New format for Sweden’s WMRT event

Gothenburg, Sweden (February 28, 2020) – The ‘GKSS Match Cup Marstrand’ was announced as the new name of the Swedish world championship event of the 2020 World Match Racing Tour, this year hosting its 26th edition from July 1-5. The event will be sailed in M32 multihulls in collaboration with GKSS (Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club). The 2020 Notice of Race has also been released including an increased USD75,000 prize purse and 14-team field.

The popular annual Swedish match racing event continues its tradition as one of the flagship events of the World Match Racing Tour since the Tour was founded in 2000 – the event was previously named Match Cup Sweden before taking its new title of GKSS Match Cup Marstrand this year. The event attracts tens of thousands of spectators annually to the picturesque island of Marstrand, 30 kilometres to the west of Gothenburg.

Following last week’s announcement by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club to increase its entries to the Bermuda Gold Cup from 12 to 16 teams, GKSS Match Cup Marstrand have also increased their entries from 12 to 14 teams to incorporate a Women’s trophy.

GKSS Race Manager Mattias Rahm explains, “this year we will incorporate the Women’s trophy into the event, which was run separately last year. We have seen the format works very successfully in the mixed Olympic Nacra class and the format will allow us to have 14 teams of the very best male and female skippers. Any teams including at least three female crewmembers will also benefit from a higher weight allowance.”

New for 2020 is also the addition of the Grade 3 GKSS Spring Cup, from May 30-31, as an official qualifier event to the Marstrand world championship event. Held in GKSS’s owned fleet of Far East 28 one-design yachts, the top two placed skippers from ten teams will qualify to GKSS Match Cup Marstrand where they will join the very best match racers from around the world in July to battle for the coveted Marstrand title.

Mattias Dahlstrom (SWE) has been appointed as Principle Race Officer for GKSS Match Cup Marstrand, with International Umpire and Judge Craig Mitchell (GBR) as Chief Umpire. The preliminary entry list will be published in the coming weeks.

2020 World Match Racing Tour Schedule
1. April 24-26 – Ficker Cup, Long Beach CA, USA
2. April 29–May 3 – Congressional Cup® Regatta, Long Beach, California, USA*
3. May 8-10 – Porto Montenegro Match Race, Montenegro
4. May 11-16 – Argo Gold Cup, Bermuda*
5. May 14-17 – Slovenia Match Race Cup, Portorož, Slovenija
6. May 22-24 – NJK Open Spring Cup, Finland
7. May 27-June 1 – Match Race Germany, Langenargen, Germany
8. June 18-21 – Świnoujście Match Race – Polish Match Tour, Poland
9. July 1-5 – GKSS Match Cup Sweden*
10. July 23-26 – Internationaux de France de Match Racing, France
11. July 29-August 1 – Baltic Match Race, Estonia
12. Aug 8-11 – AIRCALIN Match Race, Noumea, New Caledonia
13. Aug 14-16 – Chicago Grand Slam, Chicago, USA
14. Aug 19-23 – International Match Race for the Detroit Cup, USA
15. Aug 27-31 – Oakcliff International, Oyster Bay, USA
16. Sept 2-5 – Thompson Cup, Oyster Bay, USA
17. Sept 17-20 – DBS Marina Bay Cup, Singapore
18. WMRT FINAL – TBA Nov/Dec

* WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Event

Founded in 2000, the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) promotes the sport of match racing around the world and is the longest running global professional series in the sport of sailing. The World Tour represents a series of independently organised and officially sanctioned match racing events. Teams accumulate points from each of the events towards an overall WMRT global ranking, the top twelve teams from which compete in the WMRT Championship Finals at the end of the season.

The WMRT is awarded ‘Special Event’ status by the sport’s world governing body – World Sailing – and the winner of the WMRT each year is crowned World Sailing Match Racing World Champion. Previous Champions include Bertrand Pace (FRA), Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR), Jesper Radich (DEN), Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Peter Holmberg (ISV), Peter Gilmour (AUS), Ian Williams (GBR), Adam Minoprio (NZL), Taylor Canfield (ISV), Phil Robertson (NZL), and Torvar Mirsky (AUS).

The WMRT is a match racing competition with racing taking place in identically supplied racing yachts which change for each event and which place a firm focus on teamwork, strategy and skill. Racing takes place close to shore to create stadium-style viewing for spectators.

Since 2000, the World Match Racing Tour and its events have awarded over USD23million in prize money to sailors which has helped to contribute to the career pathway of many of today’s professional sailors. www.wmrt.com

Source: World Match Racing Tour