2024 edition of local regatta a lot more international

The 2024 MGM Macao International Regatta that starts today and will be held until Sunday (January 14) will be the most international of all editions so far with a high participation from crews from all over the world, organizers noted during yesterday’s press conference that launched the event.

In a short intervention the Chairman of the Jury, Lorenz Walch, noted that in the main regatta, using the Beneteau First 40.7 Unified Design Group boats, each of the 11 teams listed for the competition comes from a different country. He congratulated the organizers on this and the fact that they made this event possible.

As in the past two editions, the event includes three competition categories: the Macao Cup International Regatta (Beneteau First 40.7 Unified Design Group), the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Cup Regatta (IRC group), and the International Catamaran Invitational (Hobie 16 unified design group).

The teams participating in the Macao Cup International Regatta and the Greater Bay Area Cup Regatta will compete at the waters south of Hac Sa Beach, while the teams participating in the International Catamaran Invitational will compete at the waters south of the Macau Channel off the Macao Science Center.

At the Macao Cup, the defending champion – Big Boys Sailing Team – will be returning to the event as will the last year’s runner-up team – ExeQute Racing.

Other previous high contenders and podium finishers will also line up for this event that promises to enliven the waters around Macau for four consecutive days.

In total, 37 teams and about 300 participants from 31 countries and regions will compete in three racing events.

Organizers also noted that previous editions have contributed to the betterment of local and regional teams and participants. For this reason, they expect better competition among the participants in the GBA Cup Regatta.

This category also features 11 teams from the mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau including the 2023 Cup champion, Zhongshan Sailing Team, and last year’s runner-up, Guangzhou Nansha Sailing Team. Good results are also expected from Hong Kong’s BLU Team and RAMPAGE.

In the smaller boats category, 15 teams from China, Germany, Canada, New Zealand, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Macau will take part in this event. Three strong sides, including the former champions of 2023 – LC Sailing Team (China), the 2022 champion Dream Team of Wan Ning (China), and the 2020 champion and silver medalist of the 2014 Asian Games Team Yacht Racing (Thailand) will participate.

Also part of the International Catamaran Invitational Race will be the gold medalists of the 2014 Asian Games, Team Jeonbuk (Korea).

The event will be widely covered and live-streamed on several online platforms including Facebook, YouTube, and WeChat, among others.