Plan for 2019 Match Race Super League

Published on February 5th, 2019

The Match Race Super League (MRSL), founded in 2018 to unite organizers on an international stage and promote classic match racing worldwide, has assembled its 2019 event schedule which includes three events in the USA.

The MRSL seeks to provide structure in part as a reaction to the World Match Racing Tour, which was launched in 2000 and had been the leading professional match racing series in the sport, but has been struggling under ownership changes and has yet to provide a 2019 plan.

Sanctioned by the Match Race Association and supported by World Sailing, the MRSL format is aimed at 20,000 active match race sailors in the world. Last year, 78 teams including sailors from 30 nations in a total of 13 events competed on the MRSL in twelve countries around the world.

New in 2019 will be the Detroit Cup, organized by the Bayview Yacht Club (BYC) on August 21-25 in Detroit.

“The event has a long history of excellence at ISAF Grade 2 level, and has always attracted strong interest as one of the US Grand Slam events,” notes League Director Eberhard Magg. “This is a perfect match for it to be on the League.”

“We have always championed monohull match racing, and the Detroit Cup has attracted the best from around the world to come to the Great Lakes,” notes Lance Smotherman from BYC. “The Detroit Cup, being one of the four Grand Slam events is a qualifier for the Congressional Cup, is celebrating its 55th anniversary in 2019.”

“The newly announced schedule for the Match Race Super League presents teams with a clearly defined pathway in worldwide match racing at world class level events,” notes Magg. “It will also bring greater exposure to our sponsors and partners being part of the Match Race Super League.”

With continued international growth, the MRSL hopes to soon add a fifth continent to its schedule.

2019 Event list:
1. Szczecin Match Race, POL, 3-5 May
2. NJK Open Spring Match Race Cup, FIN, 17-19 May
3. Match Race Germany, GER, 5-10 June
4. Koper Match Race Challenge, SLO, 11-14 July
5. Internationaux de France Match Racing, FRA, 25-28 July
6. AIRCALIN Match Race, NCL, 14-18 August
7. The Detroit Cup USA, 21-25 August
8. Baltic Match Race, EST, 21-25 August
9. Oakliff International, USA, 2-4 September
10. Thompson Cup, USA, 6-8 September
11. DBS Marina Bay Cup, SIN, 19-22 September
12. The Kingdom Match Race, BHR, 11-15 December

Details: http://www.mrsuperleague.org