Rungsted provided the setting for the opening act of the 2026 Women's World Match Racing Tour, with the Royal Danish Yacht Club hosting the KDY Women's Match Race across a gripping week of racing on the Øresund. When the semifinals concluded, the final had taken on an unmistakably Scandinavian character: Sweden's Anna Östling and her Wings Sailing team against Denmark's Lea Vogelius and WOW Racing, a rematch carrying both history and Tour points.
The tournament's narrative pivot came in Round Robin 2, which reshuffled a leaderboard that had looked relatively settled after the opening round. Pauline Courtois, the five-time world champion and current Women's Match Racing World Champion from France, had appeared in control through Round Robin 1, but the second round dismantled that impression. She finished it with 3 wins and 4 losses, and the detail that sharpened the story was who among those losses had come from. One was Julia D'Amodio, who ultimately finished the event in last place overall on 2 wins and 12 losses. By the time the semifinals arrived, Östling had already acted on those signals, defeating Courtois 3-1 to secure her place in the final.
Vogelius was the dominant force of Round Robin 2. The Danish skipper posted 6 wins and 1 loss, the best record of the day, pulling her level with Courtois on 10 wins and 4 losses across the combined rounds. The tiebreak fell in her favour through their head-to-head result, Vogelius having beaten Courtois directly in Round Robin 2. She also beat Östling during the round, dropping only to Kristine Mauritzen. Having sat joint third at the end of Round Robin 1, Vogelius completed the double round robin as overall leader and went into the semifinals as the top seed.
Östling's Round Robin 2 was the second-best performance of the day, 5 wins and 2 losses, and it reflected a campaign that gathered momentum as conditions on the Øresund grew more familiar. After finishing Round Robin 1 on 4 wins and 3 losses, she added victories over Mauritzen, D'Amodio, Aartsen, Carlsson and Olesen to bring her combined tally to 9 wins and 5 losses. An early defeat against Courtois in the round did not derail her. She won the opening race of the semifinal, conceded the second, then took races three and four to close it out 3-1.
Östling leads Wings Sailing alongside crew members Anna Holmdahl White, Linnea Wennergren, Jenny Axhede, Svea Sahlin and Annika Carlunger. The group are two-time winners of this event, having claimed the KDY Women's Match Race title in both 2022 and 2023, and their fluency with the DS37 yachts used throughout the week was evident. After her semifinal win, Östling was candid about what awaited her in the final.
"We love sailing the DS37's," she said. "Lea and her team have been sailing very well all week and they also know these boats and waters well. We're looking forward to a tough final."
On the other side of the draw, Vogelius and WOW Racing, comprising crew members Louise Ulrikkeholm, Sille Christensen, Josefine Rasmussen and Joan Hansen, came through a tightly contested 3-1 semifinal against fellow Danish team Those Segulls, skippered by Kristine Mauritzen. Mauritzen had been among the standout performers of day one, going 5 wins and 2 losses in Round Robin 1, and the home-water familiarity that made her difficult to beat in a round robin format remained evident in the knockout stage. She won the second race of the semifinal, but Vogelius and her crew held firm throughout and advanced.
The two finalists have met at this event before. They contested the 2023 KDY Women's Match Race final, which Östling and Wings Sailing won. Vogelius also finished runner-up in the 2024 edition, on that occasion losing to Danish skipper Camilla Ulrikkeholm Klinkby. Sunday's final gives the home favourite another opportunity to go one better on her own waters.
Alongside the semifinals, placement races settled the final standings from fifth through eighth. Julia Aartsen claimed fifth overall by defeating Louise K Olesen. Olesen then took sixth with a win over Martina Carlsson, who finished seventh as a result. Julia D'Amodio ended in eighth, her only win of the entire event having come against Olesen in Round Robin 2.
Overall standings after RR2
Overall standings after Round Robin 2
| # | Sailor | W | L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lea Vogelius DEN | 10 | 4 | 71% |
| 2 | Pauline Courtois FRA | 10 | 4 | 71% |
| 3 | Anna Östling SWE | 9 | 5 | 64% |
| 4 | Kristine Mauritzen DEN | 9 | 5 | 64% |
| 5 | Julia Aartsen NED | 7 | 7 | 50% |
| 6 | Louise K Olesen DEN | 5 | 9 | 36% |
| 7 | Martina Carlsson SWE | 4 | 10 | 29% |
| 8 | Julia D'Amodio FRA | 2 | 12 | 14% |
Courtois and Vogelius are tied on record; Vogelius leads on head-to-head tiebreak.
RR2 Head-to-head matrix
Head-to-head matrix — Round Robin 2
Row beats column where 1 appears. Vogelius went 6–1, the best record of the round. Courtois lost to D'Amodio, who finished the event in last place overall.
| PC | AÖ | LV | JA | MC | JDA | KM | LKO | W | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pauline Courtois PC | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 43% |
| Anna Östling AÖ | 0 | — | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 71% |
| Lea Vogelius LV | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 86% |
| Julia Aartsen JA | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 71% |
| Martina Carlsson MC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 29% |
| Julia D'Amodio JDA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14% |
| Kristine Mauritzen KM | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — | 1 | 4 | 57% |
| Louise K Olesen LKO | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | 29% |
Round Robin 2 results • Source:
Semi-finals
Semi-finals
Race-by-race results. 1 = win, 0 = loss. First to three wins advances to the final.
| Semi-final 1 | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lea Vogelius DEN Final | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Kristine Mauritzen DEN | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Semi-final 2 | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anna Östling SWE Final | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Pauline Courtois FRA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Placement races
Placement races
| 5th / 6th place | R1 | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Julia Aartsen NED 5th | 1 | 1–0 |
| Louise K Olesen DEN | 0 | 1–0 |
| 6th / 7th place | R1 | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Louise K Olesen DEN 6th | 1 | 1–0 |
| Martina Carlsson SWE | 0 | 1–0 |
| 7th / 8th place | R1 | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Martina Carlsson SWE 7th | 1 | 1–0 |
| Julia D'Amodio FRA | 0 | 1–0 |
Semi-final and placement race results • Source:
The KDY Women's Match Race has been part of the calendar since 2022, when it was established as a founding event of the Women's World Match Racing Tour, with further editions held in 2023 and 2024. As the opening stage of the 2026 season draws to a close on Sunday, with meaningful Tour points at stake, the all-Scandinavian showdown between Vogelius and Östling promises a compelling start to the campaign.
2026 entries
| # | Skipper | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pauline Courtois | FRA |
| 2 | Anna Östling | SWE |
| 3 | Lea Vogelius | DEN |
| 4 | Julia Aartsen | NED |
| 5 | Martina Carlsson | SWE |
| 6 | Julia D'Amodio | FRA |
| 7 | Kristine Mauritzen | DEN |
| 8 | Louise K Olesen | DEN |
The Women's World Match Racing Tour was launched in 2022, carrying forward the legacy of the WIM Series, known previously as the Women's International Match Racing Series. Its continuing mission is to broaden and strengthen match racing globally while creating competitive pathways for women at every level of the sport. It remains the world's first and only professional sailing series for women, offering a route for those with ambitions of reaching world championship level.
