Phil Robertson and his crew of Stu Dodson, Will Tiller and James Wierzbowski had won $33,000 for winning Marstrand and a World Champions’ bonus of $1,000,000. For a group of sailors that have been paying their way around the world this past season, with no funding from a sponsor, a million dollars is a life-changing sum.
Yet in a prepared statement at the “Million Dollar Dinner” prizegiving banquet, Robertson had one final shock to deliver to the Tour: “Every one of the 20 skippers signed an agreement before the event, where whoever won the million would share it with the rest of the fleet,” said the Waka Racing skipper.
The winner would still get the lion’s share – $400,000 went to Robertson – but every team received enough money to help ensure their presence for the 2016/17 season. It was an unprecedented response to a history-making sum of prize money, and Robertson was all smiles when he explained it on stage. “Hakan Svensson invested a lot of money so that all of us could be part of this new era in the World Match Racing Tour, and with everyone getting a real piece of the pie, we’re investing it back into the Tour so we can be sure the next season is as fantastic as 2016 was. Here’s to next year in Marstrand!”
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