Four team ready for semi-finals in Lysekil

The quarter finals are done and four teams will compete to become 2019´s World Champion in Women’s Match Racing.

There was a late start to the quarter finals due to no winds what so ever in the morning, but by lunch-time the wind kicked in. Four teams headed out to fight in the first flights of the quarter finals:
Team Bergqvist Match Racing went head to head with Claire Leroy and her Mermaid Sailing Team, and Groeneveld with her Dutch Match Racing Team took on Anna Östling and team WINGS.

For Claire Leroy and Johanna Bergqvist the flights were tight, and the quarterfinal series needed a fifth and final race to determine which team would go on to the semi-finals.
It was Leroy who took the first two matches, which put pressure on Team Bergqvist Match Racing, leading up to the third race. The Swedes managed to turn the scores around and tie, taking the series to a fifth race. And what a race – both teams delivered, ending with Leroy managing to cross the finish line just before Bergqvist. Disappointment for the young Swedes.
– We had the chance, but unfortunately, we could not pass her today, says Johanna Bergqvist after missing out on the semi-finals.

Claire Leroy is pleased after reaching their goal, getting through to the semi-finals after a tough battle with Team Bergqvist:
– It was close, they were always coming back and we had a tight game. It was one of the best quarter finals I have ever sailed. They sailed well, but today we were a little bit better, but not much.

In the second quarterfinal, WINGS, with skipper Anna Östling took the first race against Renée Groeneveld, but with three straight wins the Dutch turned the quarter finals around, eliminating the Swedish team, and joining Leroy in the next round.

After a day of waiting it was finally time for the remaining four teams to hit the water.
World number one, Pauline Courtois, might have wondered about her choice of quarter final opponents as Marie Björling Duell’s Team Emerson took the first match. But the French team bounced back and defeated the Swedes in the next three races.
Reigning World Champion, Lucy Macgregor, who sailed through Round Robin with 10 wins and only one loss, was eager to get out.
– We had no races yesterday, so it was really good to get on the boat and back in rhythm again.Facing off with Nicole Breault, Lucy Macgregor showed everyone why she is the reigning two time World Champion, when they secured a spot in the semi-finals after sailing home three in a row.
– We won them by a fair way in the end, but the wind was very light and I think all of us concentrated pretty hard to make sure we secured it, says Lucy Macgregor after making it to the final day.A day full of though races awaits in the morning, staring of with the semi-finals deciding who will make it on becoming 2019’s World Champion.

In the Semi-finals (skipper, team, ranking, nation):
Lucy Macgregor, Team Mac, 18, (GBR) – 2018 World Champion
Pauline Courtois, Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team, 1, (FRA)
Claire Leroy, Mermaid Sailing Team, 13, (FRA)
Renée Groeneveld, Dutch Match Racing Team, 20, (NED)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Women’s International Match Racing Series (WIM Series) is the first and only professional sailing series for women, hosted by the Women’s International Match Racing Association (WIMRA) and joined by the world’s 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.

The WIM Series is hosted by WIMRA. Official suppliers are Sailnet, SEBAGO, Beckman Media, FREDAG, Klockworks and Match Racing Results Service.

For more information on the 2019 WIM Series, visit www.wimseries.com or follow us on social media:
www.facebook.com/WIMSeries
www.twitter.com/WIMSeries
www.youtube.com/WIMRSeries
www.instagram.com/WIMSeries

Images: A number of hi-res images are available for download on www.wimseries.com/media/

More information about the Women¹s International Match Racing Series:
WIM Series Press Officer Fabian Bengtsson, media@wimseries.com
WIM Series Director Anna Holmdahl White, anna@wimseries.com
WIM Series Race Manager Liz Baylis, liz@wimseries.com