Women's showdown

Joakim Hermansson previews next week's women's event at the Swedish Match Cup in Marstrand

On Monday, 4 July, the Swedish Match Cup kicks off with the first matches in the women’s class. The event is one of the largest in Sweden, and with the right weather conditions a new spectator record may be set. The old record is 150,000 people in a week in 2001. Home favourite Marie Björling from the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club appreciates the crowd:

"It’s a great feeling to sail along the rocks and hear all the cheering and ovations. We would definitely like to do that again! This year it will be some extra excitement and challenge, since we for the first time will race in the new Swedish Match 40 boats," she says.

The new boats are designed by Swede Pelle Petterson and are built by Maxi Yachts. They have already been raced in other events on the Swedish Match Tour - in Portugal last year and on Elba this spring - and they are also used by America’s Cup-syndicates for training. For the ladies the Swedish Match Cup will be their premiere in the new boats.

Marie Björling and her crew in Team Schenker have won the Swedish Match Cup for the last three years, and with another victory this year they will be the most decorated women crew since ladies began competing on Marstrand in 1999. But the competition is the best possible, with most of the names in the top of the world ranking:

Claire Leroy (1), FRA. Last year this Frenchwoman seemed fairly new on the match racing circuit, but she made quite an impression in Marstrand. She missed the finals by a hair’s breadth, and ended up beating American veteran skipper Betsy Alison in the match for third place. Later that summer, she returned to Sweden, finishing as runner-up in the Lysekil Women’s Match. Since then, she has gone from strength to strength, and is now topping the world ranking.

Marie Björling (2), SWE. Despite the fact that she lives in Stockholm on the east coast, and the rest of her crew in or near Göteborg, home skipper Marie manages to keep Team Schenker together. Her crew has topped the world ranking for the last few years, but Marie’s maternity-leave last year and a disappointing result in Calpe this spring has made her drop to second place on the current world ranking. Marie and her crew have a number of world championship medals to their merit, and have a three-year winning streak in Marstrand.

Nina Braestrup (3), DEN. Since the 2003 Nordic Match-racing Championship, Nina has won no major events, even though she always finishes among the best in those events she participates in. In last year’s Swedish Match Cup, the Dane and her crew finished fifth, while they made it to third place in Lysekil later that summer. Before Nina took up match-racing her experience was mostly from fleet racing keelboats, and some Yngling. In 2002 she won the Italian Trentino Match Race, following it up with a second place in 2003.

Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen (6), DEN. Like so many other Nordic elite skippers, this Dane began her sailing career in Optimist Dinghies, but has also gained international success in the Olympic Yngling class. Lotte has trained in the Danish DS-match racers at KDY’s match-racing centre in Skovshoved. In 2003 Lotte and her crew won the Europeans and placed second in the Worlds, adding to their previous Worlds bronze and Nordic gold medals. She lost last year’s Marstrand finals in three straight matches.

Christelle Philippe (7), FRA. We know very little about this Frenchwoman, except that she reached number three on the world ranking last summer, having previously been hovering around places 10-15. According to those who have competed against her, she is often one of the top contenders. Christelle makes her début in the Swedish Match Cup this year.

Linda Rahm (11), SWE. Linda is the second GKSS skipper in the Swedish Match Cup, and made it to the line-up by winning the hair-raising qualifiers in mid-May. In August last year, her pregnancy was far advanced, but she nevertheless opened the Lysekil Women’s Match in magnificent style, and came very close to making it to the finals. Now, she is back from maternity-leave, and has been training hard with her crew in Team Koncentra. Linda is someone to reckon with in Marstrand.

Sandy Hayes (17), USA. Sandy may be the only overseas participant in this year’s event, but this is not her first time in Marstrand. However, this is her début as skipper in the Swedish Match Cup, after five years as bowman on fellow American Betsy Alison’s crew. Sandy has extensive match-racing experience, as skipper as well as crew, and has also been sailing larger yachts in a large number of different events.

Malin Millbourn (25), SWE. Do not let her place on ranking, the result of a leave of absence last year, deceive you. On the contrary, in 2003 Millbourn won the Match Racing Worlds and finished second in the Europeans, and she finished third in the 2001 and 2002 Swedish Match Cup. She is definitely to be reckoned with. This year, she is crewed by GKSS-skipper Malin Källström’s crew in Marstrand. On her previous visits, she sailed for Stockholm club KSSS, but now she is back under the GKSS’s flag. Just like when she won the 1992 Europe-dinghy Worlds.