Four teams lead Women’s Match Racing Worlds

Lysekil, Sweden (August 6, 2019) – After the first day of competition there are four teams on equal points at the top of the leader board in Lysekil Women’s Match and Women’s Match Racing World Championship: Johanna Bergqvist (SWE), Pauline Courtois (FRA), Anna Östling (Swe), and Claire Leroy (FRA) all counting four wins and one loss.

At the initial stage of the competition, all crews will face each other in a Round Robin to determine which teams will proceed directly to the quarter finals, and who will have to rely on their performance in the repechage to make it to the next stage.

Ten out of 22 flights in the Round Robin were completed in all kinds of weather conditions. In the morning, the sailors had to deal with heavy rain and light winds, but in the afternoon the wind picked up as the sky cleared.

Behind the leading four teams, defending champion Lucy Macgregor (GBR) won three out of four matches (one match in the seventh flight was postponed due to a boat break down). While pleased with the first day out on the water, Macgregor knows they have work to do. “Going in to the next couple of days, I think it is all about improving as the event goes on. Then hopefully we will still be in the fight that last day. Bring it on!”

Day One Results:
Pauline Courtois FRA 4-1
Johanna Bergqvist SWE 4-1
Claire Leroy FRA 4-1
Anna Östling SWE 4-1
Nicole Breault USA 3-2
Lucy Macgregor GBR 3-1
Trine Palludan DEN 2-3
Renée Groeneveld NED 2-3
Marie Björling SWE 2-2
Marinella Laaksonen FIN 1-4
Margot Vennin FRA 0-5
Alexa Bezel SUI 0-5

The format begins on August 6 with a round robin stage to advance the best eight teams to the quarter-finals, which are followed by semi-finals and the final. The final will be raced on Saturday, August 10.

WIM Series – Event details – Results – Facebook

Entry list (Skipper, ranking, nationality):
Pauline Courtois, 1, (FRA)
Anna Östling, 2, (SWE)
Johanna Bergqvist, 3, (SWE)
Trine Palludan, 4, (DEN)
Nicole Breault, 5, (USA)
Marinella Laaksonen, 6, (FIN)
Margot Vennin, 7, (FRA)
Alexa Bezel, 10, (SUI)
Claire Leroy, 13, (FRA)
Lucy Macgregor, 18, (GBR) – 2018 World Champion
Renée Groeneveld, 20, (NED)
Marie Björling, 22, (SWE)

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 6-9 – Normandie Match Cup 2019 – Le Havre, France
August 6-10 – Women’s Match Racing World Championship (Lysekil Women’s Match) – Lysekil, Sweden
October 11-16 – China International Women’s Match Race – Shanghai, China

Source: WIM Series