Qualifiers done at Women’s Match Racing World

Lysekil, Sweden (August 8, 2019) – The third day of racing at the Lysekil Women’s Match and Women’s Match Racing World Championship completed the qualifying stage for the 12 teams with the top eight squads now advancing to the quarterfinals.

After finishing the Round Robin Series, the best four teams were automatically qualified: 2017 and 2018 World Champion Lucy Macgregor, #1 world ranked Pauline Courtois, and the two Swedish: Anna Östling and Marie Björling.

The teams ranked 5th to 10th after the Round Robin Series had to battle it out for the remaining four spots in the quarterfinals in the Repechage, sailing a second Round Robin Series.

Renée Groeneveld (NED), who won here in 2017, had a tough start to this year’s competition, finishing 9th after the initial Round Robin, but rolled through four wins out of five races in the Repechage to secure entry in tomorrow’s quarterfinals.

“We are happy to get some more races in, because we have been getting into our grove,” said Groeneveld. “Sure, we are tired, but happy, to have gotten to race this much. We are improving a lot, handling communication and decision-making much better now. I think we are feeling more comfortable and I believe that is when you start to see results.”

Tomorrow it is time to cut the eight teams down to four for the semifinals.

The format began 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