EUROSAF Match Racing: Women's Europeans to start
by Doris Gstatter 12 Oct 2022 00:23 PDT
EUROSAF Match Racing Women's European Championship semi finals © EUROSAF
The 2022 EUROSAF Match Racing, Women's European Championship in Greece starts today. Corfu Sailing Club is organizing the Championship in conjunction with the Hellenic Sailing Federation and EUROSAF.
The course will be situated in the heart of the town of Corfu in the Garitsa Bay, next to the Old Fortress, with the possibility to race just outside the Sailing Club depending on wind conditions. The boats being used for the regatta are Platu 25.
This year's EUROSAF Match Racing, Women's European Championship has two special features. Firstly, the event is part of the Women's World Match Racing Tour (WWMRT). The Tour is a global series designed to promote and grow female participation in sailing and match racing around the world - there are currently over 200 female match racing sailors on the World Sailing global ranking. The inaugural 2022 Tour includes four events: in France, Denmark, the EUROSAF European Championship in Greece, and the World Championship in New Zealand. 34 teams are registered for the Tour; 16 already made it into the ranking list of this season.
Secondly, Corfu Sailing Club launched the initiative to dedicate and connect the race with the global "pink ribbon" campaign. October is the global month for breast cancer awareness, and the women's match racing event is supporting the campaign by using the "pink ribbon" on the t-shirts of the race, with video spots and posts in social media and magazines.
"This year's EUROSAF Match Racing, Women's European Championship links many of the goals that we, at EUROSAF, aim to achieve: promoting sailing, promoting match racing as a discipline, promoting women in the sport, and—importantly—helping to give relevance and visibility through the 'pink ribbon' campaign to the daily struggle of too many women in the world. Inspiring women, supporting them in living their
dreams, and helping them overcome hindrances are powerful ways for sailing to make a difference. I am proud EUROSAF is strongly linked to such an ambition," says EUROSAF president Josep M. Pla.
12 teams from 9 nations are competing from 12 to 16 October in Corfu, including two non-European teams - New Zealand and Australia. The French "Match in Pink" team is ranked number one in the entry list, Pauline Courtois and her team are also current overall leaders in the Women's World Match Racing Tour.
Details about the Women's World Match Racing Tour can be found at womenswmrt.com.