Courtois Leads at WIM Normandie

Le Havre, France (June 9, 2019) – It’s been feast or famine at the Normandie Match Cup. Day three more than made up for no sailing on day two as the sailors, race committee, umpires and spectators spent a very full day on the water in excellent conditions. But they barely made it back to the dock as the sun dipped below the horizon after completing an astonishing forty-five races to complete the double round robin.

The sea breeze arrived at 11:00 and racing began in a pleasant 8 knots of wind under cloudy skies. Throughout the day the wind increased to a steady 15 knots and made the job relatively easy for the race committee.

Pauline Courtois (FRA) and her Le Havre basedMatch in Pink by Normandy Elite Team showed their experience with the boats and the local conditions as they won every match they sailed. “Yes, we are very happy with how we are sailing as a team. The matches are very close with good racing. We look forward to tomorrow, but first we must get some food and some sleep,” she said.

Two-time World Champion Anna Östling (SWE) and her team WINGS found their wings today and won all of their matches except the two against Courtois’ team. “We are very happy with our day. We focused on coming off the start line ahead and continuing to learn the boat. We did big improvement in the 2nd round robin and look forward to the last day, we will step it up!”

Margot Vennin’s Matchmoiselles by Normandy Elite Team also took advantage of their local knowledge and moved smoothly into the semi-finals as well.

The fight for the last semi-final spot came down to the final matches of the evening. “We weren’t quite sure if we were in or not, so we just kept fighting the best we could” confessed Anna Savisaari, bow on Finnish L2 Match Racing Team who survived losing their last match of the day to take the remaining semi-final place.

Tonight the tired sailors and race officials will get to enjoy the hospitality of the Societe des Regates du Havre (SRH) with the Normandy Cup regatta dinner ahead of the final day of racing tomorrow.

The Normandie Match Cup – the first event of the 2019 Women’s International Match Racing Series (WIM Series) season – is raced in the Beneteau First Class 7.5 boats. The event will end with the semi-finals, petite finals and finals on Monday June 10th.

Standings at the end of Stage One (skipper, team name, nationality, points):
1. Pauline Courtois, Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team, FRA, 14
2. Anna Östling, WINGS, SWE, 10
3. Margot Vennin, Matchmoiselles by Normandy Elite Team, FRA, 8
4. Marinella Laaksonen, L2 Match Racing Team, FIN, 6
5. Marie Björling Duell, Team Marie, SWE, 5
6. Lea Richter Vogelius, Team Kattnakken, DEN, 5
7. Margot Riou, APCC Women Sailing Team, FRA, 5
8. Chloé Le Bars, No Name Sailing Team, FRA, 2

Teams Competing in the 2019 Normandie Match Cup:

Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team
Pauline Courtois, Maëlenn Lemaître, Louise Acker, Sophie Faguet – France
Current World Sailing Ranking: 1

WINGS
Anna Östling, Annie Wennergren, Linnea Wennergren, Annika Carlunger – Sweden
Current World Sailing Ranking: 3

L2 Match Racing Team
Marinella Laaksonen, Sofia Tynkkynen, Camilla Cedercreutz, Anna Savisaari – Finland
Current World Sailing Ranking: 5

Matchmoiselles by Normandy Elite Team
Margot Vennin, Juliette Dubreuil, Chloé Salou, Sophonie Affagard – France
Current World Sailing Ranking: 7

APCC Women Sailing Team
Margot Riou, Clémentine Hilaire, Tiphaine Ragueneau, Blandine Jaffrain – France
Current World Sailing Ranking: 11

Team Marie
Marie Björling Duell, Anna Holmdahl White, Elisabeth Nilsson, Anna Nordlander – Sweden
Current World Sailing Ranking: 36

No Name Sailing Team
Chloé Le Bars, Jeanne Le Goff, Eliette Ferronnière, Maïwenn Deffontaines – France
Current World Sailing Ranking: 93

Team Kattnakken
Lea Richter Vogelius, Sille Christensen, Vivi Møller, Joan Wester Hansen – Denmark
Current World Sailing Ranking: unranked

Racing in the 2019 Normandie Match Cup is scheduled for June 7-10.

The Women’s International Match Racing Series (WIM Series) completed its sixth season in 2018 spreading the knowledge of women sailing and match racing to a broader audience in new places. In 2018, 149 sailors representing 28 teams from 10 countries have competed in WIM Series events, with 10 new skippers and 44 new sailors competing in 2018.

Since the start in 2013, the WIM Series held 28 events in 10 countries for 482 sailors from 85 teams from 25 countries. The 2018 season included five events in five countries, including two new venues. Planning continues for the 2019 season.

WIM Series – Results – Facebook

Background:
The Women’s International Match Racing Association (WIMRA) was formed in 1996 and is an international association of women sailors whose mission is to expand and strengthen global match racing and promote opportunities for competitive women’s sailing at every level.

WIMRA created the first and only professional sailing series for women in 2013 – the Women’s International Match Racing Series (WIM Series). The WIM Series delivers a global circuit of competition to test the world’s best sailors in a format of round robin and knock-out matches.

2019 WIM Series Schedule:
June 7-10 Normandie Match Cup
August 6-10 Women’s Match Racing World Championship (Lysekil Women’s Match)

Source: WIM Series