Women’s Match Racing On The Rise

The recently completed US women’s match race qualifier in January caught our eye. This event was composed of the top eight American teams sailing on Biscayne Bay in Miami. Racing this year saw conditions all over the map from periods of drifting waiting for wind to choppy 16-18 knots! The qualifier determined the 4 US boats that will be sailing Rolex Miami OCR later in January.

Because women’s match racing in 3-person keelboats called Elliotts just became an Olympic class, interest has spiked in the past few years. The US boasts three teams in the top 10 of the women’s match race world rankings.

Long time match racer Dave Perry ran a 3-day clinic for the eight boats before the regatta as part of his “Road to Rio” women’s match racing series.

Dave said of the clinic, “I couldn't have been more pleased with the Tune-Up Clinic before the January USSTAG Qualifier Event; we had the three USSTAG teams training with five other teams including some new young talent who have their sights set on the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. The mixture of the two groups, and the eagerness with which the veteran teams shared their knowledge, made the learning curve steep for the less experienced teams.”

Key Biscayne Bay provided the regatta with sun, plenty of wind and lots of racing! Results can be found at WIMRA’s site: http://www.wimra.org/regatta_detail.asp?rk=433.

Congrats to Sally Barkow for winning the event, followed by Anna Tunnicliffe, Genny Tulloch and Becca Dellenbaugh. All of the top 4 will be racing at Miami OCR back in Key Biscayne later in the month among 20 of the world’s best women’s match racers from around the globe!