2019 CHINA International Women’s Match Race to Debut in Shanghai
On 11-16th October 2019, the inaugural 2019 China International Women’s Match Race, the final event of the 2019 WIM Series, will be held in Shanghai on the Dishui Lake. The Women’s International Match Racing Association (WIMRA), Chinese Yachting Association (CYA), Shanghai Administration of Sports and Administration Committee of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Lin-Gang Special Area have collaborated to launch this high level race in China.
Launched in 2013, the Women’s International Match Racing Series (WIM Series) is the first and only professional sailing series for women, delivering a global circuit of fierce competition where the world’s best sailors compete and thrive. The 2019 WIM Series comes to China for the first time and we expect the event be a great success.
The inaugural event has attracted 12 teams and 60 women sailors from Sweden, France, Denmark, Russia, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and China. The sailors represent a cross section of the international sailing scene with the top women sailors such as Olympians, National Champions, World Champions, and Volvo Ocean Race veterans to compete alongside rising young stars for gold and glory on Dishui Lake.
The idea of bringing the WIM Series to China came from Demolar Du, CEO of Fareast Boats, the builder of the competition’s Fareast 28R boats, based in Shanghai. Ms. Du welcomed the sailors to Shanghai: “With the support of WIMRA, CYA and local government, the inaugural China International Women’s Match Race lands successfully in Shanghai, China this year. As the local event executive, we will try our best to make a unique and wonderful event. May all the teams have a good visit to Dishui Lake.”
”It is great to be here in Shanghai Lin-Gang and to see the venue at Dishui Lake. The organizers have put on a great work and we have the world’s best teams here so I am looking forward to seeing some fantastic match racing this week”, remarked Anna Holmdahl White, WIM Series Director on arriving at the Shanghai Sailing Center venue.
Xiaowen Ni, skipper of the Chinese Team FAREAST Ladies, has a strong history of Olympic sailing and training in match racing prior to the 2012 London Olympics, and will be making her debut on the WIM Series in Shanghai: “I would like to think the organization for all of their hard work. We are very happy to be here and meet so many top women’s teams! In the following days, we will enjoy the racing and make friends with the other teams. For us, the aim is not only to go on the podium, but also taking this good opportunity to make contribution to the development of the women’s match race in the whole world.”
No stranger to women’s match racing events is Pauline Courtois, France, the 2-time reigning WIM Series Champion and current World Sailing number one ranked skipper. ”It’s my first time in China and I am very excited to be here. We love the Fareast 28R boats, it’s the third time this year we’ve had the chance to sail in them. They are technical but fun and fast. It’s always a pleasure to meet and sail against the other teams and we can’t wait to start racing!” Exclaimed the skipper of the Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team when she returned to land after the training session on Friday.
Racing begins on Saturday 12 October with the round robin where all teams will face each other. The top four teams from the round robin will advance to the quarterfinals while the next six will have a second change in the repechage stage to advance to the quarter-finals. The semi-finals and finals will follow. The completion will conclude on Wednesday 16 October and the champions will be crowned.
Teams Competing in the 2019 China International Women’s Match Race:
Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team
Pauline Courtois, Maëlenn Lemaître, Louise Acker, Nathalie Corson, Claire Pruvot – France
Current World Sailing Ranking: 1
The Match In Pink by Normandy Elite Team come into the 2019 WIM Series as the two-time defending Series champions and started off the 2019 season with a dominant win in their home waters of Le Havre. The skipper, 30 year old sport teacher Pauline Courtois from Brest, started sailing at seven and racing at nine, and she has been in match racing on different positions since 2011. In 2013 she finished runner-up when calling the tactics for Julie Bossard in the WIM Series event in St Quay. In 2013 she also finished third in the national championships. Pauline made her skipper debut on the WIM Series at the 2014 Women’s Match Race Golfe du Morbihan. Her favourite boat is the RS 800, and for match racing the Elliot 6m, but she also likes sailing in J/80 and Beneteau Open 5.70. And since 2016 she’s added the Tour de France à la Voile to her resume.
Team Bergqvist Match Racing
Johanna Bergqvist, Isabelle Bergqvist, Johanna Thiringer, Beata Törneman, Julia Carlsson – Sweden
Current World Sailing Ranking: 3
Team Bergqvist Match Racing started sailing together 4 years ago in Gothenburg, Sweden. They are traveling the world together to compete in the WIM Series, Open Regattas & Youth Regattas. Helmed by Johanna Bergqvist, the team is currently 4th in the Women’s World Match Racing Rankings and 39th in the Open Rankings! They are taking advantage of every opportunity presented to them to compete in the top level match racing events, and have shown that they can achieve podium finishes against the top teams.
Matchmoiselles by Normandy Elite Team
Margot Vennin, Juliette Dubreuil, Clotilde Ponçon, Chloé Salou, Sophonie Affagard – France
Current World Sailing Ranking: 7
As one of the youngest skippers on the WIM Series, Margot Vennin, 23, made her skipper debut on the WIM Series at the 2017 International Bedanne’s Cup. When not racing Margot is an engineering student from Paris. She only began match racing in September of 2016 following a successful international career in dinghies with a top ten finish at the 420 World Championship and winning the the French Inshore Youth Championship as crew. Her recent match racing successes include a second place finish in the 2018 French Women’s MR Championship. Margot and her team are looking towards the WIM Series podium in 2019.
APCC Women Sailing Team
Margot Riou, Clémentine Hilaire, Tiphaine Ragueneau, Marie Zugolaro, Blandine Jaffrain – France
Current World Sailing Ranking: 10
Margot Riou has put together a young team of students who share the same passion for sailing with the same motivation for competition and formed the APCC Women Sailing Team (Equipage Féminin – APCC). The team from Pornichet is making a mark on the J/80 fleet racing circuit in France as well as the match racing circuit. Riou and her team made their debut at the 2017 Bedanne’s Cup following a silver medal performance at the 2017 French Women’s Match Racing Championship. They plan to continue to build on their experience and aim for the podium of the WIM Series.
Edge Racing
Celia Willison, Charlotte Porter, Ruby Scholten, Paige Cook, Alison Kent – New Zealand
Current World Sailing Ranking: 13
Celia is from a Kiwi sailing family and began sailing in an Optimist dinghy at Sandspit Yacht Club when she was seven, progressing through the youth dinghy classes including Starling and 29er. She began keelboat sailing as a bowman on Rantan II (an Elliot 50) competing in many inshore, coastal and offshore races including Auckland to Fiji race in 2016. Currently Celia is in her second year of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS) Youth Training Program as a helm having done two years of crewing as a bowman then a trimmer. Celia has represented New Zealand at many youth events including Nespresso, Harken, Hardy International Match Cup and Aircalin Match Racing Regatta. Celia’s best results as a helm include winning the Auckland Women’s Keelboat Championship in 2017 and placing 3rd at the 2017 Marinassess Women’s Match Racing event. In February 2018 Celia trimmed on Clare Costanzo’s women’s team at Hardy Cup Youth Match Racing event. Celia is in her third year of Nursing at the Auckland University of Technology. The team made their WIM Series debut at the 2018 Helsinki Women’s Match and are returning in 2019 in Shanghai.
Fusion Australia
Clare Costanzo, Juliet Costanzo, Emma Harrison, Jessica Grimes, Anneliese Scholten – Australia
Current World Sailing Ranking: 14
Clare Costanzo, 22, is one of the latest match racing skippers to come from the Australian match racing “factory” known as the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club. She began match racing as a skipper in 2014 and won the Australian Women’s Match Racing Nationals in 2016. Clare was one of two all-female teams competing in the 2017 Youth Match Racing World Championship and made her WIM Series debut at the 2017 Busan Cup. She will be returning to the Series for the 2019 China International Women’s Match Race.
2.0 Women’s Racing
Megan Thomson, Serena Woodall, Anna Merchant, Chelsea Rees, Rebecca Gmuer Hornell – New Zealand
Current World Sailing Ranking: 26
2.0 Women’s Racing Team is a team of young women, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in match racing and other sailing events. They have been sailing as a team for less than a year, however many of our members have been racing with and against one another since our early days in sailing and feel fortunate to be able to go Yachting with their “best mates”. The team is on a steep learning curve and are using each regatta as an opportunity to acquire and refine skills. The team members come from diverse sailing backgrounds: Bex and Anna from a predominantly keelboat background while Megan, Serena and Chelsea having progressed through a range of dinghy classes. But one thing holds them together: they love match racing and thoroughly enjoy the team aspect. The team will make their WIM Series debut at the 2019 China International Women’s Match Race in Shanghai.
Team Kattnakken
Lea Richter Vogelius, Annette Strøm, Helle Jespersen, Sille Christensen, Joan Wester Hansen – Denmark
Current World Sailing Ranking: 69
Lea Richter Vogelius made her skipper debut on the WIM Series at the 2019 Normandie Match Cup. As a long time crew member of the very competitive TEAM Ulrikkeholm and Team Kattnakken, Lea is no stranger to the women’s match racing circuit. She will also be stepping in for skipper Trine Palludan when the team competes in the 2019 China International Women’s Match Race in Shanghai.
Team Ladies
Eunjin Kim, Songeun Ku, Jiseon Moon, Yunseo Cho, Dongmin Kim – South Korea
Current World Sailing Ranking: 138
Eunjin Kim leads the only female yacht racing team in Korea. Kim started sailing in 1995 in college for fun then took a break while raising her kids before starting again in 2012. Since 2015 Kim and her team, Team Ladies, started training at the Gyeonggi Yacht School in the Ara Marina in Korea’s capital, Seoul in J/24s. The team has very successfully competed on the open keelboat circuit in Korea and Japan including an open win in the Saemangeum International Yacht Race in 2015. Team Ladies made their WIM Series debut in the 2017 Busan Cup and are returning for the 2019 China International Women’s Match Race.
Seven Feet Team
Ekaterina Chashchina, Daria Istratova, Anna Sannikova, Aleksandra Voloshenko, Aleksandra Shutafedova – Russia
Current World Sailing Ranking: unranked
Ekaterina Chashchina and her team represent the Seven Feet Yacht Club in Vladivostok, Russia. At home, in Vladivostok, they race dinghies and also race together on Platu 25 class yachts in predominantly fleet racing regattas . Additionally, all of the sailors in the team have regional and international regatta experience. Despite their young age the ladies are very active participants not only inshore but also long distance offshore races. Chashchina made her match racing debut in 2009 at the Busan Cup and won the Russian Championship in 2011.
Now most of our team work with local sailing federation, open sailing school for children, coaching. As a team they will make the WIM Series debut at the 2019 China International Women’s Match Race in Shanghai.
Team Join Sailing Ladies
Yuting Lu, Li Li, Yangi Cui, Ziyi Wang, Yingda Li, Dan Sun – China
Current World Sailing Ranking: unranked
Team Join Sailing Ladies is made up of some Chinese amateur sailing enthusiasts. Skipper Yuting Lu began to race Optimist dinghies in 2004 when she joined Shanghai Water Sports Center for training. Since 2006, she has won the gold medal in individual/team at the national Optimist Championship. Team members Li Li, Yangi Cui, Ziyi Wang, Yingda Li, and Dan Sun, all have extensive keelboat racing experience. They are excited to compete with the world’s top sailors in their first international event as they make their WIM Series debut in Shanghai.
Team FAREAST Ladies
Xiaowen Ni, Xufeng Huang, Xiaoni Li, Shuke Zheng, Tingting Pan – China
Current World Sailing Ranking: unranked
Team FAREAST Ladies was formed by the top Chinese sailors from different classes. Xufeng Huang won the bronze medal in the 470 class at the 2013 World Championship in France and represented China at the 2012 London Olympics to achieve the best result win this class in China’s history. Tingting Pan, Xiaoni Li, and Xiaowen Ni have represented China in the Women’s World Championships, Asian Games, and European Championships many times. Xiaoni Li finished 8th in the Yngling class in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. All of them have been engaged in the yachting industry for more than 20 years. The teams makes their WIM Series debut at the 2019 China International Women’s Match Race.
