Courtois and Östling lead final four at Women's Match Race Denmark
by World Match Racing Tour 25 Sep 05:12 BST
23-25 September 2022
2022 Women's Match Race Denmark © WMRT
French world no.1 ranked match racer Pauline Courtois (Match in Pink Normandy Elite Team) and Sweden's Anna Östling (Wings Sailing) have finished top of the qualifying round robin at the 2022 Women's Match Race Denmark to advance to the semi-finals.
The new Danish women's match racing event, hosted by the Royal Danish Yacht Club, is the second stage of the 2022 Women's World Match Racing Tour launched earlier this year.
Joining Courtois, unbeaten in the qualifying round with 11 wins, and Anna Östling in the semi-finals are Denmark's Lea Vogelius representing the Royal Danish Yacht Club, and Australia's Juliet Costanzo from the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in Sydney.
"It was a very good two days for us so we are very happy" commented Courtois. "It has also been difficult because we don't usually train in the bigger boats and it's the first time we have all sailed together so it's quite new for our team but we are improving."
"It feels alot like home for us" added Östling "We've been racing these boats (DS37's) for so many hours so we are very happy to be back - yesterday was great conditions and it was not too shifty, and we managed to get the wins we needed - we're feeling comfortable and confident in the boats."
As a new event on the 2022 Women's World Match Racing Tour, the event has attracted a full twelve teams to the Skovshoved harbour in Copenhagen including four teams from Great Britain, two French teams, three Danish teams, two Swedish teams and Costanzo's Australian team.
For many of the competitors, it is also their first time match racing the bigger DS37 yachts as James Pleasance, Executive Director of the Women's World Match Racing Tour explains;
"One of the unique elements of the Women's World Match Racing Tour, and with the Open World tour, is how the teams must adapt their skills to different boats on each stage of the tour. The DS37's are much heavier and more physical boats than many of the teams are used to, however all the crews have been quick to learn the characteristics of the boats over the last few days."
Racing continues Sunday with the semi-finals and finals in expected lighter air conditions.
Qualifying results summary:
About Women's World Match Racing Tour
The Women's World Match Racing Tour was launched in 2022 to continue the hugely successful legacy of the WIM Series (Women's International Match Racing Series) providing a global match racing series for female sailors. The name of the WIM Series has been changed and re-launched as the Women's World Match Racing Tour with it's continued mission to expand and strengthen global match racing and promote opportunities for competitive women's sailing at every level. The Women's World Match Racing Tour is the world's first and only professional sailing series for women providing a valuable pathway for aspiring female world champions in the sport of sailing. womenswmrt.com