The World Match Racing Tour Academy was founded in 2021 as a global initiative to grow the appeal and participation in match racing through accessible training facilities and educational programs.
The WMRT Academy works closely with existing yacht clubs, event organisers and independent training centres to support and endorse programs which provide an introduction to match racing skills, as well as intermediate and advanced courses in match racing tactics, rules and umpiring.
Match racing is one of the most fun and accessible disciplines in sailing. It is one of the best ways to improve all aspects of your sailing skills. Many of the best known professional sailors including Olympic and America’s Cup champions such as Russell Coutts, Ben Ainslie, James Spithill, Peter Gilmour all started their sailing careers in match racing.
Match racing is typically done in keel boats ranging anywhere from smaller 19-25ft keelboats to larger yachts over 30ft. It is the ideal bridge for older youth sailors looking to break out of dinghy sailing and into keelboat racing. Better still, yacht clubs and centres will provide the boats avoiding the expense of having to buy your own boat.
The core sailing skills required in match racing are much the same as dinghy or fleet racing, the main difference being that match racing involves just two boats, a one-on-one tactical challenge where the first boat to cross the finish line wins the race!
In match racing, the boats are also equal so the focus is all about crew-work, boat handling skills and strategy, often requiring quick decisions from the crew.
Above all, match racing is great fun and a true team sport!
As we develop the WMRT Academy, we will provide free links and resources to connect you with clubs arounds the world where you can be introduced to match racing. There are over 300 match racing events every year so there is plenty of opportunity to get involved at every level.
Oakcliff Sailing was founded in 2010 as a not-for-profit sailing centre by Hunt and Betsy Lawrence in order to raise the caliber of sailing in the United States. Managed by renowned America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race sailor Dawn Riley, Oakcliff has become a world class training center that has graduated over 300 sailors. The centre has a growing fleet of dinghies and yachts from Olympic classes to match racing keelboats and high performance racing yachts. Alongside its educational, one-design, offshore and Olympic development programs, Oakcliff runs a robust program for its supporters with casual evening racing, coached evening match racing and weekend regattas. www.oakcliffsailing.org
RS Sailing is the world’s largest small sailboat brand, having created some of the most successful sailboat classes of this era, from the inspirational RS Tera and RS Feva for the younger sailors through to the iconic two-person hiking RS200 and double-handed, single trapeze RS500 skiff, right up to the ground-breaking RS Aero. For more information on the RS21 or any of the other award-winning boats in the RS Sailing range, visit www.rssailing.com/international
Polish Match Tour (PMT) was founded in 2007 and is the biggest match racing tour in Poland. The tour organises over 100 match racing events from Grade 5 to Grade W including the European Championship 2014, Youth World Championship 2017. PMT is dedicated to promoting match racing among the Polish sailing community and providing access to match racing events for competitors from all classes. Every year PMT organizes several match racing academy clinics using a fleet of nine RS21 and six TOM28 keelboats. Events take place in Szczecin, Swinoujscie, Sopot, and Gdynia. www.polishmatch.pl
