Auckland to host World Sailing 2022 Women's Match Racing World Championships Final

Doyle Sails Elliott 9 © Andrew Delves

The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron has confirmed that it will be bringing world-class sailing back to Auckland with the 2022 Women’s Match Racing World Championships, as the final event of the inaugural Women’s World Match Racing Tour, set to take place on November 9th – 13th, 2022.

The Womens World Final will dovetail with the Womens World Rugby Championship being hosted in New Zealand from 8 October - 12 November 2022.

The Women’s Match Racing World Championships will see 14 skippers invited to take part, including last year’s champion and World #1 Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team. This also means that the 2022 New Zealand Women’s Match Racing Championship will also act as a qualifier for a wildcard berth into this year’s World Championships.

“We can’t wait for the Women’s Match Racing World Championship to be held in Auckland, and to have the first ever Women’s World Match Racing Tour being decided on the Hauraki Gulf – it’s a great opportunity for New Zealand’s women match racing teams to test themselves against, and learn from, the best in the world”, says RNZYS Sailing Director Laurie Jury. “It’s also fantastic to be able to invite world-class sailing events like this back to New Zealand waters, and we hope to see the Women’s World Match Racing Tour go from strength to strength in its debut season.”

Match Racing is the same format of racing as the America’s Cup, where two teams compete against each other on board the one-design fleet of Elliott 7 keelboats. The Women’s Match Racing World Championships will see the 14 teams compete a round robin racing each other once, with the top 8 qualifying to the best-of-3 quarterfinals, semi-finals and final to decide both the 2022 Women’s Match Racing World Champion, and the overall winner of the inaugural Women’s World Match Racing Tour.

“We are delighted to support the launch of the Women’s World Match Racing Tour” commented WIMRA Executive Director Liz Baylis. “The Tour is a fantastic opportunity for women sailors and will continue build on the success of the WIM Series. We look forward to working closely with the team at WMRT to help expand the Tour for the future.”

Commenting on the announcement, WMRT Executive Director James Pleasance added: “We are excited to launch the Women’s World Match Racing Tour today after many months of planning. Historically, opportunities have been limited for women in professional sailing and match racing – this new tour will provide a valuable platform and pathway for women to compete in their own championship series.”

We now look forward to having the best of Women’s sailing confirm that they will be competing later this year in Auckland, and hope to see locals cheering on the New Zealand crews as they compete on home water against truly world-class competition.

See more information on the Women’s World Match Racing Tour at womenswmrt.com