Newport will welcome the new format of the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) from May 30th through June 4th.
The 2016 World Match Racing Tour stopover in Newport will take place within yards of the shoreline at Fort Adams State Park and will be open to the public with no admission fee.
Spectators will be able to watch the world’s top sailors competing in high-speed M32 racing catamarans up close from the lawns and coastline of Fort Adams State Park.
The professional sailing event will be similar to the America’s Cup World Series in 2012 where a race course will be set within yards of the shoreline for optimal spectator viewing.
Boats used in the event will be M32s (Marstrom 32s) which are Swedish-built and designed 32′ high-speed catamarans. A local fleet of the “racing machines” sail out of Sail Newport currently with local skippers and crews who actively race during the sailing season.
“The races will be extraordinary close and action-packed as the best pro teams duel one-on-one in several laps of maneuvering,” Brad Read said in a previous released story (World Match Racing Tour to Visit Newport, RI in May 2016).
“The event will be thrilling for the public to watch because it will be like Nascar racing-only on the water. The high speed carbon fibre futuristic boats fly around at 40-50 knot speeds – all within feet of each other and with the best athletes found in the sport today. A true spectacle!,” Read added.
The WMRT Newport event will be the last stop in the world tour before the finals are decided in Marstrand, Sweden, July 4-9, 2016.
For more information, visit http://wmrt.com/events/newport-2016/.