Yachting: Regatta draws top match-racing talent

Some of the world's top international match-racing teams will compete in the Auckland match-racing regatta next month.

A mix of America's Cup experience plus rising young talent will do battle in the invitational event on the Waitemata Harbour.

The Omega regatta kicks off the Auckland Festival of Sailing, which will see a crowded calendar of yacht racing through most of March.

Now the America's Cup is back in play after the recent Deed of Gift match in Valencia, top match-racing skippers are honing their skills in preparation for a multi-challenger event expected to take place in 2013.

The Auckland regatta, to be run by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, will be held off the Westhaven breakwater, where spectators will be able to watch the action. Racing will be in identical Farr-designed MRX yachts and will comprise a double round robin, semifinal and final.

Weather permitting, the semifinals and finals will be decided by the first skipper to win three matches.

The Auckland Festival of Sailing comprises a series of events on and off the water.

The Auckland match-racing regatta is followed by the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland (where five of the skippers from the Omega regatta will also compete) and by the BMW Sailing World Cup Final.

Also part of the festival is the Auckland International Boat Show.

ENTRANTS

(March 2-6, Waitemata Harbour)

Dean Barker (NZ); Ben Ainslie (Britain); Francesco Bruni (Italy); Sebastian Col (France); Karol Jablonski (Poland); Magnus Holmberg (Sweden); Chris Dickson (NZ); Bertrand Pace (France); Adam Minoprio (NZ); Torvar Mirsky (Australia).