WIM Series lands in China

The inaugural 2019 China International Women’s Match Race, the final event of the 2019 WIM Series, will be held in Shanghai on the Dishui Lake from October 12 to 16. The Women’s International Match Racing Association (WIMRA), Chinese Yachting Association (CYA), Shanghai Administration of Sports and Administration Committee of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Lin-Gang Special Area have collaborated to launch this high level race in China.

Launched in 2013, the Women’s International Match Racing Series (WIM Series) is the first and only professional sailing series for women, delivering a global circuit of fierce competition where the world’s best sailors compete and thrive. The 2019 WIM Series comes to China for the first time.

The inaugural event has attracted 12 teams and 60 women sailors from Sweden, France, Denmark, Russia, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and China. The sailors represent a cross section of the international sailing scene with the top women sailors such as Olympians, National Champions, World Champions, and Volvo Ocean Race veterans to compete alongside rising young stars for gold and glory on Dishui Lake.

The idea of bringing the WIM Series to China came from Demolar Du, CEO of Fareast Boats, the builder of the competition’s Fareast 28R boats, based in Shanghai.

No stranger to women’s match racing events is Pauline Courtois, France, the 2-time reigning WIM Series Champion and current World Sailing number one ranked skipper. ”It’s my first time in China and I am very excited to be here. We love the Fareast 28R boats, it’s the third time this year we’ve had the chance to sail in them. They are technical but fun and fast.”

Racing begins tomorrow with the round robin where all teams will face each other. The top four teams from the round robin will advance to the quarterfinals while the next six will have a second change in the repechage stage to advance to the quarter-finals. The semi-finals and finals will follow. The completion will conclude on October 16 when the champions will be crowned.

ENTRANTS:

Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team
Pauline Courtois, Maëlenn Lemaître, Louise Acker, Nathalie Corson, Claire Pruvot – France
Current World Sailing Ranking: 1

Team Bergqvist Match Racing
Johanna Bergqvist, Isabelle Bergqvist, Johanna Thiringer, Beata Törneman, Julia Carlsson – Sweden
Current World Sailing Ranking: 3

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

APCC Women Sailing Team
Margot Riou, Clémentine Hilaire, Tiphaine Ragueneau, Marie Zugolaro, Blandine Jaffrain – France
Current World Sailing Ranking: 10

Edge Racing
Celia Willison, Charlotte Porter, Ruby Scholten, Paige Cook, Alison Kent – New Zealand
Current World Sailing Ranking: 13

Fusion Australia
Clare Costanzo, Juliet Costanzo, Emma Harrison, Jessica Grimes, Anneliese Scholten – Australia
Current World Sailing Ranking: 14

2.0 Women’s Racing
Megan Thomson, Serena Woodall, Anna Merchant, Chelsea Rees, Rebecca Gmuer Hornell – New Zealand
Current World Sailing Ranking: 26

Team Kattnakken
Lea Richter Vogelius, Annette Strøm, Helle Jespersen, Sille Christensen, Joan Wester Hansen – Denmark
Current World Sailing Ranking: 69

Team Ladies
Eunjin Kim, Songeun Ku, Jiseon Moon, Yunseo Cho, Dongmin Kim – South Korea
Current World Sailing Ranking: 138

Seven Feet Team
Ekaterina Chashchina, Daria Istratova, Anna Sannikova, Aleksandra Voloshenko, Aleksandra Shutafedova – Russia
Current World Sailing Ranking: unranked

Team Join Sailing Ladies
Yuting Lu, Li Li, Yangi Cui, Ziyi Wang, Yingda Li, Dan Sun – China
Current World Sailing Ranking: unranked

Team FAREAST Ladies
Xiaowen Ni, Xufeng Huang, Xiaoni Li, Shuke Zheng, Tingting Pan – China
Current World Sailing Ranking: unranked

WIM Series – Event details – Results – Facebook – Past winners

Standings in WIM Series 2019 (after two events)
1. Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team, Pauline Courtois – FRA, 43
2. WINGS, Anna Östling – SWE, 38
3. Team Emerson, Marie Björling Duell – SWE, 30
4. Team Mac, Lucy Macgregor – GBR, 25
5. Matchmoiselles by Normandy Elite Team, Margot Vennin – FRA, 25
6. L2 Match Racing Team, Marinella Laaksonen – FIN, 25
7. Mermaid Sailing Team / New Sweden Match Racing Team, Claire Leroy – FRA, 22
8. Team Kattnakken, Trine Palludan / Lea Richter Vogelius – DEN, 22
9. Dutch Match Racing Team, Renée Groeneveld – NED, 18
10. Team Bergqvist Match Racing, Johanna Bergqvist – SWE, 12
11. APCC Women Sailing Team, Margot Riou – FRA, 12
12. Vela Racing, Nicole Breault – USA, 10
13. No Name Sailing Team, Chloé Le Bars – FRA, 10
14. Swiss Women Match Racing Team, Alexa Bezel – SUI, 6

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