Patience was again the order of the day at the 2025 Women's Match Racing World Championship, hosted by Chicago Yacht Club, as twelve teams ground through a third full day of racing despite an earlier start on the water.
The qualifying round-robin wrapped up in the late afternoon, with the top eight teams securing their places in the quarterfinals. For four skippers, though, the day marked the end of their regatta: Celia Willison from New Zealand, Denmark's Kristine Mauritzen, France's Kenza Coutard, and Sweden's Martina Carlsson all finished outside the qualifying cut.
The standout result of the day came from Sweden's Anna Östling and the Wings Sailing team, who accounted for reigning world champions Match in Pink Team from France. That French crew, skippered by Pauline Courtois, had gone unbeaten at a world championship since claiming the title at the 2024 Women's Match Racing World Championship in Jeddah. Östling's victory snapped that run and had a direct bearing on the quarterfinal draw.
Östling will face Denmark's Lea Vogelius and Team WOW in the quarterfinals. Courtois, meanwhile, meets eighth-placed Julia Aartsen and Team Out of the Box from the Netherlands. Aartsen's squad only just avoided elimination, a decisive win over New Zealand's Celia Willison being enough to keep them in contention.
"Today was a tricky one for us," Aartsen said on returning 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 quarterfinals, but we are ready to battle all the way for the win!"
The remaining two quarterfinal pairings pit USA's Nicole Breault and Vela Racing against Australia's Juliet Costanzo, while New Zealand's Megan Thomson and 2.0 Racing take on France's Julia D'Amodio and Shark Caviar Team.
As the afternoon progressed, the race area was shifted to a more favourable location in search of breeze. When the wind disappeared entirely, Race Director Anne Malledant called a halt after just three races had been completed. Those races produced wins for Östling, Thomson and Courtois in their respective pairings.
The final day of the championship carries a full programme. The forecast points to breeze arriving earlier than in recent days, with racing brought forward to a 9am start. The quarterfinals, semi-finals and deciding final are all scheduled to run through to a conclusion, crowning the 2025 World Sailing Women's Match Racing World Champion. Racing resumes tomorrow from 1030 local time.
Results after Day 3:
1 🇫🇷 Pauline Courtois 10 – 1
2 🇳🇿 Megan Thomson 9-2
3 🇦🇺 Juliet Costanzo 8-3
4 🇸🇪 Anna Östling 7- 4
5 🇩🇰 Lea Richter Vogelius 6.5-4
6 🇫🇷 Julia D'Amodio 5-6
7 🇺🇸 Nicole Breault 5-6
8 🇳🇱 Julia Aartsen 5-6
9 🇳🇿 Celia Willison 3-8
10 🇩🇰 Kristine Mauritzen 3-8
11 🇸🇪 Martina Carlsson 2-9
12 🇫🇷 Kenza Coutard 2-9
World Sailing Women's Match Racing World Championship competitors:
- Julia Aartsen, Team Out of the Box, NED (Crew: Eva Asbeek Brusse, Ismene Usman, Nerine Usman, Saar Van Bemmel) - Nicole Breault, Vela Racing, USA (Crew: Molly O'Bryan Vandemoer, Dana Riley Hayes, McKenzie Wilson, Hailey Thompson) - Martina Carlsson, Beyond Racing, SWE (Crew: Svea Sahlin, Amanda Ljunggren, Hanna Gaskell-Brown, Hedvig Hedström) - Juliet Costanzo, Easy Tiger Racing, AUS (Crew: Sarah Parker, Rachel Bower, Katie Pellew, Alice Parker) - Pauline Courtois, Match in Pink by Normandy Elite, FRA (Crew: Maëlenn Lemaitre, Louise Acker, Sophie Faguet, Laurane Mettraux) - Kenza Coutard, CKAFEW Racing Team, FRA (Crew: Elena Circiello-Vaillant, Amandine Le Van Jacob, Chloé Le Roux, Flavie Foucher) - Julia D'Amodio, Shark Caviar Team, FRA (Crew: Alice Chiappori, Valentine Lauret, Roxane Perrot, Manon Pennanec'h) - Kristine Mauritzen, Those Seagulls, DEN (Crew: Emilie Nordby, Katrine Ejlev, Maria Reinhold, Julia Toroi) - Megan Thomson, 2.0 Racing, NZL (Crew: Tiana Wittey, Josi Andres, Charlotte Porter, Hattie Rogers) - Lea Richter Vogelius, Team WOW, DEN (Crew: Joan Hansen, Annette Srøm, Anne Sofie Munk-Hansen, Josefine Boel Rasmussen) - Celia Willison, Edge Women's Match, NZL (Crew: Clare Costanzo, Phoebe Buckland, Serena Woodall, Ruby Scholten) - Anna Östling, WINGS Sailing, SWE (Crew: Linnéa Wennergren, Annie Saeedfar Wennergren, Annika Carlunger, Karin Knigge)
