All set for 2023 World Match Racing Tour

The 2023 World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) has a fifteen-event schedule across ten countries, including the return of founding Tour events – the Congressional Cup/USA, Match Cup Sweden, and Bermuda Gold Cup. This marks the 23rd consecutive season of the Tour, the longest running professional series in sailing.

The 2023 WMRT season will comprise of ‘World Tour’ events and ‘World Championship’ events, with all events organized under World Sailing rules as Open match racing events, allowing both men and women skippers, as well as mixed teams to compete. ‘World Championship’ level events award higher points to the annual WMRT leaderboard.

The top 11 skippers on the WMRT leaderboard counting their top four results after the penultimate event in October will qualify to the WMRT Final on December 12-17 in Shenzhen, China. A wild card will make up the minimum 12 teams to be invited, with the field competing for a USD200,000 prize purse and the 2023 Match Racing World Champion title.

The WMRT Final in Shenzhen was unable to go ahead in 2021 and 2022 due to border restrictions during the global pandemic.

Re-joining the 2023 Tour season are two of the original founding events of WMRT – GKSS Match Cup Sweden and Bermuda Gold Cup.

Hosted by the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club since 1994, the GKSS Match Cup Sweden is one of the best-known match racing events in the world attracting thousands of spectators to the picturesque island of Marstrand, 30 kilometres to the west of Gothenburg.

Past champions include Olympic and America’s Cup names such as Peter Gilmour (AUS), Bertrand Pacé (FRA), Dean Barker (NZL), Russell Coutts (NZL), Chris Law (GBR), Björn Hansen (SWE), Mattias Rahm (SWE), Ben Ainslie (GBR), Ian Williams (GBR), Taylor Canfield (USA), Phil Robertson (NZL).

Also returning to the Tour this year is the 71st edition of the famous Bermuda Gold Cup, hosted by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.

The King Edward VII Gold Cup is one of the most coveted match racing trophies in the sport, won by many of sailing’s great names including Chris Dickson (NZL), Peter Gilmour (AUS), Russell Coutts (NZL), Eddie Warden-Owen (GBR), James Spithill (AUS), Ben Ainslie (GBR), Ian Williams (GBR), Taylor Canfield (USA), Johnie Berntsson (SWE), Francesco Bruni (ITA).

“We are delighted to finally announce the 2023 WMRT season,” commented WMRT Executive Director James Pleasance. “We are also looking forward to hosting the WMRT Final in Shenzhen, China at the end of the year now the country has re-opened.”

While World Tour events do not all have prize money as they are mainly Grade 2 events, World Championship level events start from USD75,000 (Congressional Cup, Bermuda Gold Cup) while the prize purse for GKSS Match Cup Sweden is not yet confirmed but expected to be similar.

2023 World Match Racing Tour Schedule (dates include practice days):
April 13-16 – Ficker Cup – Long Beach, CA, USA
April 17-22 – Congressional Cup* – Long Beach, CA, USA
April 27-30 – Szczecin Match Race – Szczecin, Poland
May 11-14 – Porto Montenegro Match Race – Montenegro
May 18-21 – NJK Open Spring Cup – Helsinki, Finland
June 22-25 – OM International Ledro Match Race – Vela Lago Di Ledro, Italy
July 4-8 – GKSS Match Cup Sweden* – Marstrand, Sweden
July 27-30 – Internationaux France Match Race – Pornichet, France
August 17-20 – Chicago Grand Slam – Chicago, IL, USA
August 23-27 – International Match Race for the Detroit Cup – Detroit, MI, USA
August 29-September 2 – Thompson Cup – Oyster Bay NY, USA
September 5-9 – Oakcliff International – Oyster Bay NY, USA
September 20-24 – Baltic Match Race – Haven Kakumäe, Estonia
October 2-7 – Bermuda Gold Cup* – Hamilton, Bermuda
December 12-17 – WMRT FINAL/ Shenzhen Bao’an Match Cup* – Shenzhen, China

*World Championship (WC) Events

Details: https://wmrt.com/

Founded in 2000, the WMRT promotes the sport of match racing around the world and is the longest running global professional series in the sport of sailing. The winner of the WMRT each year is crowned World Sailing Match Racing World Champion.

Previous champions include Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR), Taylor Canfield (USA), Peter Gilmour (AUS), Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Peter Holmberg (ISV), Adam Minoprio (NZL), Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Bertrand Pace (FRA), Jesper Radich (DEN), Phil Robertson (NZL), and Ian Williams (GBR).

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.