Runners and Riders for Gothenburg Match Cup

Gothenburg, Sweden (May 10th, 2017) – This weekend’s Gothenburg Match Cup marks the final opportunity for teams to gain entry to GKSS Match Cup Sweden. A strong international line-up proves the popularity in Europe for the World Match Racing Tour at this first of many events on the continent this year.

The Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club (GKSS) will host eight teams on the racecourse just outside their clubhouse in Långerdrag, west of Gothenburg’s city centre. The race area is to be tucked in close to shore within the city’s southern archipelago, where the Americas Cup World Series raced in 2015.

Artemis Youth Racing are home for some last minute high performance catamaran training before the Red Bull Youth Americas Cup begins in Bermuda in mid-June. The all Swedish team, led by skipper Rasmus Rosengren, will carry high hopes for the event following several training periods recently in the M32, including this week.

Torvar Mirsky’s Mirsky Racing Team is the favourite going into this event following a third placed finish at Match Cup Australia earlier this year whilst Måns Holmberg of CFA Sports and Jonas Warrer of AARHUS Innovation are also expected to place highly after taking respectable finishes at the World Championship level event.

Caprice Match Race Team skippered by Kim Kling won this event when sailed in keelboats last year and Kling knows the race area well, however didn’t perform as well as expected during the European World Tour level events he raced in last season. After a winter of training Kling will be looking for a performance increase this season.

Further local representation comes from the Cape Crow Vikings skippered by Patrik Sturesson and Team Anna skippered by Anna Östling. Cape Crow Vikings have spent the winter sailing the M32 Monaco Winter Series whilst Team Anna have hit M32 training hard both in Valencia and in Gothenburg this spring. Both teams should have great boat handling and will be looking to apply and adapt their match racing skills from keelboats to climb up the leaderboard during this event.

Closing out the starting eight is the second Danish entry, Aschenbrenner Racing Team. Skipper Joachim Aschenbrenner has posted mixed results since the M32 catamaran was introduced to the Tour last year, but has points on the WMRT leaderboard already this year from the Congressional Cup, the second World Championship level event of the 2017 season where the team placed 7th, ahead of several Tour Card holders.

The forecast is for mixed conditions of 5-16kts from the South East, which will deliver something for both the lightweight and the heavier teams. Whatever the conditions there is sure to be some fierce competition for the prize that awaits the top two teams, a trip to Marstrand for one of the biggest events in the sailing calendar, GKSS Match Cup Sweden.

Gothenburg Match Cup runs 12-14th May, with a double round robin Qualifying round followed by knockout semifinals and Final. For full results, video and images visit wmrt.com or follow our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels.