Women's World Match Racing Tour announces 2025 season
by Women's WMRT 11 Feb 2025 21:48 PST
Women's World Match Racing Tour announces 2025 season © WMRT
The Women's World Match Racing Tour has announced its 2025 schedule of six events in four countries featuring events in the USA, France, Sweden and Bermuda.
Now in its fourth consecutive season, the Women's World Match Racing Tour remains the only all-female global series in sailing, designed to promote and grow participation of women in sailing and match racing. The women's tour is run by the World Match Racing Tour organisation, a long-term Special Event of World Sailing since 2006.
Over 150 women match racing sailors are expected to compete on the Women's World Match Racing Tour this year, including new sailors joining the tour as opportunities continue to grow for women to compete in sailing at a professional level, as Tour Executive Director James Pleasance explains;
"Providing opportunity and events for women to get involved in sailing is key to growing participation. As well as the women's tour, the introduction of the Women's America's Cup in Barcelona last summer was a hugely positive move towards driving equality in the sport, and we now have new sailors and teams keen to get involved in the sport. The Women's WMRT offers a very accessible and affordable way to do that with club supplied boats and accommodations provided by most events."
The 2025 Women's World Match Racing Tour will kick off its season in the USA with the back-to-back stages in San Francisco and Annapolis. The 2nd edition of the Casa Vela Cup, 28-31 May will be hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club with racing directly in front of the impressive clubhouse, with the backdrop of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
The Santa Maria Cup in Annapolis will follow from 4-7 June, hosted by the Eastport Yacht Club on the Chesapeake Bay, at the mouth of the Severn River, 25 miles south of Baltimore. Both events will be sailed in club-supplied J22 yachts.
The Tour will then head to Europe for the Normandy Match Cup, 6-9 June in Le Havre on the North-West coast of France. Due to the scheduling of club events and public holidays, the Santa Maria Cup and Normandy Match Cup overlap dates this year, however with the top three results to count six events, it is hoped the events will provide opportunity for more teams to compete on the Tour.
It's a return to Marstrand on the West coast of Sweden in July for Stage 4 at the Nordea Women's Trophy, 1-6 July. Held alongside the popular Match Cup Sweden on the Open World Match Racing Tour, the combined events will be hosted over six days, hosted by GKSS (Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club) and sailed in Far East 28's boats. Sweden's popular WINGS Team skippered by Anna Östling will be in Marstrand to defend their 2024 title.
Stage 5 sees the Tour head back to the USA for a new event in Chicago's 'Windy City' on the shores of Lake Michigan. The Chicago Yacht Club will host the 2025 Women's Match Racing World Championship from 17-20 September, this year as part of the Women's World Match Racing Tour. The event will be sailed in the club owned fleet of Tom 28's, previously owned by the Chicago Match Race Center founded to bring world class match racing to the shores of Lake Michigan.
The final event of the 2025 season returns to Bermuda from 21-26 October for the Bermuda Women's Match Race, hosted by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club alongside the 73rd edition of the Bermuda Gold Cup on the Open World Match Racing Tour. Eight Open teams and eight Women's teams will be invited. The 2024 event was won by France's Match in Pink team skippered by Pauline Courtois, whose team also clinched the overall 2024 Women's World Match Racing Tour title.
Women's World Match Racing Tour 2025 Schedule
Stage 1 Casa Vela Cup, San Francisco USA, 28-31 May
Stage 2 Santa Maria Cup, Annapolis USA, 4-7 June
Stage 3 Normandy Match Cup, Le Havre, 6-9 June
Stage 4 Nordea Women's Trophy - Match Cup Sweden, Marstrand, 30 June - 5 July
Stage 5 Women's Match Racing World Championship, Chicago, 17-20 Sept
Stage 6 Bermuda Women's Match Race, Bermuda, 21-26 October
*Dates listed race days only
View Notice of 2025 Tour
More information at womenswmrt.com