Rungsted, Denmark (Friday 8 May) — The 2026 Women’s World Match Racing Tour kicked off yesterday in Rungsted, Denmark on the opening day of the KDY Women’s Match Race, the first of five events on the 2026 Women’s world tour season. The Denmark event is hosted by the Royal Danish Yacht Club.
Featuring 8 teams from France, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, the four-day event format will see each of the teams completing a double round robin qualifying stage before advancing to the semi-final and finals.
Defending Women’s Match Racing World Champion Pauline Courtois from France and her Match in Pink Normandy Elite Team finished their first day undefeated on five wins from five races, setting an early pace as favourite for the Denmark event.
2024 winner in Denmark, Sweden’s Anna Östling and her WINGS Sailing Team had a slower start to their event posting three wins and two losses, but the event is still in its early stages and Östling and team have traditionally been very strong in the DS37 boats, winning the 2022 and 2023 events.
“It was a little up and down for us” added Östling. “But we had a good day, and we would rather mistakes early on in the event – we still have plenty of racing to go.”
Local team the ‘Seagulls’ skippered by Kristine Mauritzen from Denmark is using every bit of their home advantage and knowledge of the DS37 boats, posting four wins in the first day, just one point behind Courtois.
Racing continues through Sunday 9 May.
Boating New Zealand Insert
Courtois flawless as Mauritzen turns heads on Danish home water
KDY Women’s Match Race • Royal Danish Yacht Club, Copenhagen • May 7–10, 2026
Pauline Courtois completed Round Robin 1 at the KDY Women’s Match Race without dropping a match, sweeping all seven races to lead the first stage of the 2026 Women’s World Match Racing Tour. The French skipper, a five-time consecutive world champion, beat every sailor in the field to finish the opening round undefeated — a result entirely consistent with her recent form but no less commanding for it.
The more intriguing story of the day came from Kristine Mauritzen. Racing on familiar Copenhagen water — the Royal Danish Yacht Club is her home club — Mauritzen posted a 5–2 record to sit second overall at 71%, outperforming both Anna Östling and Lea Vogelius, who finished tied on four wins apiece. Mauritzen’s only losses came against Courtois and Vogelius, but she recovered sharply to beat Östling, Aartsen, Carlsson, D’Amodio and Olesen. For a sailor who was eliminated in the qualifying round at the 2025 Worlds, this is a notably stronger showing.
Östling and Vogelius share third place on 57% with identical 4–3 records, though they split their head-to-head — Östling taking that match. Denmark has three sailors in the eight-boat field (Mauritzen, Vogelius and Louise K Olesen), and all three are in the top five after day one, suggesting home conditions on the Øresund are playing a role. Olesen sits fifth at 43%, having beaten Vogelius and D’Amodio but losing to the top four.
Julia Aartsen and Martina Carlsson share sixth place at 29%, each with a 2–5 record. Julia D’Amodio sits alone at the foot of the standings with a single win in seven races. Round Robin 2 begins tomorrow with the format unchanged — a full double round robin determines the semi-final qualifiers.
Round Robin 1 standings
| # | Sailor | W | L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pauline Courtois FRA | 7 | 0 | 100% |
| 2 | Kristine Mauritzen DEN | 5 | 2 | 71% |
| 3 | Anna Östling SWE | 4 | 3 | 57% |
| 4 | Lea Vogelius DEN | 4 | 3 | 57% |
| 5 | Louise K Olesen DEN | 3 | 4 | 43% |
| 6 | Julia Aartsen NED | 2 | 5 | 29% |
| 6 | Martina Carlsson SWE | 2 | 5 | 29% |
| 8 | Julia D’Amodio FRA | 1 | 6 | 14% |
Head-to-head matrix — Round Robin 1
Row beats column where 1 appears. Courtois is the only sailor to win every match. Vogelius is the sole sailor to defeat Mauritzen; Carlsson is the only sailor to defeat Östling other than Courtois and Mauritzen.
| PC | KM | AÖ | LV | LKO | JA | MC | JDA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pauline Courtois PC | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Kristine Mauritzen KM | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Anna Östling AÖ | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Lea Vogelius LV | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Louise K Olesen LKO | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Julia Aartsen JA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 1 |
| Martina Carlsson MC | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 |
| Julia D’Amodio JDA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — |
Round Robin 1 results • Source: MatchRacingResults.com
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 |
About Women’s World Match Racing Tour
The Women’s World Match Racing Tour was launched in 2022 to continue the hugely successful legacy of the WIM Series (Women’s International Match Racing Series) providing a global match racing series for female sailors. The name of the series was re-launched as the Women’s World Match Racing Tour with its continued mission to expand and strengthen global match racing and promote opportunities for competitive women’s sailing at every level.
The Women’s World Match Racing Tour is the world’s first and only professional sailing series for women providing a valuable pathway for aspiring female world champions in the sport of sailing.
