Stena Match Cup Sweden - Event Report

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event report Stena Match Cup Sweden

EDITORIAL

Game, Set, Match!

› It’s no real surprise. Each year the Stena Match Cup has managed to go one level better than the year before. And this year, it can be put down to two main reasons. First, we again managed to attract the world’s finest skippers and crews to come and compete in Marstrand, turning this remote paradise into one of the Match Race Tour’s most popular and important venues. On the same note, the tournament evolved from being purely a male only affair to being the 2012 Olympic qualifying heat for women. There was also a chance for young talents to try out the match race boats in the newly instigated Youth Cup and there were a handful of races for juniors as well.

Secondly, we can’t underestimate the importance to the success of the event of our title sponsor, Stena, whose involvement grows stronger by the year. This year we saw an increase in partner activities during the week, which naturally helped the Stena Match Cup to progress to another level altogether.

Quite simple, Marstrand seems to be the perfect spot for this event. The location just outside Gothenburg, the size of the island and the landscape allow guests and sponsors to mix seamlessly with the islanders and sailors without it ever becoming intrusive. Then there’s the beautiful scenery and the close quarter racing on what skipper Ian Williams described as an “iconic racecourse” where the winds drive the boats very close to the rocks – so close that the audience can almost feel the pulse of the competing crews.

And the news seems to have spread. Not only do all the major news networks from northern Europe come to cover the event but we have recently been honored by visits from further afield by networks such as CNN and CNBC. The 2011 event report is a summary of what happened during the week at Marstrand. It contains unique pictures and describes our views on what has been the most successful Stena Match Cup to date. None of this would be possible without our sponsors, our partners or the local entrepreneurs in Marstrand whose hospitality and services are essential to the warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Last but not least we would like to say a big thank you to all the volunteers whose hard work and enthusiasm help lay the foundation for the success of the Stena Match Cup Sweden.

Until next year, take care! g

Jan Torstenson, CEO at Brandspot

and Peter Klock, CEO at GKSS

Stena Match Cup Sweden is a joint venture between Brandspot AB and GKSS. Stena Match Cup Sweden Event Report is produced by Brandspot, Göteborgstryckeriet and Uppdragsmedia.

Photo: Dan Ljungsvik and Elias Carlsson

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Summary

world

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class

Summary

From a small initiative to a world class event

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nce again we gathered the cream of the crop at Marstrand for an event that has gone from being a charming stop over on the World Match Racing Tour to a world-class sporting event.

Whether you are talking sport or events, the importance of a good start can never be underestimated. And the 2011 Stena Match Cup Sweden at Marstrand got off to a flying one with the inaugural Women’s Match Cup. Apart from being a prestigious tournament in itself, it was a unique opportunity for the women sailors to test the Olympic boats in a real-life situation against the best competition there is.

launched a sneak preview of their new A6 Avant-model, GP were highly involved in the Junior Arena and Stena arranged a family outing for all their employees. To add even more flavour, Santa Maria took over the courtyard known as Borggården and turned it in to a tropical paradise where they also held a launch party for their new brand of spices.

This year the spotlight was also on the juniors with the newly established Youth Match Cup Sweden and the return of Jr Cup. This YMCS initiative was the result of a collaboration between Brandspot, The Swedish Sailing Federation and GKSS where internationally renowned skipper, Magnus Holmberg, focused all his energy into establishing this new event rather than participating in the main event himself. The Youth Cup is a genuine opportunity for young talents to show their skills, and with the first prize also came the honour of representing Sweden in the Junior European Championship. The goal is to turn the YMCS into an internationally recognised regatta within a few years.

In conclusion, the last two years have seen a rebirth of this event: once regarded as a small but charming stop over on the World Match Racing Tour, it is now considered a world class sporting event attracting not only the best performers on the tour but also the interest of the global press corps.

This year we had 115 000 visitors in total while around 85 journalists and 7 networks from all over the world covering the event.

It wasn’t just on the water that we saw progress and innovation. The meeting spots and official arrangements had all been upgraded and the Race Village was bigger than ever – a true reflection of the ambition of all our partners. The Rooftop Lounge is now a combination of an outdoor/indoor venue and grandstand, and proved very popular with our guests. Even Stena Match Cup Lounge was upgraded and building a bigger terrace proved to be a winning concept. The same can be said about the Junior Arena that created a real buzz amongst the young sailors.

In addition, our partners and sponsors were all involved in various activities and created their own events. Audi

The 2011 edition of the sailing week at Marstrand also saw the birth of the Innovation Forum – a concept built around seminars designed to provide specially invited clients and guests with new insights into how innovation is a driving force for businesses and corporations.

One of the main reasons for the continual progress of the Stena Match Cup Sweden in Marstrand has been Stena’s engagement and single-minded ambition to make this event bigger and better.

The other main player behind the success of Match Cup Sweden is GKSS whose incredible efforts, profound knowledge of the world of sailing and loyal commitment have been invaluable to the year-on-year development of the event.

And to top it all, the weather gods smiled upon us almost the entire week making it the fourth consecutive year with sunshine, something that any Swede will tell you, cannot be taken for granted. What can be taken for granted, however, is that Stena Match Cup Sweden will not let up in its ambition to set the benchmark as a business venture and as a sporting event. g

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SKIPPERS

Ian Williams (gbr) Age: 34 Result: 1 World Ranking: 5 › The master of Stena Match it’s a hassle with our bright Cup Sweden 2011! And summer nights in Sweden, currently, when this goes perhaps that’s why he found to print, in the lead on the it difficult to succeed in World Match Racing Tour, Marstrand before. Extremely which he won in 2008. focused and structured sailor Rumour says that he thinks who wears out his opponents.

Open Class Summary

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s the World Match Racing Tour entered the fifth stage of the season on the picturesque waters of Marstrand, the overall leader board could not have been closer. All top sailors were in need of points and for the first time in 2011 all nine Tour Card Holders attended the same event. These nine and five other teams went head to head in Sweden in pursuit of the Stena Match Cup Sweden

trophy.

Home-sailor Johnie Berntsson, Portuguese skipper Álvar Marinho, Ian Williams of Great Britain and young Australian Keith Swinton all entered the round robin in a confident way. The four-time World Champion and legendary Australian match racer Peter Gilmour had a frustrating opening-day of the event ending up at the bottom of the table. Gilmour, who currently was second on the overall World Tour leader board, finally had to win all three of his remaining matches to get to the Quarter

Finals and thereby avoid damage to his campaign for a fifth world title.

Peter Gilmour previously made the impossible possible in Marstrand, and now once again he proved his skills and experience. With three straight wins an incredible comeback was a fact and on the fly he also sent fellow countryman Torvar Mirsky out of the Cup with a fine Quarter Final display. With Mirsky on the ropes in the deciding race, Gilmour continued to apply pressure and the young Australian’s temper boiled over at the first mark, in response to two successive penalties from the on-water umpires.

The Semi Final pairings put Gilmour against Portimao Portugal Match Cup winner Ian Williams and Swedish star Björn Hansen facing last year’s runner-up Jesper Radich of Denmark, in an all Scandinavian clash.

Williams and Gilmour had met six times during the season, with The British sailor winning on every occasion.

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Björn Hansen (swe)

Age: 43 Result: 2 World Ranking: 8

Jesper Radich (den)

Age: 34 Result: 3 World Ranking: 22

› A Stockholm sailor with the Åland Islands as a base.

Frequent visitor to Marstrand, who crowned the 2007 season with the first Swedish victory at Stena Match Cup Sweden. When he sails at his best he can beat anyone in the world elite, even in extreme weather conditions, which he showed in 2007. World Match Racing Tour 2011 has started off well with a win in Korea Match Cup and a very close win in Marstrand.

› Talented Danish sailor from the match racing factory in Copenhagen. Second in Stena Match Cup Sweden 2010 and third 2007 and 2011. Knows the boats as his extended arm and always manages well in Marstrand.

Peter Gilmour (aus)

Torvar Mirsky (aus) Age: 24 Result: 5 World Ranking: 5

Age: 50 Result: 4 World Ranking: 11

› A Marstrand Legend with seven victories in the trunk from Stena Match Cup Sweden, the most recent one in 2009. Mastering the waters off Marstrand like no other.

Is now also president of the World Match Racing Tour and elected to the Stena Match Cup Sweden Hall of Fame.

› Torvar left his home country Australia in 2008 to dedicate all his time to match racing, and it has paid off.

Without funding he has managed to etstablish himself as one of the best sailors in the world. He was in the final of Stena Match Cup Sweden in 2008 and in the quarterfinals 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The Semi Final series of Stena Match Cup Sweden did not improve Gilmour’s stats. With impressive sailing Williams took three straight points and sent Gilmour to the petit final. Hansen enjoyed the cheering crowds on the cliffs of Marstrand and managed to knock out Radich by 3-1 and secure his spot in the Final.

call in the prestart and once again at mark one. Despite close racing in the first lap of the decider, Williams sealed the victory at the last mark when forcing two penalties on Hansen. Ian Williams thus ensured that Stena Match Cup Sweden stayed in British hands as he scored his second consecutive win of the 2011 World Match Racing Tour.

“It was an incredible final,” Williams said. “We improved throughout and in that last deciding race we were racing smoothly, which allowed us to stay close to them.

Then we jumped when the opportunity came at the top mark.

A devastated Hansen replied: “We sailed well all week – we know it is not easy to beat Ian but right now we are disappointed. We felt he should have had two penalties and before we knew it, it was us who carried two. It will take time to get over this but that is match racing.”

Jesper Radich secured third place, his best result of the 2011 season, with a 2-1 victory over Gilmour in the Petit Final. g

In 2007 Hansen became the first Swede to win Stena Match Cup Sweden and the team delighted the home crowds with a win in the opening match of the Final.

Throughout the races, the crowds saw Williams making convincing starts leaving Hansen behind and then got to see Hansen get back in the races inspired by the loud support. Williams equalized in the second race, Hansen got the upper hand again by 2-1 and in fourth it looked like Hansen could steal the win, but Williams escaped a last-ditch luff and rolled round Hansen’s bow to claim the victory and equal the scores.

In a state of sudden death, Williams escaped a penalty

SKIPPERS

Damien Iehl (fra)

Mathieu Richard (fra)

Philip Robertson (nzl)

Age: 35 Result: 6 World Ranking: 9

Age: 34 Result: 7 World Ranking: 4

Age: 24 Result: 8 World Ranking: 10

› One of two French sailors this year.

Damien is doing great on the Tour and started off with a win in Marseille, and a fifth place in Germany. His best placement in Marstrand was on fourth place in 2009. An extremely talented and dangerous opponent.

› Finished second in 2009 when he fell against Peter Gilmour in the final.

Mathieu has been second and third in the World Match Racing Tour 2007 and 2008. A skipper who tend to gain by making few mistakes. Fights at the top of the Tour even this year.

›Phil Robertson has been match racing since he was a teenager, winning the Youth International Match Racing Championship in 2007 and 2008. He sails for WAKA Racing from New Zealand. Phil is a role model for many promising match racers.

Johnie Berntsson (swe)

Keith Swinton (aus)

Alvar Marinho (prt)

› Semi-pro, sailing as a full-time professional. Near to knock out Peter Gilmour 2009 and wants to become the third Swede to win the title in Marstrand. Johnie also represents GKSS and has the DS37 as his everyday tool.

His aim this year is to become one of the top three on the Tour.

› Keith is the skipper of Black Swan Racing. Next to Mirsky and Gilmore, Keith is one of three skippers coming from Perth in this year’s competition.

A young, ambitious team with their goals set on the world elite. Keith is also the head coach of the GKSS Match Race Center.

› Alvar has sailed many competitions alongside the World Match Racing Tour. This year he succeeded in the Tour event in France for the first time.

Alvar is the first Portuguese sailing in Stena Match Cup Sweden. It is usually difficult the first years, even for the very best.

Francesco Bruni (ita)

Rasmus Viltoft (den)

Mattias Rahm (swe)

› A well merited Italian sailor who has sailed the Farr40 with great success. Bruni has also sailed in the Olympics for Italy three times. Is currently number two on the World Match Racing Tour 2011. This was Bruni’s third year in Marstrand.

› As winner of the GKSS Spring Cup in May this year, Viltoft caught a starting spot in Stena Match Cup Sweden 2011. This Danish team is relatively new, but has simmered just below the key sailors of the World Match Racing Tour for a while now.

› The champion from Stena Match Cup Sweden 2008. Loves to sail in Marstrand and participated in Victory Challenge in the America’s Cup. Mattias is sailing for the organizing club GKSS and is married to the Linda Rahm, also an established sailor.

Age: 37 Result: 9 World Ranking: 23

Age: 37 Result: 12 World Ranking: 12

Age: 25 Result: 10 World Ranking: 17

Age: 36 Result: 13 World Ranking: 40

Age: 35 Result: 11 World Ranking: 14

Age: 37 Result: 14 World Ranking: 115

11 Claire Leroy (fra)

Age: 31 Result: 1 World Ranking: 2 › Winner of Stena Match Cup Sweden 2011! Claire has topped the rankings in the ISAF Women’s Ranking List since May 2005, for the past two years as number one. Claire takes match racing extremely seriously and spends hours and hours on the sea every year. She made her first appearance in Marstrand 2004 and won the event in 2008.

Women’s Class Summary

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he head to head sailing of the women’s class was sailed in the Elliot 6m yacht, the same boat that will be used in the London 2012 Olympics. The chance to get some genuine match racing experience in the boat against the toughest competition available attracted the absolute top sailors of the world.

Ten women teams attended, among them number one in the world Lucy Macgregor from Great Britain, French Claire Leroy, American Anna Tunnicliffe, the Swedish star Anna Kjellberg and the defending champion Ekaterina Skudina from Russia.

The Women class of Stena Match Cup Sweden was decided in light winds throughout the week. But light winds do not exclude great drama. Both Dutch skipper Mandy Mulder and one of Anna Kjellberg’s crew members fell in the water during the fast and tight racing.

It was the big names that sailed most convincing during the first days and when the round robin was finished, Anna Tunnicliffe faced Lucy Macgregor as Claire Leroy faced up with Ekaterina Skudina in the semi-finals. Anna

Kjellberg was close to reach the semi’s and merely lacked one single point to get there: “We have performed our best regatta so far in the Elliot 6m, but we have also learned that we have to practice even harder to compete with the best in London 2012” said Kjellberg.

Anna Tunnicliffe sailed very well all week and also won her semi-final with three straight victories against Lucy Macgregor. Claire Leroy, winner of the event back in 2008, managed to eliminate the defending champion Ekaterina Skudina in a close battle. Facing the deciding and fifth semi final Leroy grabbed the spot in the finals by winning the last leg of the final race.

The final day of the Women class brought lovely weather but stood short of wind. The final was shortened to three races and Claire Leroy managed to put an end to the successful week of Anna Tunnicliffe. When Leroy and her team passed the finish line as Queens of Marstrand 2011 the waters between the cheering sailors and spectators was calm and beautiful.

SKIPPERS

Anna Tunnicliffe (usa)

Ekaterina Skudina (rus)

Lucy MacGregor (gbr)

Age: 27 Result: 2 World Ranking: 6

Age: 30 Result: 3 World Ranking: 8

Age: 24 Result: 4 World Ranking: 1

› With a gold medal in her pocket from the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Anna is aiming for another one in London next year. There are as many as three american teams in the world elite, so Anna has hard competition at home before the Olympic Games.

› Last year’s winner of Stena Match Cup Sweden. Russia is a great sailing nation in Olympic dinghy sailing and the nation got a breakthrough in match racing last year thanks to Ekaterina. Even this year she showed what it takes to be among the best.

› The British girl with her sight set on the Olympics next year, which has gained results. Won third prize last year in Stena Match Cup Sweden.

Has sailed in Lysekil twice in the DS model. Stable name at the top of the world’s elite.

Anna Kjellberg (swe)

Nicky Souter (aus)

Mandy Mulder (ned)

› Anna got her definite breakthrough Stena Match Cup Sweden 2008 and charmed both spectators and organizers with very aggressive sailing.

Anna sails for the home club GKSS. She was placed second in 2008 and 2009, and is now one of top sailors worldwide.

› Nicky sails with a very successful australian match racing team and is the highest ranked ”aussi” on the world ranking. This young lady grabbed the World Cup title in Lysekil 2009.

› The olympic silver medalist from Beijing was selected to represent Holland in the 2011 Stena Match Cup Sweden. She has been part of the dutch match racing campaign, but has recently stepped forward as a skipper.

Her experience is certainly there and her skills in match racing is on the rise.

Trine Abrahamsen (den)

Lotte Meldegaard Pedersen (den)

Caroline Sylvan (swe)

› This young Dane last year won the qualifying for Weymouth in Lundeborg in the Olympic boat Elliott 6M before her previous sailing partner Susanne Ward. This year Trine came to Stena Match Cup Sweden for the second time.

› One of the most experienced in this year’s competition. Lotte is sailing for the Royal Danish Yacht Club, KDY. She has sailed several successful events at Marstrand before, with second place as the best placement.

› This Orust girl is the rising star of the GKSS Match Racing Center. After finishing sailing high school she now assists dissabled children sailing with GKSS. Caroline got Wild Card to Stena Match Cup Sweden and participated in the event for the very first time this year.

Age: 27 Result: 5 World Ranking: 18

Age: 28 Result: 8 World Ranking:

Age: 27 Result: 6 World Ranking: 5

Age: 38 Result: 9 World Ranking: 14

Age: 24 Result: 7 World Ranking: 17

Age: 22 Result: 10 World Ranking: 110

innovation forum

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Innovation Forum Marstrand How new ideas are essential to succeed in business and politics

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nnovation Forum Marstrand is an annual conference brought to you by Brandspot and Stena as part of the Match Cup week.

The aim of the Innovation Forum is to provide specially invited clients and guests with new insights into how innovation is a driving force for businesses and corporations. Well known figures from the Swedish business world inspired the audiences with their views on how innovation sparks development, how new ideas are the very essence of leadership and of helping establish companies’ environmental policies.

“The Innovation Forum is a new take on our well established concept Corporate Event Marketing Forum where guest speakers such as Jacob Wallenberg, Volvo’s CEO, Leif Johansson and Social Democrat Göran Johansson have inspired Match Cup guests and partners in the past,” says Jan Torstenson, CEO at Brandspot.

First out this year was Stena’s CEO Dan Sten Olsson who spoke about their journey from a family-owned business to a large corporation. He was followed by the former minister for infrastructure, Ulrica Messing, who shared

her thoughts and experiences on transitioning from an influential position in the Swedish government to starting her own business, Porthouse Interior. Ulf Spendrup, described what it was like being a third generation Spendrup running the family brewery and how entrepreneurship and enterprise go hand in hand. Last but not least on the agenda was the scientist and author, Kjell A. Nordström, who has become something of an enfant terrible in the business world through his books “Funky Business” and “Karaoke Capitalism”. He shared his views on how the concept of countries will be replaced by regions.

This thought provoking and inspiring morning was hosted by well known Swedish TV and radio presenter Fredrik Belfrage, whom also moderated the Q&A session with the speakers before they joined the 230 guests for lunch at the Stena Match Cup Lounge or the Havshotellet restaurant, who hosted the arrangement. A location tailormade for these kinds of events and was much appreciated by all attendants.

“We’re delighted with the way the Innovation Forum turned out and are all now geared up to provide an equally inspiring event next year”, concludes Jan Torstenson. g

meeting spots

everyone was there

15 The Rooftop Lounge

› The magnificent view from the Rooftop Lounge provided one of the best places to watch the races. Accompanied by a glass of chilled champagne and traditional west coast seafood delicacies, guests could follow the live race commentary in English and Swedish from the rooftop grandstand as the drama unravelled below.

This year the lounge was a combination of outdoorindoor venue – and highly appreciated by our guests.

Stena Match Cup Lounge

› The Stena Match Cup Lounge was a perfect spot to follow the races, to mingle, and to meet and greet.

This year the space was increased to accommodate 640 people at a time and, in all 13,000 guests. The venue was in fact so big that Audi decided to do a sneak preview of their new Q3-model right there in the pavilion. As per usual the two Swedish master chefs, Mats Nordström and Bengt Roser, served delicious food every day. It added to the relaxed and easy atmosphere in the lounge as the boats fought it out sometimes not more than a few yards away.

Santa Maria Courtyard

› This was the place to be. Master Chef Marcus Samuelsson had brought a number of his distinguished colleagues from across the Atlantic with him and served up what proved to be the most exciting food yet at a Match Cup week. Relaxing under the shade of the palms and enjoying a tropical drink, guests were treated to the star chefs sharing their skills in the show kitchen. The highlight was Santa Maria’s launch party for their new spice collection that filled the courtyard to the brim with happy guests, celebrities and sponsors.

Junior Arena

› The Junior Arena, set up in collaboration with GKSS and GP, was a natural meeting spot for the young crews and sailors competing in the Jr Cup and Youth Match Cup Sweden. The arena was bigger this year reflecting the increased spotlight on young talent at the 2011 Match Cup. They are the future of the sailing world and they need to be inspired to continue their career in this magnificent sport. During the week the GKSS and GP also arranged a number of activities and competitions for the junior athletes to engage in.

Hot seats

› This new and unique event offered an opportunity for anyone to buy a seat on one of the boats competing in the Match Race. Enthusiastic participants got a real up-close view of life on-board. Needless to say, a real adrenaline kick for all involved.

meeting spots

Opening Ceremony

› The Stena Match Cup Sweden 2011 got off to a flying start. Spectators watched the women and junior sailors parade through sunny Marstrand, to the main stage where the opening ceremony took place. The spotlight stayed on the women racers whose competition played an important part in the preparations for the pre-Olympics in Weymouth considering there’s only a year left before the summer games in London.

Swedish pop artist Uno Sveningson sung for us, Stena Bulk’s CEO Ulf Ryder cut the ribbon – and away we sailed.

Match Club

› Friday night was club night. Guests, sponsors and party people gathered for an exquisite supper before taking it to the next level on the dance floor at Societetshuset.

Timotej warmed up the crowd and before long the place was seething. DJ Richard from Mix Megapol Megaparty followed and entertained the young and restless until the sun came up.

Pro Am

› This is no gimmick, not by a long shot. A number of guests chosen by our sponsors went all-in as they were given an opportunity to sail with the pros. It turned out to be a hard fought race between the ten teams with Handelsbanken eventually toughing it out best to win the Pro Am race.

Stena Kids Corner

› Last year’s favourite lounge is here to stay. Much like IKEA’s play areas, the kids could enjoy themselves at leisure as their parents got on with their “boring” mingling and socialising. A win-win situation created by Stena in collaboration with Childhood.

The mid week party

› Half way through the week, skippers and crews met with the sponsors in the Stena Match Cup Lounge – a much-appreciated event that has become part of the Marstrand tradition. The guests mingled around an enormous paella dish as the sun kissed the skies and Swedish singer, Jan Johansen, entertained the around 450 guests who enjoyed the event with us. The mid week party also marked the end of the women’s match cup, and the winning team, Clair Leroy’s Mermaid Sailing Team, celebrated with the crowd until the early hours of the morning.

Partner activities

› Sponsors and partners, of course, play a vital part in the success of the Stena Match Cup. This year there was an increase in partner activities. For example, Audi had a sneak preview of their new Q3 model , as well as a Swedish premiere of the A6 Avant. Goodyear promoted traffic safety, Pelle P introduced a pop-up store and Stena arranged an outing to Carlstens Castle for all employees and their families. It was a great mix of activities and all our partners contributed to achieve our goal of making this event better and more enjoyable each year.

Closing ceremony

› All good things must come to an end. But what an end!

The Match Cup race week at Marstrand went out in full sail – sun, champagne and an enthusiastic crowd were all in attendance as the winners, Team GAC Pindar and their skipper Ian Williams, took to the stage. In addition, Mathieu Richard and his crew, the winner of the volunteers’ “Mr Happy” award for the friendliest and most accommodating team, joined them on the podium. Later on Gladis di Pilar graced us with a sublime performance.

It was the perfect ending to a perfect week.

17 Celebrity sailors stole the show

› A naked CEO and ice hockey tackles couldn’t prevent the Santa Maria boat from stealing victory from Stena Metall in this year’s Celebrity Race.

A heavy downfall didn’t stop the celebrities and skippers from giving it all at the annual Celebrity Race at Marstrand. Now in its fourth year, this has become one of the most popular events of the week.

There were ten boats in the race, and around 20 Swedish celebrities had been invited to help crew for the professional skippers. And although this is a charity event, no charity was given in the exchanges. If you were looking for action, the celebrity race was definitely the place to be. There were several collisions and it seems that the boat crewed by Swedish ice hockey players thought they were on the rink rather than the high seas. To add to the fun, Peter Kloch, CEO of GKSS, had to jump in the water naked to untangle his boat from a rather persistent buoy. In the end master chef Marcus Samuelsson together with actor Stefan Sauk and Carola Häggkvist in the Santa Maria boat won first prize after the keenly fought but fun contest.

boats

We’re really excited to finally win Stena Match Cup Sweden. It’s one of the toughest events to win in the world.”

Ian Williams, skipper The feeling when you get direct feedback from the audience is great. They really know when you’ve done something good.”

Johnie Berntsson, skipper

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This is the best circuit in match race - by far!”

Francesco Bruni, skipper

For us on the Tour, it is essential that new venues understand the importance of combining the happenings on and off the water, which is exactly what the week in Marstrand is a perfect example of.”

Jim O’Toole,

Managing Director, WMRT

full media media

Coverage

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media

The media coverage value: 289 million

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tena Match Cup Sweden 2011 experienced yet another marvellous year together with a big crowd of enthusiastic media representatives – journalists, film producers, radio reporters and more. We were happy to see many familiar faces and many new – from all over the world.

The total media value of all coverage collected so far is estimated to 289 million Swedish kronor. The northern Europe’s largest sailing event keeps improving from year to year. Details count and result in a greater experience for the spectators and sailors. And it keeps up the interest from media we can tell. Stena Match Cup Sweden breaks through in an extremely event-intensive summer period.

A bank of sports news, public and commercial news

have been scattered out to media since spring in more than 35 press releases. New competition format, one year to go for the women campaigning in the Olympics, the return of Jr Cup, the future match racers in Youth Cup Sweden, launch parties with celebrities, cool cars and traffic safety, press trip in the archipelago, were all news appreciated by media. And of course, the Swedish racing successes, especially during the finals’ thrilling moments with the local sailor Björn Hansen, kept media busy.

The local PR-squad was teamed up with a hard working group from WMRT, Visit Sweden and of course - our valuable volunteers. Great teams striving to perform the best, overlapping where it fits and filling in the blanks where it’s needed. g

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A diverse and international media crowd

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ot less than 85 media representatives from all over the world were accredited to visit the event, from countries such as the USA, the Netherlands, Denmark, UK, Spain and Malaysia, beside Sweden. Their job has resulted in 860 articles all together, in paper magazines and on the web. One of the best web sources for the most updated international sailing news, Valencia Sailing, covered the event from the waters off Marstrand. GÜteborgs-Posten, GT and Kungälvs-Posten were frequent visitors to the island. We also had the pleasure to host reporters from US Sailing and Dallas News.

On-site we also had seven TV-teams to cover the event.

So far it has resulted in news and features sent in national public and commercial television as well as sports news all over the world for 39 hrs and 33 minutes, TV4, SVT, CNBC and Malaysia TV3 just to mention a few. In addition to the news coverage, a longer program of nearly 50 minutes, with highlights from the match racing event in the typical West Coast surrounding is being broadcasted through global channels such as sky Sports, CNBC, ESPN Star Sports and many more.

By the time this is being printed, the highlights show has been aired for 37,5 hrs around the world, and still ticking. g

media

50 hours of daily live radio transmission

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ear 2011 was a splendid year for the event in radio. The local news channel P4 transmitted several reports from the exciting races and about the event’s size and impact on the local community. The most popular commercial channel, Mix Megapol, decided to stay with the event the entire week.

Delivering a live show full of action, covering the public party as well as the races, Match Cup-fans could take part of the event throughout the period. All in all, the trio from Mix Megapol Fredrik, Sara and Mia transmitted 50 hours of radio about and from Marstrand during the week. g

New dimension of social media

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or several years, Stena Match Cup Sweden has engaged in social media, trying to meet the new manners of media consumption. This year, several pieces fell into place and we could offer various channels to our wide and international public. Twitter was re-activated, Facebook was reshaped and sharpened, and the Match Cup Blog was born. We also had a live blog covering every race with frequent updates for the most interested crowd, a great complement to the live web-streaming. As far as we understand our audience, these channels were priceless, since they delivered automatic updates of the latest news, which is especially important during the races of course.

The event web site, www.matchcupsweden.com, was enjoyed by more than 52 000 visitors from 72 countries during the period june-July. 14 % of all visitors surfed the site from their mobile phone.

Facebook got a revival this year with loads of new fans, up 30% since last year, who could take part of a dialogue about sailing, event news, sponsor happenings and much more. Even the more sailing focused media, Twitter, can whitness a positive trend with 676 followers and 29 lists.

The Match Cup Blog started already in May to cover the Tour from the start in Marseille. In it’s first year it reached out to more than 4000 viewers who was entertained with stories of the sailors, coverage from the races and behind the scenes of a big event such as this. g

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media

100 650 35 11 51 7 › Sailors in total.

› Seats in Match Cup Lounge.

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› Press releases.

52 002 › Different team nationalities.

› Sponsors.

› TV teams.

› Homepage visitors during the summer.

8 24 18 14 › Represented countries by media.

› Celebrities.

› Boats involved in the races.

› Teams, Open Class.

33 10 56 10 85 15 › Exhibitor areas.

› DS 37s.

› Hours of sun.

› Teams, Women’s Class.

› Media representatives.

› Official cars.

11 700 13 200 › Meals served during the week to officials, sailors and personnel.

› Accredited guests during the week.

www.deboer.se

See you next year!

M A R S T R A N D

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