Last year's winner of the Argo Group Gold Cup, three-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie, was one of nine skippers to receive a Tour Card for the 2010 World Match Racing Tour.

Ainslie, who has also won an Olympic silver medal, beat New Zealand's Adam Minoprio 3-1 last year for the Gold Cup.

And Minoprio has also been handed a Tour Card.

Tour Director Craig Mitchell said: "Last year, we had a great season.

"This year, we have received a tremendous response from the teams and believe that the 2010 series will be an even bigger and more significant series for the WMRT," said Tour Director Craig Mitchell.

The Tour Invite Policy, first introduced last year, will guarantee the Tour Card holders invites to six of the first nine events but they can compete in more events if they are able to secure wild card invites from the individual event promoters.

The WMRT, the annual series whose winner is crowned the ISAF Match Racing World Champion, said those receiving their cards are Minoprio from the BlackMatch team who ended the year as the ISAF Match Racing World Champion, Australia's Torvar Mirsky from the Mirsky Racing Team who finished second over all last year, Great Britain's Ainslie from Team Origin who finished third in 2009, Italy's Francesco Bruni from Team Azzura, Australia's Peter Gilmour from YANMAR Racing, Bjorn Hansen from Sweden of the Hansen Global Team, Bertrand Pacé from France who races for the Aleph Sailing Team, fellow Frenchman Mathieu Richard of the French Match Racing Team and Great Britain's Ian Williams from Team Pindar.

Tour Director Mitchell said that for teams that did not receive a Tour Card, there are still opportunities to race on the WMRT through event wild cards or through the events that make up the Tour Qualifying Series that feed into the World Tour events.

"We see the level of professionalism amongst the skippers and teams going up each year and 2010 will be no exception.

"We are looking forward to another great series of events and crowning a worthy champion.

"It is going to be fiercely competitive from the first race in France, in April, all the way through to the last race in Malaysia, in December," Mitchell enthused.

Bruni from Team Azzura of Italy said: "I am extremely happy to be part of such an important and prestigious circuit. I am also very proud to have the opportunity to compete for the Match Race World Title wearing the Team Azzurra uniform!"

Richard from the French Match Racing Team also shared the same excitement. "I am very glad to have a Tour card, and I am looking forward to taking part to a fantastic 2010 championship." Ainslie and his team of Matt Cornwell, Iain Percy, and Christian Kamp, also picked up the first prize of $50,000 for their Gold Cup victory in Hamilton Harbour.

Asked how winning the King Edward VII Gold Cup compared to winning Olympic gold, Ainslie said: "Bermuda has a lot better atmosphere and I know more people here."