This weekend (14-15 January) nine teams from six European nations will descend on Queen Mary Sailing Club Staines for the fourth round of the JPMorgan Asset Management Winter Challenge Match Racing Series.

Attending this weekend’s event and competing in the RYA’s J/80 fleet are four British teams helmed by Nick Cherry, Alistair Hall and Andrew Cornah and British National Match Racing Champion Mark Campbell-James. Campbell-James, Cornah and their teams have already earned slots in the JPMorgan Asset Management Winter Challenge Match Racing Final due to be held on 10-12 March, but will compete over the weekend to further fine tune their match racing skills.

Sweden’s Bjorn Hansen, ranked 12th in the world by ISAF, enters the weekend not only as the highest ranked team but also as the favourite to win. Recently finishing third at the Monsoon cup on the Swedish Match Tour, Hansen will be the one to watch on the water. However it may not be smooth sailing for Hansen and his team; they will not only square up against Britain’s best, but also against Rasmus Viltoft from Denmark, Poland’s Przemek Tarnacki, Swiss-born Marcel Walser and Italy’s Roberto Ferrarese, the coach for the America’s Cup team 39.

Bjorn Hansen, SWE 12 ranking

Mark Campbell-James, GBR 15 ranking

Nick Cherry, GBR 44 ranking

Rasmus Viltoft, DEN 51 ranking

Przemek Tarnacki, POL 56 ranking

Andrew Cornah, GBR 60 ranking

Alistair Hall, GBR 111 ranking

Roberto Ferrarese, ITA 136 ranking

Marcel Walser, SUI 262 ranking