Stena Inspiring Swedish Leg of the World Match Racing Tour

Marstrand, Sweden – 6 July, 2010 – Stena has moved up from boat sponsor to title sponsor this year for the Swedish leg of the ISAF World Match Racing Tour (WMRT). Jan Torstenson, Project Manager for Stena Match Cup Sweden and CEO of Brandspot is content with Stena’s continued association with the Tour.

As the first group of men blasted onto the breezy race arena this morning Torstenson talked through Stena’s involvement, “Stena has been associated with sailing for a long time and for the first time they are using this platform to activate a group sponsorship approach across all their lines as a coordinated internal programme to have maximum impact”.

Marstrand is perceived by many as the foundation event that has inspired the radical development of the World Match Racing Tour and any skipper who has been recognized in the match racing world since 1994 has passed through the start line here.

The Swedish leg of the Tour continues looking to the future and is transforming this iconic event year on year. The plan for 2010 is to raise the bar yet again with the addition of a women’s event paralleling the men’s racing, the Junior Cup brining 150 youth entries and the event’s official charity ‘Childhood’ running a week long programme dedicated to the next generation.

The corporate hospitality side to Stena Match Cup Sweden has also been elevated in status, 10,000 corporate clients will be entertained over 8 days this year, a commercially positive aspect for the people of Marstrand and the WMRT. This one event alone brings in the region of 14 million Euros annually to the local economy so is financially rewarding as well as providing world class sailing conditions to the competitors and unrivalled spectator opportunities for the fans.

Torstenson feels that match racing is growing a public interest across Sweden with the non-sailors who are starting to understand how fascinating this sport is. Recently the public have found the sport easy to follow through live commentating and the media coverage it generates.

Interestingly Torstenson is backing one of the British entries for 2010, “I really want Ben Ainslie to win this time as previously he has had a hard time here”.