WMRT: Historic First Female Entry for the 13th Edition of Match Race Germany

The ISAF World Match Racing Tour Welcomes Germany’s Highest Profile Female Sailor to Challenge the Tour Card Holders

by Cailah Leask

Match Race Germany, Stage 2 of the ISAF World Match Racing Tour, has invited its first ever female entry to take part in the 13th edition. Twenty six year old Kathrin Kadelback (GER) EWE Sailing Team will be helming with back up from Ulrike Schümann as her tactician.

Both Match Race Germany and the ISAF World Match Racing Tour actively welcome female entries to the Tour series which provides an amazing opportunity for these sailors to race against some of the world class match racers on a level field.

Kadelback is originally a 470 dinghy helm having finished 10th overall at the 2008 World Championships, she then moved into women’s match racing when it became an Olympic discipline as did many of the world’s top female athletes. Kadelback made the decision to step back slightly and helm for Schümann who already had a 4th place at the Games in the Yngling class. This produced a very successful team dynamic and the ladies finished 2nd in the 2009 World Cup.

At the Qualifier for Match Race Germany, the Open German Championship, the helm and crew decided to change positions.

“I moved into skipper position and Schümann chose to be tactician for training purposes and also for fun,” Kadelback explained about the change. This new set up produced a winning overall result out of all the male and female entries and guaranteed Kadelback’s wild card entry to the ISAF World Match Racing Tour, Stage 2.

“Competing at Match Race Germany is a big pleasure for our team as we are able to race against the best teams in the world”, said Kadelback. This will be the first time in Match Race Germany’s history that there will be a female contending and is a proud moment for the two ladies.

The ISAF World Match Racing Tour’s success is due to the dynamic set of annual tour card holders and wild card entries who always provide excellent match racing action on the race course and sporting brilliance for the fans to aspire to. The skippers and their crews are who make the Tour events come alive with big personalities and their own personal campaign stories.

Tactician for the EWE Sailing Team, Schümann, is Germany’s best known female sailor with 20 years of successful international racing and has competed at Olympic standard until recently. Originally from Berlin, Schümann is very adept at transferring her competitive sailing skills across different disciplines and yacht / dinghy models.

The lady racers know that competition will be tough as the WMRT tour card holders are renowned for their elite level of match racing ability. However, they are backed up by three extra male crew with their EWE Sailing Team including Johannes Polgar, who finished in top 10 position at the 2009 Star World Championships and was placed 8th in the Tornado class at the Olympic Games, as well as Wolfi Dietz, who has previous America’s Cup experience. “We have a good diversity of successful sailing experience onboard!” said Kathrin.

The ladies are experienced and effective communicators in their close-knit crew and with a bigger team this time, they see that this will add to their overall experience. In addition, they feel that their reduced overall weight may prove to be positive in the lighter airs on Lake Constance. Their overall match racing skills will be an asset to them within the competition having been coached by the likes of Sten Mohr. The team is now more concerned with mastering the skills of boat handling in a yacht as they are used to smaller and lighter models than the Bavaria 35 Match. The experience of racing a yacht with a wheel at the helm is a big step for Kadelback.

Kadelback is supported by the EWE AG Oldenburg which founded EWE Sailing Team in 2000 to support Olympic sailors. She has been a member of this team since 2006 and has gained a scholarship for her studies in business administration, demonstrating her ability to balance both sport and study.

Still in the prime of her racing career Kathrin is committed to setting up a 470 Olympic campaign for 2012 after Match Race Germany. She is aiming to race against the world’s top players at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy with the essential ongoing support of EWE Sailing Team, Kadelback said, “without the support of the EWE Sailing Team it would not be possible for me to pursue my racing career”.

The 2010 WMRT Tour card holders will definitely have to factor in the female entry at Match Race Germany as they could produce a surprising number of wins during the light air race days. “We will fight for every race, try our best and see what happens, we will enjoy every race”, commented the female skipper.

Skipper List Match Race Germany (Stage 2)
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team
Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing
Ian Williams (GBR) Sail Bahrain
Ian Ainslie (RSA) Team Proximo
Mads Ebler (DEN) Ebler Matchracing
Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge
Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing Team
Kathrin Kadelback (GER) EWE Sailing Team

2010 ISAF World Match Racing Tour Standings
(After Stage 1 of 10)

1. Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 25 Points
2. Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN 20 Points
3. Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 15 Points
4. Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia 12 Points
5. Sebastian Col (FRA) ALL 4 ONE 10 Points
6. Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 8 Points
7. Philippe Presti (FRA) 6 Points
8. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 4 Points

2010 Tour Card Holders:
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team
Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team (Gill Global Team for Match Race Germany)
Bertrand Pace (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team
Ian Williams (GBR) Sail Bahrain

About the ISAF World Match Racing Tour:
The World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) is the leading professional sailing series featuring 10 World Championship events across the globe, sanctioned by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) with “Special Event” status.

The World Tour awards over US$1.5million in prize money with points awarded at each event culminating in the crowning of the “ISAF Match Racing World Champion”. In addition, an incentive to compete in the world’s premier sailing series just got bigger. A US$250,000 overall prize pool for the top nine teams with a $50,000 bonus for the outright winner of next year’s World Match Racing Tour is now on offer.

Events utilise the same “match race” format used in the America’s Cup with racing taking place in identically supplied racing yachts which places a focuses on team work and skill. Racing takes place close to the shore for the general public to follow the races as virtual on-the-water stadiums.

Media and television highlights coverage reaches over 2.1 billion households in excess of 183 countries around the world.

ISAF World Match Racing Tour Calendar
Match Race France 6 - 11 April Marseille, France
Match Race Germany 19 – 24 May Langenargen, Germany
Korea Match Cup 8 – 13 June Gyeonggi, South Korea
Troia Portugal Match Cup 22 – 27 June Troia, Portugal
Match Cup Sweden 5 – 11 July Marstrand, Sweden
St Moritz Match Race 31 Aug – 5 Sept St Moritz, Switzerland
Danish Open 8 – 12 Sept Bornholm, Denmark
Vietnam Match Cup 21 – 26 Sept Nha Trang Bay, Vietnam
Argo Group Gold Cup 4 – 10 Oct Hamilton, Bermuda
Monsoon Cup 30 Nov – 5 Dec Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia

World Match Racing Tour