New Zealand’s Megan Thomson and her 2.0 Racing crew of Maeve White, Josi Andres, Charlotte Porter and Rose Garcia Royo yesterday won the 2024 Normandy Match Cup in Le Havre, France, the third stage of the 2024 Women’s World Match Racing Tour. Thomson beat defending event champion Pauline Courtois (FRA)/ Match in Pink 2-0 in the finals.  

Le Havre turned on the breeze and the waves for the final day as the event concluded the semi-final stage and moved into the first-to-two points final.

Earlier in the day, both finalists Thomson and Courtois had to fight for their slot in the final as both their semi-final matches (Thomson v France’s Kenza Coutard, and Courtois v the Netherlands’ Julia Aartsen) levelled at 2-2 with a decider race in each match for the first-to-three points.

Courtois’ Match in Pink – Normandy Elite team are no strangers to the final at the Normandy Match Cup as previous back-to-back winners of the event in 2022 and 2023. Courtois led the start of the first final but after an issue with their spinnaker hoist, Thomson was able to pass and take the first final point.

In the second match, Courtois again led the start with Thomson close behind. Leading the race to the final downwind leg, Courtois and team looked certain to level the score, but as both teams gybed simultaneously in their last run to the finish, Courtois’s spinnaker struggled to set properly in the breeze as Thomson surged ahead in the surf to roll past Courtois and cross the finish line ahead.

“That was a big day!” said Thomson “It was all on the whole way around the course, Pauline and her team are very good here and we were pretty much in survival mode, but the girls were amazing and worked hard, the bodies are sore but it’s feels pretty good to get the win here in Normandy!”

In the petit-final, France’s Kenza Coutard/ Speedmeute beat Julia Aartsen (NED)/ Team Out of the Box to secure the 3rd place podium finish, with Aartsen in 4th.

Final results

Megan Thomson (NZL)/ 2.0 Racing
Pauline Courtois (FRA)/ Match in Pink
Kenza Coutard (FRA)/ Speedmeuthe
Julia Aartsen (NED)/ Team Out of the Box
Julia D’Amodio (FRA)/ Shark Caviar
Brooke Wilson (AUS)/ Amphitrite Racing
Kristine Mauritzen (NED)/ Those Seagulls