Sweden’s Anna Östling and her Team Wings successfully defended their Nordea Women’s Trophy title defeating Renee Groeneveld and her Dutch Women’s Match Racing Team in a tense final. This was the second event of the Women’s World Match Racing Tour held July 1-6 in Marstrand, Sweden.

Racing in the Fareast 28R keelboats, Östling/ Team Wings met with Groeneveld/ Dutch Match Racing Team in the finals after each team had defeated their respective semi-final opponents Julia Aartsen (NED)/ Team Out of the Box, and Pauline Courtois (FRA)/ Match in Pink.

After Groeneveld secured the first race, the Wings Team equalized in the second race 1-1. In the winner-take-all decider over 3 laps of the shorter course, the teams were less than a boat length of each other down the final leg, but it was the Wings Team that were able to gybe first to the finish and just pull away from Groeneveld to cross the line ahead, much to the delight of their committed fans lining the Marstrand rocks.

“I’m so exhausted!” said a jubilant Östling crossing the finish line. “It’s the craziest final we have ever done, three laps with such a gusty breeze and many lead changes. Renee was a very strong opponent, but we never give up as a team and today was our day – we are thrilled and I am so happy for all the team that worked so hard for this result!”

Tour information – Results – Facebook

Women’s World Match Racing Tour 2024
~~April 23-26 – Santa Maria Cup – Annapolis USA~~
~~May 2-5 – Casa Vela Cup – San Francisco USA~~
May 17-20 – Normandy Match Cup – Le Havre, France
July 1-6 – Nordea Women’s Trophy / Match Cup Sweden – Marstrand, Sweden
Sept. 5-8 – KDY Women’s Match Race – Skovshoved, Denmark
Oct. 28-Nov. 3 – Bermuda

A team’s Tour points total will be the sum of their best three (3) scores.

The team with the highest score at the end of the season will be 2024 Women’s World Match Racing Tour Champion.

2024 Notice of Tour: https://womenswmrt.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/WWMRT-2024-Notice-of-Tour.pdf

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 series was re-launched as the Women’s World Match Racing Tour with its 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

SOurce: scuttlebutt – https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2024/07/06/ostling-wins-nordea-womens-trophy/