SKIPPERS
2009 Competitors

Competitor Biographies

Adam Minoprio, ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing - NZL
ISAF Rank (28/10/09): 1

Winning his first world championship at the age of 12, Minoprio joined the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron's Sailing Academy in 2002 and graduated in 2006, that same year winning the Warren Jones International Youth Regatta in Perth in the WA Yachting Foundation's matched fleet of Foundation 36 yachts. The Warren Jones Regatta prize gave Minoprio expense money and entry to a number of top European match racing events, significantly helping his ranking and experience against the world's top ranked skippers. A relative new comer to the World Match Racing Tour, Minoprio took the competition in March this year by storm, winning the Tour's first event, the Marseille International Match Race, starting off at the top of the Tour ladder and currently sitting in 1st place in the rankings.
(Image: Talbot Wilson)

Torvar Mirsky, Mirsky Racing Team (MRT) - AUS
ISAF Rank (28/10/09): 2

Torvar Mirsky is a product of Western Australian youth match racing. Coming from a non-sailing family, Mirsky tried sailing like any other sport but once started, he never looked back. He has been the Junior Mirror world champion, Australian Youth 420 champion and Laser Youth Champion. At the age of 15, Mirsky was introduced to match racing on the Perth fleet of Foundation 36 yachts which soon stole his focus. In 2004, he won his first international youth match racing regatta and went on to win the 2007 Warren Jones International Youth Regatta and defending it successfully in 2008. In August 2007, MRT made their mark on the international match racing circuit, winning their first grade 1 event. In June 2009, MRT won their first World Tour event, the Troia Portuga Match Cup.
(Image: Gilles Martin Raget)

Mathieu Richard, French Match Racing Team - FRA
ISAF Rank (28/10/09): 3

Mathieu Richard began sailing at age 11 in the Optimist dinghy and later moved into the 420 dinghy and then match-racing in 1998. Richard finds the World Match Racing Tour very exciting and enjoys match-racing because it requires mastery of various skills to be at the top: boathandling, boatspeed, tactics, starts and communication. He also believes the need to be mentally and physically strong is very important and enjoys the fact that the sport always allows room for improvement. Richard has been sailing with the same crew members since 2000, with his first World Tour event in 2002. After coming 2nd overall on the 2006/7 Tour and 3rd overall in 2008, he is keen to be 1st in 2009 so the Sunseeker Australia Cup is very important for Richard in the lead up to the final Tour event - the Monsoon Cup.
(Image: Gilles Martin Raget)

Ian Williams, Bahrain Team Pindar - GBR
ISAF Rank (28/10/09): 4

Ian Williams is the reigning double ISAF World Match Racing champion. In 2007, he entered the history books by becoming the first ever-British sailor to win the world title and in December 2008, representing Bahrain Team Pindar, he successfully defended his world title. In recognition of his 2007 World Match Racing title, Ian was nominated for the ISAF Rolex Sailor of the Year but lost out to triple Olympic gold medalist and fellow World Match Racing Tour competitor, Ben Ainslie. World and UK Youth Match Racing Champion in 1994, Williams won both events again before becoming Senior National Champion in 1997 at the age of only 19. He took a short break from the match racing circuit to focus on a campaign for the 2000 Olympics, finishing second in the British trials and narrowly missing out on a place in Sydney.
(Image: Gilles Martin Raget)

Ben Ainslie, TeamOrigin - GBR
ISAF Rank (28/10/09): 19

Two-time sailor of the year (1998, 2002), Ben Ainslie has achieved so much in the sport of sailing. Mastering the Laser class, he took Olympic silver in 1996, followed by an Olympic gold in Sydney in 2000 before moving into the Finn class to claim the world title within a year (the first of three). Ainslie joined the OneWorld Challenge for the 2003 America's Cup but soon returned his focus to the Finn and the 2004 Olympics where he claimed his second Olympic gold. Back in the America's Cup arena, Ainslie still managed to win his third gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and plans to represent Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics in London - but in the meantime, his focus is on the 34th America's Cup and competing as a member of TeamOrigin on the World Match Racing Tour.
(Image: On Edition Photography)

Keith Swinton, Black Swan Racing - AUS
ISAF Rank (28/10/09): 21

Keith Swinton, a local Perth sailor is the helmsman of Black Swan Racing. At the age of only 23, he is one of Australia best new talents. In 2006, Swinton won the Cowes International Youth Week and the WA Match Racing Championships. He also scored a second in the 2006 Warren Jones International Youth Regatta and a third in the Harken International Match Racing Regatta. In 2007, he again placed second in the Warren Jones International Youth Match Racing Regatta and took first place in the WA Match Racing Championships. Last year, Swinton won both the 5th Trofeo G. Marconi and the Fim Match Cup and secured 3rd place at the Knickerbocker Cup and the Toyota Sopot Match Race. Keith also proved to be a strong contender in his first Gold Cup attaining 6th place in last year's event.

Phil Robertson, Waka Racing - NZL
ISAF Rank (28/10/09): 25

Reigning Warren Jones Youth Champion, Phil Robertson and his team, Waka Racing are coming back to Perth bigger and stronger than ever after spending the past six months on the international match racing circuit in Europe. During this time, Waka Racing won the Chicago Match Cup, came 2nd in the Detroit Cup and placed 3rd in the Knickerbocker Cup. The team has also been building experience on the World Match Racing Tour, competing in the Danish Open after receiving an automatic invitation when the team claimed the Warren Jones Regatta title. Waka Racing also went on to compete in the Argo Gold Cup in October. The core team have been together now for over a year and are looking forward to competing again in Perth and lining up against the World's best match racers once more.

Francesco Bruni, Team Azzurra - ITA
ISAF Rank (28/10/09): 27

Francesco Bruni is a three times Olympic campaigner representing Italy in Stars (Athens 2004), 49ers (Sydney 2000) and Lasers (Atlanta 1996) in which he held the European and World titles in 1994. More recently, Bruni was helmsman of the Damiani Italia Challenge in the 2009 Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in Auckland in which he placed 4th overall. His experience includes several America's Cup campaigns in which Bruni represented the America's Cup challenger Luna Rosser in Auckland, 2002 and Valencia, 2006. In match racing, Bruni recently won the Master de España and came 2nd in the Congressional Cup and has competed in several of the 2009 World Match Racing Tour events and will go on to compete in the final deciding Tour event - the Monsoon Cup in Terengganu, Malaysia.

Evan Walker, KA Match - AUS
ISAF Rank (28/10/09): 61

ISAF World Youth Champion and Australian youth sailor of the year in 2005, Evan Walker is a product of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Youth Sailing Academy. A successful youth skiff sailor, he began match racing in 2002 and in 2006 won the Australian Youth Match Racing Championships before back-to-back wins in the Australian Match Racing Championships and Hardy Cup in 2008. Walker plans to compete on the European match racing circuit in 2010 after completing his degree in aeronautical engineering this year. He relishes the opportunity to race against the world’s best in the Sunseeker Australia Cup on familiar waters. In the meantime, he competes in Sydney’s competitive 18ft skiff fleet and is campaigning for the Sydney to Hobart Race as helmsman on Syd Fischer’s TP52 Ragamuffin.

Seve Jarvin, Cruising Yacht Club of Australia - AUS
ISAF Rank (28/10/09): 455

Current Australian Match Racing Champion, Seve Jarvin started sailing Sabots, winning an Australian Championship before moving into Flying 11s in which he placed 2nd in back to back Australian Championships. After joining the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Youth Academy, he began match racing, his team winning the prestigious Governor's Cup, the International Youth Match Racing Championships in New Zealand, the Harken International Youth Regatta twice and three Australian Youth Match Racing Championships. During this time, Jarvin was mainsheet-hand on an 18 foot skiff that won the 2004 World Championships and went on to skipper his own 18 foot skiff, winning the State, National and World Championships in 2006. Jarvin is now turning his sights back onto match racing and the Australia Cup.