05-Apr-10

Toyota Motor Company Signs on as Title Sponsor for the 2010 Toyota International Match Race for the Detroit Cup!!

World class sailors bound for Detroit to compete in 2010 Toyota International Match Race for the Detroit Cup

DETROIT, April 06, 2010 – Toyota Motor Company has signed on as title sponsor for the 2010 Toyota International Match Race for the Detroit Cup – with sailors from up to 12 nations to race at the historic Bayview Yacht Club in August, it was announced today.

The third annual regatta, to be sailed on the Detroit River on August 18-22, 2010, has earned international status as a world class sailing event and the winner of the regatta will earn a berth in the Argo Group Gold Cup, a World Match Racing Tour event on October 5-10 at Royal Bermuda Yacht Club in Hamilton, Bermuda. Toyota, which hosted the inaugural 2008 Detroit Cup, has returned to be the title sponsor for 2010.

Sailors from Brazil, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Russia, U.S. Virgin Islands as well as Canada and the United States have requested invitations to participate in the 2010 Toyota International Match Race for the Detroit Cup. Requests for Invitation from sailors will be accepted by Bayview until May 1, 2010. 

Returning for 2010 is 2009 Detroit Cup Champion and Olympic Gold medalist Anna Tunnicliffe, who was named "Yachtswoman of the Year" by Rolex and US Sailing as well as ISAF Woman Sailor of the year. Ms. Tunnicliffe is a frequent sailor at Bayview hosted regattas and said her experience sailing against the strong current in the Detroit River was helpful training for her successful bid to win a gold medal sailing in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.

"This regatta has earned strong support among international match race sailors in its relatively short existence," said Kevin P. Schrage, Race Chairman for the Bayview hosted 2010 Toyota International Match Race for the Detroit Cup. "We are very grateful to Toyota for committing to the sponsorship early and in helping promote this race to some of the best match race sailors around the world who will come to Detroit to compete.” 

Schrage said Bayview will also repeat its pioneering live web cam streaming of the entire regatta. "We had some 14,000 unique visitors tune in to the regatta last year that stayed on-line for four to eight hours watching the regatta on the Detroit River with Windsor, Canada and Downtown Detroit's skylines as backdrops," he said. "This is a truly unique venue that allows for this type of live coverage one might only expect from an America's Cup race."

"Toyota was very pleased to be a part of the inaugural regatta and we are excited to have the Toyota product line associated with the best match racing sailors around the globe," said John McCandless, National Manager for Public Affairs for Toyota Motor Company. "I personally learned how to sail and race on the Detroit River, in Interlakes and Flying Scotts.  I know the challenges the currents and winds on the river present.  This year's race for the Detroit Cup puts the world's best racers from up to 12 countries to the test.  It's great competition and great fun as well."

The regatta will be sailed in Bayview's club-owned fleet of Ultimate 20 sailboats and is one of the most prestigious match racing events in North America in 2010 joining the Chicago Match Cup and The Knickerbocker Cup to form a match race Trifecta on the East Coast.  Given the importance of the regatta, Bayview Yacht Club is inviting members of the general public who are sailing fans to watch the race from the club. Several thousand people are expected to attend the international regatta.  Detroit is well known for automotive and hydroplane racing and its status as a leading sailing venue is becoming more widely noted.

"This event has grown in world match racing circles and represents Bayview's commitment to match racing and our club's reputation as the home to world class sailing in the Great Lakes," said BYC Commodore Bruce J. Burton. "We welcome these champion sailors from these global ports to Detroit." In the past few years, Bayview has hosted over 18 match racing events including the U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship and the Richardson Cup, the Great Lakes Match Racing Championship.  In addition to the 2010 Toyota International Match Race for the Detroit Cup, Bayview will also host the U.S. Match Racing Championship in September.   “Bayview’s determination to become one of the leaders in the U.S. match racing circuit is evident,” said Schrage.

"Match Racing is an exciting, aggressive form of sailing that is fun to watch," said Schrage. "We are excited at this opportunity to showcase Bayview and our waterfront city to world class sailors."

Match Racing is the format for the America's Cup, where just two boats race at a time. Competitors compete in a round-robin format, earning points for each win to determine the overall winner. Match Races are monitored by on- the-water umpires in Race Committee boats who instantaneously assess penalties for rule infractions.

The sailing authority, ISAF, uses skippers' rankings, the variety of competitors' nationalities and the credentials of race officials to determine a match race regatta's status, which in turn determines how many points skippers receive toward their international ranking points based on their finishes. The more prestigious the event, the more points they receive to better their standing.

 
Toyota (NYSE:TM) established operations in the United States in 1957 and currently operates 10 manufacturing plants.  There are nearly 1,500 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships in the U.S. which sold more than 1.77 million vehicles in 2009. Toyota directly employs nearly 34,000 in the U.S. and its investment here is currently valued at more than $18 billion, including sales and manufacturing operations, research and development, financial services and design. Toyota's annual purchasing of parts, materials, goods and services from U.S. suppliers totals more than $22 billion.  Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion.  For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com, www.lexus.com, www.scion.com or www.toyotanewsroom.com.

 Bayview, founded in 1915, is widely regarded as the premier sailing club in Michigan and the Midwest. The private club is located on the Detroit River near the mouth of Lake St. Clair and has more than 1,000 members. For more information on Bayview Yacht Club, please visit: http://www.byc.com. Official race Website: www.detroitcup.com; For media inquiries, please contact Bruce Babiarz at Babiarz@BABPR.com or 248-890-5030.