Match in Pink takes Women's Match Racing World Championship 2021 title with perfect score

Women's Match Racing World Championships © Patrick Deroualle

France's Pauline Courtois, bronze medallist at the 2019 Women's Match Racing World Championships, on Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team took gold in emphatic style at this year's World Championships on home waters in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.

Starting strongly, Match in Pink never wavered and notched up a 7-0 record in the first round robin, leading from Dutch Match Racing Team skippered by Renée Groeneveld (NED) with a 6-1 record and WINGS led by Anna Östling (SWE) finishing on 4-3.

Fellow French team, APCC Women Sailing Team, skippered by Margot Riou, finished in fourth, also with a 4-3 score.

The excellent form continued into the second round robin as the French team repeated their feat with a perfect 14-0 score, with Groeneveld ending on 12-2 and Östling at 9-5, ahead of Riou's 8-6 record.

All four teams advanced to the semi-finals, where Courtois beat Riou 2-0 and Groeneveld took on Östling, also winning 2-0, to reach the finals.

In the Petit Final it was WINGS versus APCC. Here, Östling overcame Riou 2-0 to take third.

The top two teams throughout the race then faced each other in the Grand Final - with Courtois' Match in Pink maintaining perfect performance to beat Groeneveld 3-0 to gold.

Speaking after the event, Courtois said, "Winning this year - becoming world champions - is just starting to sink in. We came so close last time! We really worked hard as a team and we're incredibly happy this all paid off."

Overall Results:

1. Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team - Pauline Courtois - FRA
2. Dutch Match Racing Team - Renée Groeneveld - NED
3. WINGS - Anna Östling - SWE
4. APCC Women Sailing Team - Margot Riou - FRA
5. L2 Match Racing Team - Laaksonen Marinella - FIN
6. Match'u Piccu - Kenza Coutard- FRA
7. Swedish Women's Match Racing Team - Sanna Mattsson - SWE
8. Athena Racing - Octavia Owen - GBR