The 30th anniversary of GKSS Match Cup Sweden got underway today in picture postcard conditions for the eighteen match racing teams competing at the six-day event including ten open teams, and eight all-female teams racing in the 2024 Nordea Women’s Trophy. It is the first time the event has hosted both the World Match Racing Tour and Women’s World Match Racing Tour in the same week.

As the fresh SW breeze grew during the today with 18-20 knots and clear blue skies, teams from both events were tested to their limits with the nimble Far East 28 yachts finding their pace in the downwind swell.

First to the course in the morning was the eight women’s teams competing for the 2024 Nordea Women’s Trophy including Team WINGS (world rank #1) skippered by Anna Östling, and former women’s match racing world champion Pauline Courtois (world rank #2) with her Match in Pink team from Normandy, France. Both teams started the event with a strong start, posting two wins from their first two races.

Also scoring early wins in the qualifying round robin was Sweden’s Martina Carlsson (Beyond Racing Team, world rank #47) and Renee Groenveld (Dutch Match Racing Team, world rank #21) from the Netherlands – each team posted three wins from five races.

In the Open GKSS Match Cup Sweden class, Denmark’s Jeppe Borch and his Borch Racing team won their two races of the day, with USA’s Chris Poole (Riptide Racing), Sweden’s Johnie Berntsson (Berntsson Sailing Team), New Zealand’s Nick Egnot-Johnson (Knots Racing) and Aurélien Pierroz from France also posting two wins.

“What an amazing start to the event in 18-20 knots and sunshine” commented Borch on the opening day’s conditions. “We had a great day but we know it’s still early in the regatta and we can see the other teams here this week are very competitive.”

Despite the perfect ‘Marstrand’ conditions for the opening day of the anniversary event, the forecast is expected to change towards the latter part of the week with stronger winds likely for the weekend.

“We always expect changing weather here in Marstrand” added Event Manager Mattias Rahm, a previous competitor and winner of GKSS Match Cup Sweden in 2008. “It does look like we will have some stronger winds later this week and possibly in to the weekend, but we have a fantastic team, and we are well prepared.”

Racing starts tomorrow 2 July at 10am local time.

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