Celia Willison (NZL) and Edge Women's Match Team winning the 2023 Casa Vela Cup (crew left to right: Celia Willison, Serena Woodall, Charlotte Porter, Alison Kent)
US Yacht Clubs return to host top women’s match racing events in 2024
St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco and Eastport Yacht Club in Annapolis have once again teamed up to host the top women's match racing teams at back-to-back events as part of the 2024 Women's World Match Racing Tour.
Following the success of the inaugural Casa Vela Cup at St. Francis Yacht Club, and the return of the popular Santa Maria Cup after ten years at Eastport Yacht Club last year, both clubs have coordinated their Grade 2 international women's match racing events to run back-to-back for 2024 with Eastport YC's Santa Maria Cup set to open the 2024 women's world tour season from 23-26 April (practice day 22 April).
The Casa Vela Cup at St. Francis Yacht Club will run from 2-4 May (practice day 1 May) allowing a 4-day travel window for teams to travel from East to West coast. Both events will be in the respective club provided fleets of J/22's.
The 2024 Casa Vela Cup and Santa Maria Cup will both join Season 3 of the Women's World Match Racing Tour, currently the world's only global professional sailing series for women. 32 teams and over 140 female athletes competed on the first two seasons of the Women's World Match Racing Tour since it was re-launched in 2022 with events in the USA, France, New Zealand, Greece and Denmark.
The full 2024 Women's World Match Racing Tour schedule will be announced in late January with events planned in USA, France, Sweden and Denmark.
