Women's Match Racing Simple Guide

See a simple breakdown of the format of Women's Match Racing at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Regattas

WOMEN’S OLYMPIC MATCH RACING - A GUIDE TO THE ISAF SAILING WORLD CUP FORMAT

The Women’s Match Racing Format is composed of early round robins followed by knock-out series similar to the formats used in tennis or football tournaments. The competition starts with the 24 teams being divided into three equal groups of eight teams competing within their groups to advance to the quarter finals where the knock-out competition begins. The winners of the quarter finals move on to the semi finals and the opportunity to advance to the finals of the championship.

More details:

STAGE 1 - The Opening Series

The 24 teams entering the Event are split into THREE seeded groups of EIGHT teams each, the Groups are A, B and C. All the teams in Group A sail each other once, the same happens for Groups B and C, this stage in called the Group Round Robin stage.

As there are EIGHT boats available for the competition a set of FOUR matches follow on one after the other with a five minute gap between, this set of four matches is called a FLIGHT.

When all matches in each group of the Opening Series have been sailed, a total of 84 matches will have been sailed, with 7 results for each team. From these results there will be a 1st to 8th ranking within each of the THREE Groups.

STAGE 2 - Gold Group

The 1st and 2nd ranked in each Group from Stage 1 proceed to the Gold group and are guaranteed a place in the Quarter Finals of the competition. The Gold Group sail a round robin series to determine the seedings for the Quarter Finals.

STAGE 3 - Repechage Group

The 3rd and 4th ranked in each Group from Stage 1 proceed to the Repechage Group and sail a round robin series and the top TWO teams advance to the Quarter Finals. The remaining FOUR teams are placed 9th to 12th overall in the final standings of the competition

STAGE 4 - Silver Group

The 5th and 6th ranked in each Group from Stage 1 proceed to the Silver Group and sail against each other to determine the positions 13th to 18th overall in the final standings.

STAGE 5 - Bronze Group

The 7th and 8th ranked in each Group from Stage 1 proceed to the Bronze Group and sail against each other to determine the positions 19th to 24th overall in the final standings.

STAGE 6 - Quarter Finals

The Quarter Finals are a standard knock out competition with the winners moving to the Semi Finals. Quarter Finals are usually the “best of five” or first to three points, (one point is awarded for a win, no points for a loss) but can be reduced to “best of three” if weather conditions dictate.

STAGE 7 - Semi Finals

The Semi Finals are again “best of five” knock out, the winners proceed to the Final and the losers proceed to the Petit Final.

STAGE 8 - Sail Offs 5th to 8th

The Quarter Final losers sail against each other for 5th to 8th overall in the competition

STAGE 9 - The Final and Petit Final

The Finals are a “best of five” knock-out while the Petit Finals are a “best of three” knock-out. The winner of the Finals win the Gold Medal, the loser the Silver Medal, and the winner of the Petit Final win the Bronze Medal.

Terms used in Match Racing

Match - a head to head race between two teams / boats, matches in match racing competitions are always one against one.

Flight - a set of up to FOUR matches with a five minute gap between each start.

Round Robin - a series of matches in which all teams in a group (usually six or eight teams) sail against all the other teams in the group which produces an overall ranking for the round robin

Repechage - a round robin series to decide the final two teams to advance to the quarter final knock out series

Knock Out - a series in which the match winner advances to the next stage of the competition 

WOMEN'S MATCH RACING FORMAT

Stage 1

Group A

Group B

Group C

8 teams

8 teams

8 teams

All teams sail each other once

All teams sail each other once

All teams sail each other once

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4

Stage 5

Gold Group

Repechage

Silver Group

Bronze Group

1st and 2nd from Groups A, B and C

3rd and 4th from Groups A, B and C

5rd and 6th from Groups A, B and C

7th and 8th from Groups A, B and C

6 teams

6 teams

6 teams

6 teams

All teams sail each other once to give a seeding for Quarter Finals

All teams sail each other once with the top 2 teams going to the Quarter Finals

All teams sail each other once, to give final results for 13th to 18th overall

All teams sail each other once, to give final results for 19th to 24th overall

Final Positions

Final Positions

Final Positions

9th to 12th

13th to 18th

19th to 24th

Stage 6

Stage 7

Stage 8

Quarter Finals

Semi Finals

Sail offs for      5th to 8th

All Gold Group plus 1st and 2nd from Repechage

Winners of Quarter Final matches

Losers of Quarter Final matches

8 teams

4 teams

4 teams

Teams sail in pairs against each other until one has at least 3 points

Teams sail in pairs against each other until one has at least 3 points

Teams sail in pairs against each other for 1 match, to give final results for 5th to 8th overall

Final Positions

5th to 8th

Stage 9

Petit Final

Final

Petit Final is losers of Semi Final Matches

Final is winners of Semi Final Matches

2 teams

2 teams

Teams sail against each other until one has at least 2 points, to give final results for 3rd and 4th overall

Teams sail against each other until one has at least 3 points, to give final results for 1st and 2nd overall

Final Positions

Final Positions

3rd and 4th

1st and 2nd