Sweden's home teams thrilled local fans Monday as Oscar Engström and Martina Carlsson surged to the top of the standings at the halfway point of the 2026 GKSS Match Cup Sweden and Nordea Women's Trophy.
Both skippers secured automatic places in the semifinals after dominating the round robin stage, while the remaining qualifying teams now head into the quarterfinals to battle for the three remaining semifinal berths.
Swedish sailors have controlled the Open division from the outset. Engström and seven-time Match Cup Sweden champion Björn Hansen each finished the round robin with 6-3 records, while local favourite Johnie Berntsson followed closely at 5-4.
Engström's consistent performance gives the Liros Racing skipper and crew a valuable rest day before the semifinals, while Hansen and Berntsson must fight their way through the knockout rounds.
French newcomer Ange Delerce continued his impressive debut in Marstrand, finishing fourth overall with a 5-4 record to comfortably qualify for the quarterfinals. Fellow French skippers Ian Garreta and Aurélien Pierroz were eliminated after placing ninth and tenth, along with Swiss skipper and match racing veteran Eric Monnin and his Swiss Match Racing Team in eighth.
Former champions Chris Poole of the United States and Denmark's Jeppe Borch both endured challening opening rounds but did enough to keep their title hopes alive. The 2024 and 2025 Match Cup Sweden winners, respectively, now face must-win quarterfinal matches if they are to continue their championship campaigns.
The women's competition for the Nordea Women’s Trophy has been dominated by Sweden's Martina Carlsson and her Beyond Racing crew.
Carlsson and team delivered a flawless round robin performance, winning all seven of their matches to become the only undefeated skipper in either fleet. The team’s perfect record sends them directly into the semifinals as one of the favorites for the Nordea Women's Trophy.
Fellow Swede and former event winner Anna Östling and WINGS Sailing also impressed, finishing second in the round robin with a 6-1 record. Östling now meets Caroline Bayless and Team Something Chill from the United States in the quarterfinals.
Bayless is making her Marstrand debut, while Östling's extensive local knowledge could prove decisive in their matchup.
Defending Nordea Women's Trophy champion Pauline Courtois of France and her Match in Pink team will face compatriot Julia D'Amodio and Shark Caviar Racing in an all-French quarterfinal, while the Netherlands' Julia Aartsen and Team Out of the Box will take on Denmark's Lea Vogelius and WOW Racing in the remaining knockout contest.
Stronger winds and unsettled weather are expected to sweep across Marstrand over the coming days, creating demanding conditions for the Far East 28 keelboats and testing crews' boat handling as the competition enters its decisive knockout phase.
With semifinal places on the line and pressure mounting to stay in the competition, the battle for one of match racing’s most prestigious titles is only just beginning.
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In the latest PlanetSail video Matt Sheahan chats with British IMOCA skipper Sam Goodchild about what's new and happening in the high-tech ocean racing class as the top teams prepare for the next Vendée Globe race in 2028.
The next Vendée Globe isn't until 2028 but the next cycle is well underway with plenty of activity ashore and afloat. New boats are being wheeled out of the sheds and existing ones re-configured.
Some like Sam Goodchild and the Macif campaign have the advantage of a highly competitive boat that won the last race to continue training on while they refine their next launch. In short, it's busy times in the IMOCA scene so we dropped in on Goodchild in Port La Foret on the west coast of France to get an update on what's going on in the scene.
Plus, with the transition to indoor sailing now an established part of a modern IMOCA and with Goodchild's close involvement with Henri Lloyd, we asked him to explain how the new generation of 60 footers are influencing the kind of kit they're wearing.
The 52 Super Series will race in Asia for the first time in its history during 2027, when two regattas will be hosted in Thailand in February and March.
The initiative follows the long term goal to race outside of Europe every second year, to share the experience of visiting new and exciting territories and to enhance the profile of the world’s leading grand prix monohull circuit.
The first regatta, Thailand 52 Super Series Sailing Week will take place between February 8 and 13. Then the Rolex TP52 World Championship will be hosted in Thailand for the first time, competing between March 18 and 23.
Both regattas will be hosted at Ocean Marina, Thailand’s biggest full service marina complex near Pattaya on the Gulf of Thailand and will be raced under the flag of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club.
The events are being facilitated by Thailand’s Whitcraft Family who have raced the Thai flagged Vayu on the 52 Super Series for five years. In 2024 they hosted Her Majesty Queen Suthida of Thailand at the Puerto Portals 52 Super Series Sailing Week where the Queen of Thailand Her Majesty Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana, a keen sailor, competed as strategist on Vayu. It is anticipated she will be an active participant when the 52 Super Series visits Thailand.
On shore the facilities are said to be amazing complemented by warm, attentive hospitality.
“We are proud and delighted to the 52 Super Series owners and crews have chosen to come to Thailand to race. The marina is lovely and has just been refurbished last year and the venue is spectacular and self contained.
The Yacht Club is very picturesque. It is very much a palm trees and sandy beaches kind of location. Thailand may have a reputation for being a light winds venue but we will be in a transition from a northerly breeze in January to southerly in March so we should get some decent breeze.” Enthuses Kevin Whitcraft co-owner of the Team Vayu project.
“We are committed to extending the global reach and profile of the 52 Super Series, visiting new and interesting places to share new challenges and cultural experiences together. We are very much looking forward to taking the 52 Super Series to Asia and to Thailand.” Says the 52 Super Series CEO Agus Zulueta.
Another first for the 52 Super Series will be racing out of Sorrento on the Bay of Naples near to where the 38th America’s Cup will be sailed. The regatta will coincide with the start of the first round robin phase of the Louis Vuitton Cup. The regatta runs from May 25 to 30.
The fourth regatta of the 2027 season remains in Italy and sees the circuit return to Tuscany in beautiful and popular Scarlino, where the circuit has raced in 2016, 2017 and 2023. The event runs July 5 to 10.
The finale for the season will be on the Bay of Palma between September 14 to 19 when the 52 Super Series returns to Puerto Portals, Mallorca to conclude an exciting season with the Puerto Portals 52 Super Series Sailing Week.
Yesterday's third day of the International Dragon European Championship in Helsinki, Finland delivered another day of sunshine, shifting winds, and plenty of tactical mind games — with two contrasting races that reshuffled the standings and produced one of the stories of the regatta so far.
With wind ranging from 9 to 13 knots from the east and the Race Committee opting for a move to a new race area, the fleet faced an unfamiliar course in conditions that were lively and demanding.
The event's long start lines continued to put enormous pressure on tactical decision-making from the very first signal, with the choice of which side of the course to commit to proving decisive in both races.
Race 4 of the series saw the boat end of the start line favoured, with Sweden's SWE330 Young Dragons, Finland's FIN85 Emmy, and Sweden's SWE391 Merinda among those getting away well.
GBR192 Bluebottle's Graham Bailey described his approach as straightforward in principle if not in execution: find a low-density area at the start, get into clear air, and let the boat's speed do the talking. "Our particular set-up is fast, so the aim was to find a clean launch and go as fast as possible," Bailey said.
It worked. Bluebottle pulled forward quickly from the off, with the wind appearing slightly more consistent on the left. Tacking around 100 metres short of the lay line – where the seas made it perilously easy to lose momentum – Bailey's crew rounded the top mark first ahead of two other British boats – David Tabb's GBR832 Send in the Clowns, and Ivan Bradbury's GBR375 Blue Haze – and this trio went on to hold this formation to the finish.
Race 5 saw Albin Boman's Swedish Dragon fleet newcomers on SWE330 Young Dragons who steal the show with an impressive race win. After rounding the top mark ahead, despite an early spinnaker problem, the Swedish crew built a commanding lead downwind, before a big wind shift on the second beat that gave them a margin of some 150 metres over the fleet at the finish. (The Young Dragons yacht was donated by the Swedish Dragon Association with the express purpose of promoting the class and bringing new younger sailors into the class.)
Meanwhile, Portugal's Michael Zankel 13, 2 scoreline for the day was enough to move into the overall championship lead.
Looking ahead to Thursday's racing, the weather forecast looks less appealing. With around 12 millimetres of rain and very unstable conditions expected, the championship is set to enter a new and unpredictable phase.
With six months to go, registration numbers for the 2026 Youth Sailing World Championship have exceeded 400 sailors across all classes.
The elite of youth sailing will be returning to Marina de Vilamoura, in Loulé, Portugal, host of the 2025 edition of the Youth Sailing World Championship, from 15-19 December 2026, where 11 events in male, female and mixed categories – following a similar format to Olympic sailing where all sailors compete on a level playing field across all events will attracts the best youth sailors from around the world.
In total, 424 sailors and 146 coaches from 65 nations have already registered with places filling up fast. The quota has been reached in Boy’s/Mixed 29er and 420 categories, Boy’s iQFOil and ILCA 6, and very few places available in the female events in those classes.
David Graham, World Sailing CEO, said, “The popularity of the Youth Sailing World Championship is incredibly positive for the sport. As the premier youth event in our sport, this event is a key part of the journey for young sailors, and just over two years out from the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, many competitors will be hoping to impress and earn the opportunity to represent their nation. We are delighted to continue working with Vilamoura Sailing and the city of Loulé where the excellent facilities and perfect conditions for sailing should deliver another incredible edition of the Youth Sailing World Championship after the success of last year’s event.”
Nuno Reis, Vilamoura Sailing and Prow Group CEO, said, "Following the success of the 2025 edition, we are proud to welcome the Youth Sailing World Championships back to Vilamoura. Hosting the championship for a second consecutive year reflects the confidence placed in our ability to provide a world-class stage for the next generation of Olympic sailors."
For more than 50 years, the Youth Sailing World Championships have been the pinnacle of youth sailing performance, providing the global stage for future sailing stars to shine and becoming a major stepping stone for many world and Olympic champions.
The 2026 Youth Sailing World Championships will be organised in partnership with Vilamoura Sailing, the Portuguese Sailing Federation, the Municipality of Loulé, the Parish Council of Quarteira with the support of the Portuguese Institute for Sport and Youth (IPDJ), Portugal Tourism, Vilamoura Marina, and Inframoura.
Sustainability will be at the forefront with a strong commitment from all partners to reducing the environmental impact of hosting the championships. The facilities at Vilamoura Sailing are fully powered by solar energy and the event will focus on eliminating single-use plastics by providing access to water stations and reusable containers.
Additionally, there will be an emphasis on digital communication to reduce paper waste, alongside encouraging eco-friendly transportation options including electric robotic marks and organisational boats. Materials produced for the event will be designed for reuse at future events, and recyclable materials will be prioritised throughout the championship.
