With just one day to go at the 2025 GKSS Match Cup Sweden and Nordea Womenâs Trophy, the stage is set for a thrilling finale in both the Open and Womenâs classes. Seven-time winner of the event Björn âMaster of Marstrandâ Hansen once again showed his teams experience to secure their spot in tomorrowâs final, defeating Oscar Engström 3-1 in a tense semi-final.
Denmarkâs Jeppe Borch joins Hansen in the final after winning over local favourite Johnie Berntsson 3-2 in their semi-final match.
In the Nordea Womenâs Trophy, womenâs match racing world champion Pauline Courtois/ Match in Pink from France leads Swedenâs Martina Carlsson/ Beyond Sailing Team 2-0 in the first-to-three points match. Defending champion Anna Ăstling/ Wings Sailing are levelled 1-1 against Dutch team Out of the Box led by skipper Julia Aartsen. The remaining womenâs class semi-final matches will be completed tomorrow.
Despite a brief break in racing for a passing thunderstorm with lightning, it was all action on the Marstrand fjord as the semi-final matches got underway in the Open and Womenâs classes of the 31st edition of GKSS Match Cup Sweden, world championship stage of the 2025 World Match Racing Tour.
In a clash of Swedish match racing generations, seven-time winner of the Marstrand event Bjorn Hansen, 58/ Hansen Sailing Team was paired against 24-year-old Youth Swedish Americaâs Cup youth skipper Oscar Engström and his Team Liros.
While Engström and his young team of Rasmus Alnebeck, Emil Wolfgang and Filip Karlsson were agile in their handling of the Far East 28 boats, Hansen and his long-term crew of Nils BjerkÄs, Oskar Ljung and Mathias Bredin proved once again that they are no strangers to the tactical nuances of match racing over the last 20 years, and promptly defeated Engström 3-1 to punch their ticket to another Marstrand final.
In the second pairing, Dane Jeppe Borch, returning to the World Match Racing Tour after recovering from injury, was back in business today with his team hungry to clinch their first Marstrand crown. Borch and crew fought hard to defeat local favourite Johnie Berntsson 3-2 in a close five match duel.
In the Nordea Womenâs Trophy, the semi-final matchups were delivering just as much drama. Top-ranked French skipper Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink Normandy Elite Team have taken a commanding 2-0 lead over Swedenâs Martina Carlsson/ Beyond Sailing Team in their first-to-three points match.
The second womenâs semi-final is poised on a knifeâs edge, with Swedenâs Anna Ăstling and her Wings Sailing team locked 1-1 against the ever-improving Dutch crew Team Out of the Box, led by Julia Aartsen.
Despite a rain front forecast to move across Western Sweden tomorrow, spectators are expected to line the cliffs of Marstrand for Saturdayâs finals in what promises to be a thrilling showdown for the finals of this iconic event.
