Swedish event revised for World Tour

London, UK (June 16, 2020) – GKSS Match Cup Marstrand, the long standing world championship level event of the World Match Racing Tour, will be revised this year with local-only invited teams and no on-shore activities, due to the impact of the global COVID-19 crisis.

The popular Swedish match racing event, to be held in 2020 on July 2-4, remains part of the World Match Racing Tour and will return as a world championship level event of the Tour in 2021.

For this year’s scheduled event, organizers GKSS (Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club) and marketing agency CREATE will host twelve local teams over the shortened three day event, competing in the GKSS owned Far East 28 Regatta boats, and including the Nordea Women’s Trophy. It is the second consecutive year that sponsor Nordea has supported the Women’s Trophy in Marstrand.

Confirmed skippers include last year’s Nordea Women’s Trophy winner Anna Östling (SWE), Swedish Olympic gold medallist Max Salminen, local favourite Johnie Berntsson (SWE), defending Match Racing World Champion Phil Robertson (NZL), and America’s Cup sailor Kyle Langford (AUS). Both Robertson and Langford are currently resident in Gothenburg, Sweden. ­

“It is great that all of Sweden will have the opportunity to follow the regatta this year,” commented Match Cup Marstrand Event Manager Marcus Dunér. “It means a lot to the competitors to be able to sail, particularly during a year when we cannot have spectators or on-shore activities.”

Nordea Women’s Trophy skippers
Anna Östling (SWE)
Linnea Floser (SWE)
Johanna Bergqvist (SWE)
Klara Wester (SWE)
Sanna Matsson (SWE)
Clara Svensdotter (SWE)

Match Cup Marstrand skippers
Phil Robertson (NZL)
Max Salminen (SWE)
Nicklas Dackhammar (SWE)
Johnie Berntsson (SWE)
Jesper Stålheim (SWE)
Kyle Langford (AUS)

Tour information – Event details – Facebook

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 organized 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.

2020 World Match Racing Tour Schedule: click here

The WMRT takes place in identically supplied racing yachts which change for each event and has been awarded ‘Special Event’ status by the sport’s world governing body – World Sailing. 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).

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: WMRT