Stena Bulk and Concordia Maritime sponsor match racing this summer
Stena Bulk and Concordia Maritime, together with Preem Petroleum will be the main sponsors of the world cup sailing event Lysekil Women’s Match on 31 July – 4 August. Stena Bulk is also active this week, 2 – 8 July, as one of the boat sponsors during the Swedish Match Cup in Marstrand.
The Preem Lysekil Women’s Match for the Stena Bulk Trophy is the world’s largest match racing event for women with 12 of the highest ranked teams participating. The Swedes who will take part are Linda Rahm, Marie Björling, Jenny Axhede and Malin Millbourn.
“The races in Lysekil last year were a resounding success with the public and we were happy to be able to invite both customers and employees to watch the exciting races. This year, we are playing an active role already at the beginning of July as a boat sponsor during the Swedish Match Cup in Marstrand, specifically of skipper Mattias Rahm and his crew. There will be a lot of sailing for us this summer and we are really looking forward to both events. With our type of business activity, it naturally feels even better to sponsor sailing activities, particularly if they also have a local connection to the Swedish West Coast,”
says Ulf G. Ryder, President of Stena Bulk.
The competitions
In Marstrand, both top-ranked male and female sailors race in the same competition – although divided into different teams. In Lysekil, only women participate. The Match Cup Sweden in Marstrand, with the exception of last year when there was no competition, has produced exciting sail racing ever since the first time in 1994. Lysekil Women’s Match in Lysekil was held for the first time in 2004. After a break in 2005, this popular competition will now be held for the third time.
Match racing
In both Marstrand and Lysekil, it is a question of match racing, which is the form of sail racing that is easiest to understand – at least for the spectators on the rocks. Only two boats to keep an eye on and the winner is the first boat to cross the finishing line. Normally, the boats sail twice round a course that starts with a windward tack and finishes in a following wind. How fast the boats sail round the course is thus unimportant. Crossing the finishing line first is all that matters. Here, the teams’ tactical ability and skill are decisive.
In addition to sponsoring last year’s Lysekil Women’s Match in Lysekil, Stena Bulk and Concordia Maritime have also sponsored the trimaran sailing race Nokia Oops Cup in 2005 with skipper Bruno Peyron and his navigator Roger Nilson, who also won the whole competition.
www.lysekilwomensmatch.se, www.matchcupsweden.com