Jaguar Land Rover Korea on Saturday held the 2013 Land Rover Han River Yacht Race jointly with the Seoul Yacht Association to help boost sports in Korea, the company said.

It also marked the launch of the All-New Range Rover Sport on Friday.

The Land Rover Han River Yacht Race was the largest cruising yacht race to be held on the Hangang River to date. Land Rover Korea also said it made a 200 million won ($188,600) donation to the Seoul Yacht Association to help nurture young yacht players and the development of the sport.

The carmaker also invited the players and instructors of the Tongyoung Orphanage yacht team, the nation’s one and only yacht team, to deliver 4 million won in scholarships.

The race was held in two categories based on the players’ skills: ALT-7000 ORC and Open Class. The winner, the first runner-up and the second runner-up each received up to 3 million won in prize money, a test drive ticket for the Range Rover Sport, and yacht accessories.

A free yacht experience event was held for the public on Sunday.

“The Land Rover brand makes the world’s best SUV and is naturally interested in broadening its position to various sports,” said David McIntyre, managing director of Jaguar Land Rover Korea.

He added that Land Rover shares values with yachts in that they are “the epitome of state-of-the-art technologies even though people may not be able to see it from the outside.

“Starting with sponsoring young players, we will continue to make efforts to contribute to the expansion of the player base and the development of Korea’s yacht culture,” McIntyre said.

The Land Rover Extreme 40, a 40-foot catamaran, was the first yacht made by Land Rover to appear in Korea. The Land Rover Extreme 40 races in the Extreme Sailing Series, one of the world’s four famous yacht races.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)