Chicago, IL (19 September 2025) – After a third day of unseasonable light airs on Lake Michigan, the qualifying round-robin stage of the World Sailing Women’s Match Racing World Championship concluded, advancing the top eight teams to the quarter-final stage. France’s Pauline Courtois and the Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team led the round-robin stage with ten wins and just one loss.
Despite an earlier start, it was another long and patient day on the water for the twelve teams competing at the 2025 Women’s Match Racing World Championship hosted by Chicago Yacht Club. Completing the qualifying round-robin in the late afternoon, the top eight teams advanced to the quarter-finals whilst the day spelled the end of the competition for the four bottom-placed skippers Celia Willison (NZL), Kristine Mauritzen (DEN), Kenza Coutard (FRA) and Martina Carlsson (SWE).
Safely through to the quarter-finals, Sweden’s Anna Östling and the Wings Sailing team secured a crucial earlier win against defending women’s match racing world champions Match in Pink Team from France, skippered by Pauline Courtois. Courtois and team had remained undefeated at a world championship since the 2024 Women’s Match Racing World Championship in Jeddah.
As the quarter-final pairings were decided, Östling was paired with Denmark’s Lea Vogelius/ Team WOW. Courtois was paired with eighth-placed Julia Aartsen/ Team Out of the Box from the Netherlands. Aartsen and team narrowly missed leaving the competition today, but a deciding win against New Zealand’s Celia Willison secured their place in the quarters. “Today was a tricky one for us,” added Aartsen on their return to the dock, “Shifty winds, constantly changing, and waves coming at us from every direction. We didn’t kick off the event in the way we had hoped, but little by little, we managed to find our rhythm again. We now have a tough match against Pauline [Courtois] in the quarter-finals, but we are ready to battle all the way for the win!”
The remaining two pairings see USA’s Nicole Breault/ Vela Racing against Australia’s Juliet Costanzo, and New Zealand’s Megan Thomson/ 2.0 Racing against France’s Julia D’Amodio/ Shark Caviar Team.
As the afternoon progressed, the race area was moved to a more favourable location in search of breeze, but as the wind died completely, Race Director Anne Malledant made the decision to abandon racing for the day after the first three races, which saw wins for Östling, Thomson and Courtois in their respective pairings.
The forecast for tomorrow’s final day of the world championship shows signs of an earlier breeze with the race schedule brought forward to an earlier start at 9am, with the intention to conclude the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final to decide the 2025 World Sailing Women’s Match Racing World Champion.
For live results, follow https://womenswmrt.com/live-results/
For images, visit https://gallery.hannahleenoll.com/2025-womens-match/
Round-Robin Results after Day 3:
- 🇫🇷 Pauline Courtois 7-0 100%
- 🇳🇿 Megan Thomson 7-2 78%
- 🇸🇪 Anna Östling 6-2 75%
- 🇩🇰 Lea Richter Vogelius. 5.5-2 69%
- 🇦🇺 Juliet Costanzo 4-2 67%
- 🇺🇸 Nicole Breault 4-4 50%
- 🇳🇱 Julia Aartsen 2-4 33%
- 🇩🇰 Kristine Mauritzen 2-5 29%
- 🇸🇪 Martina Carlsson 2-6 25%
- 🇳🇿 Celia Willison 1-5 17%
- 🇫🇷 Julia D’Amodio 1-5 17%
- 🇫🇷 Kenza Coutard 1-6 14%
For more information on the Women’s World Match Racing Tour, visit https://womenswmrt.com
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