Gone with the wind: Two boats are racing at the Marseille International Match Race, the first stage of the World Match Racing Tour 2009. Viet Nam's first ever professional sailing tournament will be held in Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa Province. — File Photo

Viet Nam's first ever professional sailing tournament will be held in Nha Trang city in the coastal province of Khanh Hoa following a deal struck between the World Match Racing Tour and Rainbow International on Saturday.

The agreement gives Rainbow International the rights to host and promote the Viet Nam Match Cup, a new stage on the tour, a leading sailing series featuring events across the globe.

The Viet Nam Match Cup, one of many events that will be used to celebrate 1,000 years of Thang Long-Ha Noi, will be the eighth stage of the Tour this year, and will be the first time that Viet Nam has featured on the tour schedule.

"It is a great honour for Rainbow International to host such a large scale programme. For the first time, Vietnamese people will have the chance to witness competition amongst the world's best sailors, right off the shores of their homeland," said Do Tuan Anh, general director of Rainbow International.

It is going to be one of the country's biggest sporting events in 2010. More importantly, this is a fantastic opportunity for the world to discover Viet Nam's natural beauty, which I hope will bring about great benefits to our national tourism industry," he added.

This year, the Tour starts in April in France with the Marseille International Match Race, and will reach Nha Trang City in late September.

Le Xuan Than, vice chairman of Khanh Hoa Province's People Committee said, "It is an honour for Viet Nam to join the Tour. The province will do its very best to make sure everything runs smoothly.

"Many cultural and entertainment activities will be organised during the competition. I believe this is going to be one of the biggest sports and tourism events in Viet Nam for 2010."

Peter Gilmour, president of the tour, said that Viet Nam has many beautiful beaches but Nha Trang was chosen because of its picturesque landscape and fabulous weather, which is ideal for a successful sailing competition.

"The Viet Nam Match Cup in Nha Trang makes Viet Nam only the third country in Asia to host a stage of the tour, after Pulau Duyong Island in Malaysia and San Hwasung City in South Korea," the four-time champion said.

"The Viet Nam Match Cup will be held annually for at least five years initially, with a view to making Viet Nam a permanent fixture on the tour," the Australian added.

Mathieu Lacabanne, who has been working in Viet Nam for six years and is the general manager of the Novotel Hotel in Nha Trang, said "The Viet Nam Match Cup is a good chance to make Nha Trang more popular and bring more international tourists to the city."

The tour, dubbed ‘The Formula One of Sailing', last year featured events in France, Germany, Korea, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Bermuda, and Malaysia.

However, no Vietnamese teams have qualified for the race.

Source: VietNamNet/Viet Nam News