Santa Maria Cup today announced Visit Annapolis & Anne Arundel County will be the title sponsor for the East Coast stop of the 2023 Women’s World Match Racing Tour.

The Visit Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Santa Maria Cup supported by the Maryland Sports Commission will be held April 30 through May 4, 2023. Female competitors from Australia, Denmark, Great Britain, New Zealand, Sweden and the USA will race J/22s on the Severn River. Eastport Yacht Club is the host club for the event.

“Annapolis is America’s Sailing Capital,” Kristen Pironis, executive director of Visit Annapolis and Anne Arundel County commented, “and we are excited to welcome the world’s only professional sailing series for women to the Chesapeake Bay.”

“Eastport Yacht Club is thrilled to be part of the Women’s World Match Racing Tour for 2023,” commented Eastport Yacht Club Commodore Mark Jones. “We are looking forward to hosting the top women’s match racing teams in Annapolis again for the Visit Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Santa Maria Cup supported by the Maryland Sports Commission.”

Annapolis is Stage 2 of the Women’s World Match Racing Tour. The Annapolis regatta immediately follows racing at the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, April 24-28, 2023. After the United States, the Tour heads to Europe for the Normandy Match Cup in Le Havre, France from May 26-29 and to Skovshoved Harbour in Copenhagen, Denmark September 21-24.

Santa Maria Cup 

Santa Maria Cup is the second stop on the 2023 Women’s World Match Racing Tour. Returning after a 10-year break, the 2023 regatta will be the 22^nd^ running of this event. Past competitors in this series include Olympic sailors, Rolex Yachtswomen of the Year, and other international stars of women’s sailing. Some of the American past winners are JJ Isler, Dawn Riley, Julia Trotman, Jody Swanson, Betsy Alison, Cory Sertl, Sally Barkow, and Anna Tunnicliffe. Originally a minor offshoot to the Columbus Cup professional match racing regatta series in Baltimore, Santa Maria Cup relocated to Annapolis in 1993 when Eastport Yacht Club (EYC) became the organizing authority. www.santamariacup.org 

Visit Annapolis & Anne Arundel County 

Visit Annapolis and Anne Arundel County (VAAAC) is a nonprofit, membership-based Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) that generates revenues for the local economy by promoting Annapolis and Anne Arundel County to business and leisure travelers across the country and around the world. Anne Arundel County’s official DMO executes strategic marketing, sales, and media campaigns that position the destination’s portfolio of brands in key markets to bolster the economy and enhance employment opportunities. www.visitannapolis.org 

Maryland Sports Commission 

The Maryland Sports Commission is the go-to resource for the sports events and sports tourism industry in Maryland. Our mission is to enhance Maryland’s economy, image and quality of life through the attraction, promotion, retention and development of regional, national and international sporting events.   

Women’s World Match Racing Tour
The Women’s World Match Racing Tour was launched in 2022 to continue the hugely successful legacy of the WIM Series (Women’s International Match Racing Series) providing a global match racing series for female sailors. The name of the series was re-launched as the Women’s World Match Racing Tour with its continued mission to expand and strengthen global match racing and promote opportunities for competitive women’s sailing at every level. The Women’s World Match Racing Tour is the world’s first and only professional sailing series for women providing a valuable pathway for aspiring female world champions in the sport of sailing. womenswmrt.com