MR360° News: Rankings Climbing the Ladder


GETTING YOUR NAME IN THE DRAW : Young sailors must be persistent in contacting race organisers For some, the excitement of Match


Racing inspires them to join in the fun. Te prospect of putting all your sailing skills to the test – speed, tactics and boat handling – is just too good to pass up.


by DOBBS DAVIS But in a game that is


nearly always invitation-only, how can you get started?


Tis can be a tricky, because invitations to even modest


events are extended to those skippers who have relatively high positions on the world match race rankings list, which is managed by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). Te higher the ranking of the skipper, the easier it is for the organising authority to get a high grading for the event, which in turn generates more available points for the participants.


Photo by Gareth Cooke / Monsoon Cup But this seems like such a closed loop: you cannot get results


without getting invitations, but you cannot get invitations without first having results to give you a ranking. So, how can one get started on this cycle?


Te answer lies in being persistent, flexible, political and


organised. Persistence can pay off if you are good at contacting event


organisers and are willing to do some politicking. Introduce yourself, explain to them that you would be excited at having the opportunity to race in their event, and to please stay in touch with you if an opportunity arises - this is usually because an invited team has dropped out, and when that happens you want to me the first person that comes to mind for them as a replacement. Many famous match race skippers have made their start this way.


MATCH RACING 360° | page 16 | March 2012


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