test of skills.