James Pleasance is Executive Director for the World Match Racing Tour, the longest running global professional sailing series established in 2000 and one of seven events awarded Special Event status by World Sailing. Listen as he chats with Karen Lile and the In and Out Naval and Military Club in London.
Last week he presided over the 59th Annual Congressional Cup in Long Beach at LBYC – the curtain raiser for 15 competitions worldwide in the WMRT. Next stop is Porto Montenegro May 10-12.
Listen in as they cover the WMRT and Women’s Match racing and much more.
A keen sailor, James has been involved in the marine and yachting industry for over 20 years including roles with Oyster Marine and Boat International Media before joining sports marketing agency Strategic in London where he was involved in event and communication projects for yacht manufacturer Nautor’s Swan and luxury brands Prada and Rolex. He was official publisher of the America’s Cup Jubilee regatta in 2001.
James joined London based agency Octagon in 2002 as Director, securing sponsorship endorsements for round the world sailor Dame Ellen Macarthur and British Olympic Skier Chemmy Alcott.
He later joined sports marketing agency F10 Marketing overseeing projects including UBS’s sponsorship of Team Alinghi in the 34th America’s Cup, BMW UK, Elvstrom Sails and Champagne Mumm. He managed the Superyacht Cup event in Palma, Mallorca from 2005-2008 before joining global conference and exhibitions group Informa plc in 2008 as Director of the Informa Yacht Group.
He founded the first edition of the World Yacht Racing Forum (now the Yacht Racing Forum) in 2008 in Monaco and managed the event until 2012. James was appointed CEO of the World Match Racing Tour in 2012 before managing its sale to Swedish group Aston Harald AB in 2015. At Aston Harald, he also developed the M32 North America division establishing a successful US owner base and regatta circuit.
James set up his own agency Catch Marketing in 2018 and was appointed to re-launch the World Match Racing Tour in 2019 after it was acquired by new investor.
World Match Racing Tour
Founded in 1999, the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) is the longest running global professional series in the sport of sailing, featuring world class sailors including America’s Cup and Olympic champions. WMRT is exclusively sanctioned with ‘Special Event Status’ by World Sailing, the sport’s world governing body.
The winner of the WMRT each year is crowned official Match Racing World Champion.The World Match Racing Tour has long been regarded by professional sailors as a pathway to the America’s Cup and as an opportunity for teams to hone their match racing skills and teamwork at the highest level.
WMRT was originally founded as a match racing series for monohull yachts, and multihulls were introduced to the Tour in 2015.
Match Racing is the same discipline of sailing used by the sport’s oldest sporting trophy since 1851, the America’s Cup.
It is one of the easiest types of sailing to understand with just two boats around a race course in a winner-take-all duel of tactics, strategy and teamwork.
Teams compete in different boats at each stage of the World Match Racing Tour, however the boats supplied at each event are identical. To keep the competition 100% fair and equal, teams rotate boats during the event. This way, competing on the WMRT becomes purely about the skill and strategy of the sailors. The race courses are short with intense close to shore action providing host venues with an excellent opportunity to attract public spectators and hospitality guests to enjoy the racing up close.
Previous WMRT Champions include six-time world champion Ian Williams (GBR), Peter Gilmour (AUS), Adam Minoprio (NZL), Phil Robertson (NZL), Taylor Canfield (ISV) and Torvar Mirsky (AUS).
Keep track with events and locations