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Adam Minoprio of New Zealand - Source: Photosport
The Monsoon Cup, the final event of the nine stage 2009 World Match Racing Tour, will commence on the Pulau Duyong Basin course in Kuala Terengganu on Thursday and the stage is set for an epic battle.
Heavy monsoon rains have been falling in eastern Malaysia for the last week and on Wednesday the World Tour's top match racing crews were on the water acclimatising to the conditions.
The leader of the 2009 Tour, New Zealander Adam Minoprio is wary of the elements.
"We are set for a very challenging event this week and there is a lot at stake, the biggest prize money of any sailing event in the world (around US$450,000) and the 2009 World Match Racing Championship, Minoprio said.
'"Interesting times! With all this rain the river current is running pretty hard, so there will be a lot of current across the course.
"When the sea breeze is blowing the course is relatively predictable, but if its light or there are monsoon squalls as there have been today, this would be amongst the toughest courses on the World Match Tour.
"We are glad we had the Perth practice event last week, we certainly needed more time in these boats (Foundation 36s) and we will really need to be on the top of our game to hold out Torvar Mirsky and his MRT Racing Team. The battle for podium placings is going to be exciting."
Tour Standings (After 8 of 9 events)
1. Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 100
Points
2. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 88 Points
3. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar 75 Points
4. Mathieu Richard (FRA), French Match Racing Team Racing 74
Points
5. Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR 71 Points
6. Ben Ainslie, (GBR) Team Origin 65 Points
7. Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 48 Points
8. Sebastien Col, (FRA) French Match Racing Team 41 Points
