Four teams ready for semi-finals in Lysekil
A very windy Lysekil kept everyone ashore on Friday and prevented any racing. The results from Thursday’s quarter-finals will stand and four teams led by skippers Henriette Koch (DEN), Anna Östling (SWE), Pauline Courtois (FRA) and Johanna Bergqvist (SWE) are ready for tomorrow’s semi- finals.
On Thursday, the round-robin ended in spectacular fashion and the quarter-finals kicked off with some fantastic match racing. On Friday, the race committee decided to cancel the competitions due to stormy winds and terminated the quarter-final stage. This means the results from yesterday stand.
Two Swedish teams are qualified. One of them is Anna Östling and her crew – Team Anna, ranked number one in the world.
”We’ve felt more confident and we’ve developed our gennaker sailing that we struggled with last year. We’ve definitely taken a step forward this year but so have the other teams so tomorrow we need to go out and deliver”, says Linnéa Wennergren, trim, Team Anna.
Team Bergqvist Match Racing with skipper Johanna Bergqvist is the other Swedish team in tomorrow’s semi-finals. They took second place in the last WIM Series in Helsinki earlier this summer, but they lost against Östling in the Lysekil Women’s Match round-robin.
”If we get to race against Team Anna, I think it’s going to be an interesting match. We sail completely different and they challenge us, but we’ve taken them before”, says Isabelle Bergqvist, main/tactics in team Bergqvist Match Racing. ”It feels so good to have past quarter-finals, so we can show everyone what we’re made of.”
Clarie Leroy (FRA) with Swedish crew New Sweden Match Racing and Alexa Bezel (SUI) with her Swiss Women Match Racing Team, are therefore out of this year’s competition.
Last year’s finalist and winner of WIM Series 2017, Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink by Nornady Elite Team also qualified for the semi-finals after two victories against Marinella Laaksonen (FIN) as well as Henriette Koch (DEN) won over Antonia Degerlund (FIN).
As the winner of the round robin stage, Koch’s team will get to select their opponent for their semi-final match. A secret that will be revealed in the morning meeting.
Tomorrow’s racing will start 9.30 with semi-finals followed by final.
Results in the quarter-finals in Lysekil Women’s Match:
Claire Leroy, FRA – Johanna Bergqvist, SWE 0 – 2
Pauline Courtois, FRA – Marinella Laaksonen, FIN 2 – 0
Anna Östling, SWE – Alexa Bezel, SUI 2 – 0
Henriette Koch, DEN – Antonia Degerlund, FIN 2 – 0
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The Women¹s International Match Racing Series (WIM Series) is the first and only professional sailing series for women, hosted by the Women¹s International Match Racing Association and joined by the world¹s leading women match racing sailors. Match racing is sailed in two identical boats around a short course, providing fast action close to the crowds on shore. The intense racing is just as exciting for the spectators as it is strategically, tactically and physically challenging for the competing crews.
WIM Series 2018 calendar
(Name of event, Venue, Country: dates (boat type))
Helsinki Women’s Match, Helsinki, Finland : 25 - 29 June (J/80)
Lysekil Women’s Match, Lysekil, Sweden : 6 - 11 August (Fareast 28r)
Women’s Match Racing World Championship, Ekaterinburg, Russia : 14 - 18 August (Ricochet 747)
Swiss International Women’s Match, Ascona, Switzerland : 30 October - 3 November (J/70)
Carlos Aguilar Match Race 2018, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands : 29 November - 2 December (IC 24)
The WIM Series is hosted by WIMRA. Official suppliers are Sailnet, MILK, Sailing Education Association of Sheboygan, Adstream, Fredag and Match Racing Results Service.
Images: A number of hi-res images are available for download on www.wimseries.com/media/
Video: All videos are available on www.wimseries.com/videos/
More information about the Women’s International Match Racing Series:
Press Officer Fabian Bengtsson, media@wimseries.com
Race Director Anna Holmdahl White, anna@wimseries.com
Race Manager Liz Baylis, Liz@wimseries.com
www.wimseries.com
www.facebook.com/WIMSeries
www.twitter.com/WIMSeries
www.youtube.com/WIMRSeries
www.instagram.com/WIMSeries
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Lysekil Women’s Match was founded in 2004, and is with a prize purse of SEK 300 000 the largest annual match racing event for women in the world. The 2018 Lysekil Women’s Match is sailed August 6 – 11, organized by Sailnet Lysekil AB and Lysekils SS Gullmar. The main sponsor of Lysekil Women’s Match is Preem, with the Lysekil Municipality as the host city. Emerson, Kläppen, Sebago, and Svitzer are partners. BMW from Bilia Group is the official car.
A selection of high resolution images from Lysekil Women’s Match is available to download at:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mwdr5nsj84i1iht/AABUlnrhwzKoMZU55YvbL9vYa?dl=0
More information about the Lysekil Women’s Match:
Press Officer Fabian Bengtsson, media@sailnet.se, +46 (0) 70 459 72 12
Project Manager Anna Holmdahl White, anna@sailnet.se, +46 (0) 73 068 42 92
www.lysekilwomensmatch.se
www.facebook.com/lysekilwomensmatc
www.twitter.com/lwmlysekil
www.youtube.com/lysekilwomensmatch
www.instagram.com/lwmlysekil
