Elliott 6s adopted in Sweden

Women's Olypmic match race boat to be used for their racing at Stena Match Cup Sweden

World Match Racing Tour event, Stena Match Cup Sweden in Marstrand, will use the new Elliott 6 as the boat for the women’s class. The decision to use the same racing boats as the Olympic Games in London 2012 will create a pinnacle event for women’s match racing.

The use of the Elliott 6 for the women in Stena Match Cup Sweden will further strengthen the premiere match racing event in Sweden, which already is a World Championship event for male match racing skippers and teams, as part of the World Match Racing Tour.

Ten female teams will race the Elliott 6s at Marstrand this year, including two Swedish teams, two Danish and six other international crews from six nations. The teams have a crew of three; all of them are top stars in their countries in female match racing.

“This can become a breakthrough in racing for Swedish women’s elite sailing. It will also increase participation from national teams with all its support and professionalism”, says well known match racer Stefan Rahm, who is also Director of the Swedish Sailing Federation.

The two Swedish teams will be led by Anna Kjellberg, a rising star of the match racing world who was runner-up at Stena Match Cup Sweden for the last two years, and Linda Rahm, previously ranked second in the world.

“The Swedish teams will meet the world’s top ranked teams and stars this summer. It will be a great measure of their potential, any one team of the ten can reach the top of the podium in the end of the week. That’s how tough it will get”, says Martin Sohtell, Project Manager at Brandspot, who is the commercial event organiser.

Stena Match Cup Sweden became one of the earliest events to establish a women’s class in 1999.

“The campaign in the Elliott class is a natural step in a long term commitment that GKSS has had to women’s match racing. It’s really thrilling to tie the team’s athletic efforts to reach the Olympics with the largest sailing event in Sweden”, says Peter Klock, Managing Director of GKSS, comments.