Second WMRT Tour Card 2017 goes to Sally Barkow

WMRT Tour Card 2017 for Sally Barkow © Ian Roman / WMRT

Team Magenta 32 is the second match racing team to receive their Tour Card for the World Match Racing Tour season 2017. Sally Barkow from USA is together with the team preparing for their second full season and their challenge for the World Championship title in match racing.

When Sally Barkow and Team Magenta 32 received their 2016 Tour Card some people referred to it as a PR stunt, but the results and progress they showed last year proved any critic wrong. They reached the quarter-finals in Copenhagen and were knocked out in the deciding match of the series against Taylor Canfield after sailing an amazing match against the former World Champions in US One. For 2017 the team is coming back with more experience and better understanding of what it will take to make it to the top on the Tour. "The chance we got last year was fantastic and we're very excited to come back and to have a Tour card. We will be pushing hard to make our fans proud." says Sally Barkow and continues, "Last year we were coming in to the tour not having a plan how to develop over the season, this year our aim is to be at our peak in the finals. We learned a lot about ourselves and about what we need to improve in order to take this to the next level."

The Magenta Project was set up following the conclusion of Team SCA, the all-female team, who competed in the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race. The aim is to advance women in professional sailing. Since the start they have been paving the way in offshore racing, grand prix racing and solo racing for women in the sport. The WMRT Tour Card is a corner stone in this plan. "For this year we intend to try out for more positions with women coming from other sailing classes or the Olympics. Last year we saw quite a lot of injuries on all teams and we want to make sure that we are competitive at all times. We intend to improve our results from last year and we're aiming for the podium." Sally finishes.

WMRT 2017 Tour Card Holder

• Name: Sally Barkow
• Nationality: United States of America
• Team Name: Team Magenta 32
• Yacht Club: Pine Lake Yacht Club
• Year of birth: 1980
• Result WMRT 2016: 13th place

Sally Barkow's Tour Card is the second of 10 WMRT Tour Cards to be announced. For more information on Sally Barkow and Team Magenta 32 please visit www.wmrt.com/skippers/sally-barkow.