Aartsen and Courtois Steer Debut Bermuda Women’s Match Race into Quarter Finals
by Women’s WMRT 31 Oct 07:33 PDT
28 October – 3 November 2024
Close competition in the IOD fleet during round robin phase © Ian Roman / WMRT
Julia Aartsen from the Netherlands and France’s Pauline Courtois concluded the round robin phase of the inaugural Aspen Bermuda Women’s Match Racing Regatta yesterday, sharing the lead with six wins and one loss each.
The two skippers guide the eight all-female teams into today’s quarter finals. The Aspen Bermuda Women’s Match Racing Regatta is the final event of the 2024 Women’s World Match Racing Tour championship season, which will crown this weekend’s 2024 women’s tour champion.
The Dutch helmswoman secured first place in the round robin through a tie-break after defeating her French opponent in their direct matchup.
“We finished on top alongside the French team, but we won the race against her, which exceeded our expectations since we anticipated competitive racing,” Aartsen shared in an interview with Bermuda’s The Royal Gazette.
Aartsen and her ‘Team Out of the Box’ crew are experiencing Bermuda for the first time, traveling from Amsterdam, as well as sailing the IOD (International One Design) for the first time. She admits it has been challenging to master due to limited practice time in Bermuda.
“We don’t have IODs in the Netherlands, but we were able to do some preliminary training at home in a Dragon,” Aartsen noted. “However, the IODs are so distinctive; it feels like learning entirely new skills. It has been quite a learning curve, especially with the windy conditions on the opening day, but we performed much better yesterday – we maintained control, had good speed, and that led us to all our victories.”
Courtois also expressed satisfaction with her performance as the regatta progresses.
“We won four matches for our qualification, so we are now prepared for the quarter finals. We are happy with our progress so far. There aren’t any boats like these in France, so it’s always a challenge, but we enjoy it. The wind can be tricky, but we are adapting to the conditions.”
The Aspen Bermuda Women’s Match Racing Regatta marks the first all-female match racing event held in Bermuda as an official stage of the Women’s World Match Racing Tour, which was established in 2013 as the WIM Series and re-launched in 2022 as the only global all-female series in sailing.
The 2024 Aspen Bermuda Women’s Match Racing Regatta is the concluding event of the 2024 women’s world tour, and both Aartsen and Courtois, as well as New Zealand’s Megan Thomson, are still in contention for the overall series title this weekend. Defending tour champion Anna Östling from Sweden and her Team WiNGS are participating in Bermuda, but they cannot win the overall tour championship due to the team’s commitments at the Women’s America’s Cup over the summer.
Round Robin Overall Positions:
1. Julia Aartsen/ Team Out of the Box 6-1
2. Pauline Courtois/ Match in Pink 6-1
3. Anna Östling/ Team WINGS 5-2
4. Lea Vogelius/ Team Katnakken DK 5-2
5. Megan Thomson/ 2.0 Racing 2-5
6. Kristine Mauritzen/ Those Seagulls 2-5
7. Juliet Costanzo/ Easy Tiger Racing 0.5-6
8. Sophie Otter/ Otter Racing 0-7
View live results HERE
View event gallery HERE
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