10:43am Thursday 2nd September 2010
HAMPSHIRE’S double world match racing champion Ian Williams is back in action in a bid to become King of the Mountains at the St Moritz Match Race.
Williams, from Shirley, Southampton, won the Swiss event in 2007 and is back once more with his GAC Team Pindar crew to launch an attack on the title.
Set at more than 5,000ft above sea level on Lake St Moritz, against the spectacular backdrop of the Swiss Alps, the St Moritz Match Race is the sixth of nine events on this year’s World Match Race Tour.
Twelve of the world’s best skippers, representing seven different nations, will battle it out on identical BLU26 boats, for a share of the £95,000 prize money.
Williams is currently fourth on the tour leaderboard after five events, 25 points behind leader Mathieu Richard.
Williams, who gave up a successful career as a City lawyer in 2005 to pursue his sailing dreams, said: “The St Moritz Match Race is always a highlight on the tour. We’ve performed consistently well in the round robin stages, but we need to improve in the quarters and beyond to stand a chance of closing the gap on Mathieu.”
Hot on Williams’ heels will be Hampshire’s Olympic triple gold medal winner Ben Ainslie with his Team Origin crew.
Ainslie won the last round of the tour in Sweden and will be looking for another strong performance in Switzerland.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/trade_directory/