In May 2005, Ian Williams left his job as a lawyer in the City to launch a full time assault on the World Match Racing Tour. The Williams Sail Racing team finished their first year on the Tour in 2nd place. Newly christened as Team Pindar, the Team lept to an early lead in the 2006/07 World Tour and then won a dramatic final event in Malaysia to become the first ever British World Match Racing Champions. This website provides information on Team Pindar and its campaign to retain the World Championship in 2008. 

Latest news

22July

Results from Stage Four at Match Cup Swedan keeps Team Pindar still on top.

30 June

Team Pindar's World Match Racing Champion, Ian Williams, has regained his position at the top of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings, ahead of this week’s fourth leg on the World Match Racing Tour, Match Cup Sweden in Marstrand from 1- 6 July. Read more

18 June

Team Pindar finish second in Korea Match Cup, extending their lead on the World Match Racing Tour ranking list. They head out to Marstrand, Swedan next week to prepare for Match Cup Swedan.

18 May

Team Pindar are now preparing for their first ever Match Race in Korea after finishing fourth in Match Race Germany, a result that restored them back to the top of the World Tour leaderboard.

4 May

Team Pindar go to Langenargen tomorrow for Match Race Germany hoping to build on their third place finish in Brazil.

18 April

As the start of the World Match Racing Tour fast approaches, Team Pindar has made a promising start to 2008, including another win at the Grade Three Ice Breaker Cup in Sweden on April 13.

2 December

Team Pindar yesterday won the World Match Racing Championship by reaching the final of the Monsoon Cup, to be raced today.

22 November

Team Pindar goes to Malaysia on Sunday for the final event in the 2006/07 World Match Racing Tour. Currently lying in 2nd place, the team needs to finish ahead of Mathieu Richard to claim the World Title.

14 September

Catch 'Team Pindar' in action on Eurosport and SkySports UK this month, as their win in St Moritz and 2nd place finish in Portugal are aired on TV.

19 August

King of the Mountain! Team Pindar (Ian Williams, Mark Nicholls and Andy Estcourt) today won the St. Moritz Match Race and by doing so takes a commanding lead in the World Match Racing Tour standings.

12 August

Team Pindar finished the Danish Open in 3rd place today. Consecutive top 3 finishes have now put Team Pindar back on top of the World Match Racing Tour.

30 July

Team Pindar finished in 2nd place at the recent Portugal Match Cup. This result lifts the team to 2nd place on the World Match Racing Tour whilst solidifying their position at the top of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings.

9 May

Ian Williams of Team Pindar today became the World Number One match racing sailor. This is the first time any British sailor has led the ISAF World Match Race Rankings in the history of the classification, crowning Ian as the nation’s most successful match racing sailor.

23 March

Team Pindar won the recent Marseille International Match Race grade 1 event. This result means that Ian Williams will become the first ever British World No.1 when the May rankings are released.

6 December

Ian Williams of ‘Team Pindar’ today climbs into second place in the ISAF Match Race Rankings, equalling the highest ever open ranking for any British sailor.

ISAF Match Racing Rankings

5 December

Team Pindar finished in 3rd place at the Monsoon Cup which finished on Sunday. Narrowly losing to France's Matthieu Richard in the semi-final, the Team went on to beat Peter Gilmour in the petit-final leaving Team Pindar 12 points clear at the top of the World Match Racing Tour leaderboard.

20 October

The WSR Team of Ian Williams, Gerry Mitchell, Mark Nicholls and Bill Hardesty have won their first World Match Racing Tour event, beating Frenchman Mathieu Richard 3-1 in the final of the Bermuda Gold Cup. Next week WSR will be going for it's second win at the Allianz Cup in San Francisco.

09 October

WSR begins the King Edward VII Gold Cup in Bermuda this Wednesday, stage 4 of the 06/07 World Match Racing Tour

20 August

WSR has completed 3 back-to-back events, finishing 2nd at the grade 1 Internationaux de France de Match Racing, 5th at the Danish Open and 10th at St. Moritz Match Race, both World Match Racing Tour events.

It was always going to be tough to do 3 events on the trot. But for a bit of bad luck like breaking the vang in a crucial race in Denmark and missing the quarter finals in St. Moritz on a tie-break, the run could have been much more successful.

However, it has been a hugely succesful summer overall for WSR and we are now looking forward to the winter program to include events in Bermuda, San Francisco, Malaysia and Auckland.

20 July

WSR finished in 2nd place at the Locman Cup, Elba Island, the final event of the World Match Racing Tour. This was enough for the team to pick up 2nd place overall in the Tour Championship

8 June

WSR finished Match Race Germany in 3rd place after a very close petite final against Staffan Lindberg. This places WSR in 5th place on the World Tour with one event to go

31 May

The WSR Team starts Match Race Germany tomorrow in 7th position on the World Match Racing Tour leaderboard after a 6th place finish in Croatia

4 May

Ian Williams has reached 10,000 points on the ISAF World Match Racing Ranking system for the first time. This places Ian 6th on the rankings and well positioned to move up over the summer.

21 April

WSR has returned from the Congressional Cup after finishing 2nd overall - a great result for a first effort at this prestigious event. Click for reports.

12 April

WSR are lying in 2nd place after day 2 of the 42nd annual Congressional Cup in Long Beach, California with a 9-2 record.

19 March

WSR finished the Brasil Sailing Cup in 8th place. After being knocked out in the quarter finals by James Spithill, the eventual winner, WSR was awarded 8th place by the jury.

16 March

A slow start to the Brasil Sailing Cup saw only two flights completed yesterday for group A. WSR are in Group B and hope to start sailing this afternoon.  click for event website

30 January

The Williams Sail Racing team finished 5th in the Auckland Match Racing Cup last week. Teams finishing behind Williams included Ed Baird and Magnus Holmberg - click for daily reports.

27 January 2006

The Williams Sail Racing team will being fighting it out for 5th place at the Auckland Match Racing Cup tomorrow after narrowly missing out on the semi-finals.

19 December 2005

The Williams Sail Racing team swept to victory at the JPMorgan Asset Management Winter Challenge Qualifier 3 over the weekend. Andrew Cornah battled hard in the final, but Williams and his team were able to win out 2-0 to book a place in the final in March.

10 December 2005

Ian Williams rounds out the year ranked No.5 in the World on the official ISAF World Match Racing Rankings.

6 December 2005

The Williams Sail Racing team finished 8th overall in the Monsoon Cup.  Having finished 5th in the Round Robin, the team were defeated by Russell Coutts in the quarter finals.

21 November 2005

Williams Sail Racing Team fly to Kuala Terrengganu in Malaysia this weekend for the inaugual Monsoon Cup which starts on Tuesday 29 November. Click on links for the event website and live internet TV coverage.


21 November 2005

ISAF annual meetings:

Starting from 2006, the ISAF Match Racing World Championship will no longer be held as a single event. Instead a World Tour will decide the World Champion. WSR is eagerly waiting for the details to be made public.


26 October 2005

Ian Williams moves up to number 5 on the ISAF World Rankings.  Nestled in behind Ed Baird, Peter Gilmour, James Spithill and Russell Coutts, Ian is looking to break into the top 3 in the course of 2006. 

Swedish Match Tour/Guido Cantini

World Match Racing Tour events can be viewed on line at Sail.tv. Follow this link for all the latest action.

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