Yachting: Win underlines superstar promise

Adam Minoprio joins exalted company in becoming just the fourth Kiwi to hold the world match racing title. Photo / Kenny Rodger

Kiwi sailor Adam Minoprio underlined his status as a future superstar in the sport over the weekend, securing the world match racing championship on his way to victory in the prestigious Monsoon Cup in Malaysia.

The young Kiwi sealed the world title after the quarter-final stage of the regatta when his closest rival, Australia's Torvar Mirsky, was knocked out by his compatriot Peter Gilmour.

Minoprio and his BlackMatch Racing crew - Tom Powrie, David Swete, Nick Blackman and Dan McLean - then went on to secure the grand double, eliminating Gilmour in the semfinals before beating Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie of Britain 3-0 in the cup final yesterday.

In winning the world tour Minoprio becomes just the fourth Kiwi to hold the world match racing title, joining Kiwi sailing greats Chris Dickson, Russell Coutts and Dean Barker.

The 24-year-old, who said he was overwhelmed to be placed in the same company, said it had taken four years of hard work to achieve his goal.

"It's been a very intense event for us. We came in thinking that if we focused on winning the Monsoon Cup, the ISAF World Match Racing Championship result would look after itself," said Minoprio. "We just scraped into the quarter-finals, but it went pretty well after that."

Minoprio hailed the win in the Monsoon Cup as his team's finest victory on the World Match Racing Tour after they outclassed the experienced Team Origin crew for a 3-0 shutout.

"We had struggled in the round-robin but in the final we were in our element with this comprehensive victory."

He added that he "had never seen a better effort" from his crew. "The win is not all about me but my team. It is all about teamwork and how we harmonise our roles at a quick pace."

Victory in the Monsoon Cup, which is regarded as the world's premier match racing event, earned Minoprio and his crew a cheque for US$105,000 ($146,580).

BlackMatch Racing bowman Nick Blackman said the Monsoon Cup win was the perfect way to cap off a dream year. "It's amazing.

"We've been together as a team for probably four or five years. My dream was to get on to the world tour and just to race on it, so to have won it at this stage is a pretty big deal."