Englishman Eclipses World's Top Match Racers(Marseille, France)- The reigning Alpari World Match Racing Tour champion, Ian Williams won the Match Race France title and moved up to take the overall lead of the Tour. Williams did it by defeating the young New Zealander, Will Tiller 2-0 in a downpour and freshening breeze off Marseille in the matched fleet of J/80 one-design racers. The final was delayed by light winds, so the race committee shortened it to the first to two points. When it did freshen enough to start racing, the rapidly increasing breeze came with heavy rain - not exactly Mediterranean conditions! It did not put Williams off
his game however, with a shut-out in the first race, he then passed Tiller at the final mark in the second race to close it out.The overall Tour leader, Bjorn Hansen added no points to his score at Match Race France, after finishing ninth, while Williams scored 25 points for his win. It means that Williams now takes a nine point lead into the final two events of the year, the Gold Cup in Bermuda next week, and then the season finale, the Monsoon Cup in early December in Malaysia. For some great YouTube video action For more World Match Race Tour sailing information