Stena Match Cup Sweden

Stena Match Cup Sweden

Organizer	Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club Brandspot
Classes	M32
Venue	Marstrand, Sweden
Type	match racing final on the World Match Racing Tour
No. of competitors	20
Most recent champion(s)	Björn Hansen
Most titles	Peter Gilmour (6)
Official website	www.matchcupsweden.com

Match Cup Sweden (previously Swedish Match Cup, Stena Match Cup Sweden) is a sailing event on the World Match Racing Tour held in Marstrand, Sweden in the beginning of July every year. Organizers of Match Cup Sweden are The Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club and Brandspot.

The tournament consists of an open class and a women’s class, both of which compete in match race sailing. It is one of the pivotal events on the World Match Racing Tour, being among the longest running events on the tour. The event has attracted well over 100.000 spectators ^[1] on an annual basis.

History

The first edition of Match Cup Sweden was held in 1994, then as Swedish Match Cup. The initiator of the event was Swedish sailing legend Magnus Holmberg, ^[2] who with the help from The Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club and Swedish Match arranged the first event in Marstrand, Sweden.

Between 1994 and 2002 the tournament used the DS 37 Matchracer boat, until the introduction of the Swedish Match 40 in 2003. The new boat was designed by another sailing legend, Pelle Petterson, specifically for the Swedish Match Tour, which was the equivalent of today’s World Match Racing Tour.

Due to a change of the Swedish legislation prior to the 2006 event, Swedish Match, being a tobacco company, were prohibited of sponsoring the event. Losing its title sponsor, the 2006 event had to be cancelled, only to return in 2007 under the new name ’’’Match Cup Sweden’’’. The organizers then decided to go back to the original DS 37 Matchracer boats.^[1]

Hall of Fame

For the 15th edition of Match Cup Sweden in 2009, the organizers set up a Hall of Fame for to celebrate the already rich history of the event. Two inductees were elected for the opening of the Hall of Fame; Magnus Holmberg and Peter Gilmour.

Magnus Holmberg, Sweden,was inducted for his vital role in the founding and upbringing of the event, arguably being the most important individual of its history. Along with stellar performances on the water, his place in the Hall of Fame was meant to be.

Peter Gilmour, Australia is, among many big names victorious in Marstrand, the biggest of them all. He celebrated his induction by winning his seventh Match Cup Sweden, meaning that he had won almost half of the editions in the history of the event. A pioneer in matchracing, Gilmour is now both a household name in Marstrand as well as the current acting president of the World Match Racing Tour.

Marstrand seen from the East

Location

One of the most popular locations among the sailors, Marstrand offers a unique combination of world class sailing and an extraordinary spectators’ arena. The narrow waters on the South side of Marstrand brings the audience within meters from the boats, still providing enough wind to create intense sailing. The picturesque environments that Marstrand and its surroundings offer has single-handedly attracted a great number of both world-class sailors and spectators to the event throughout the years.

Results

Open class

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Third place	Fourth place
1994	Peter Gilmour	Ed Baird	Magnus Holmberg	Russell Coutts
1995	Peter Gilmour	Ed Baird	Bertrand Pacé	Magnus Holmberg
1996	Bertrand Pacé	Russell Coutts	Peter Gilmour	Ed Baird
1997	Peter Gilmour	Ed Baird	Jesper Bank	Magnus Holmberg
1998	Peter Gilmour[lower-alpha 1]	Sten Mohr	Dean Barker	Bertrand Pacé
1999	Peter Gilmour[lower-alpha 1]	Ed Baird	Tomislav Basic	Magnus Holmberg
2000	Dean Barker	Bertrand Pacé	Sten Mohr	Magnus Holmberg
2001	Russell Coutts[lower-alpha 2]	Luc Pillot	Magnus Holmberg	Björn Hansen
2002	Dean Barker	Russell Coutts[lower-alpha 2]	Ed Baird	Bertrand Pacé
2003	Chris Law	Karol Jablonski	Peter Holmberg	Jesper Bank
2004	Russell Coutts	Peter Gilmour	Magnus Holmberg	Chris Law
2005	Peter Gilmour	Magnus Holmberg	Dean Barker	Peter Holmberg
2006	no races
2007	Björn Hansen	Magnus Holmberg	Jesper Radich	Mattias Rahm
2008	Mattias Rahm	Torvar Mirsky	Magnus Holmberg	Mathieu Richard
2009	Peter Gilmour	Mathieu Richard	Sebastien Col	Damien Iehl
2010	Ben Ainslie	Jesper Radich	Magnus Holmberg	Torvar Mirsky
2011	Ian Williams	Björn Hansen	Jesper Radich	Peter Gilmour
2012	Björn Hansen	Peter Gilmour	Ian Williams	Phil Robertson
2013	Björn Hansen	Phil Robertson	Simone Ferrarese	Keith Swinton
2014	Björn Hansen	Ian Williams	Taylor Canfield	Francesco Bruni
2015	Björn Hansen	Ian Williams	Keith Swinton	Taylor Canfield

1. under Japanese nationality.
2. under Swiss nationality.

Women’s class

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Third place	Fourth place
1999	Dorte O. Jensen	Christine Briand	Betsy Alison	Marie Björling
2000	Dorte O. Jensen	Betsy Alison	Malin Källström	Marie Björling
2001	Dorte O. Jensen	Malin Källström	Malin Millbourn	Sharon Ferris
2002	Marie Björling	Dorte O. Jensen	Malin Millbourn	Betsy Alison
2003	Marie Björling	Malin Källström	Annette Ström	Malin Millbourn
2004	Marie Björling	Lotte Meldgaard-Pedersen	Claire Leroy	Betsy Alison
2005	Malin Millbourn	Marie Björling	Claire Leroy	Linda Rahm
2006	no races
2007	no women's class
2008	Claire Leroy	Anna Kjellberg	Linda Rahm	Jenny Axhede
2009	Katie Spithill	Anna Kjellberg	Linda Rahm	Lucy MacGregor
2010	Ekaterina Skudina	Renee Groeneveld	Lucy MacGregor	Katie Spithill
2011	Claire Leroy
2012	no women's class
2013	Stephanie Roble
2014	no women's class
2015	no women's class

External links

• Stena Match Cup Sweden website (Swedish) (English)
• Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club website (Swedish) (English)
• Brandspot website (English)
• World Match Racing Tour website (English)

References

1. WMRT.com, Event information.
2. A Perfect Match, written by Joakim Hermansson, p. 26-29.