Why Project Manager Magnus Myrenberg loves Team Racing

My name is Magnus Myrenberg, and I'm the Project Manager for the Team Racing World Championship 2026 we'll be hosting this August in Stockholm.

People often ask me two questions: What is Team Racing? and Why do you sail it? So I'd like to share a few thoughts about what makes this form of racing so unique—and why so many sailors fall in love with it once they've tried it.

I've been racing sailboats since 1969. The first boat I ever raced (1969) was a Mirror dinghy that a friend and I built together with our parents. Since then, I've sailed just about every type of racing there is, in boats ranging from International Moths to 40-foot offshore yachts and even traditional Tall Ships. For a brief period, I was also part of Sweden's national Star class squad.

So why mention all that?

Because after more than fifty years of racing around buoys and offshore courses, I started to lose the spark. I still loved sailing, but the competition itself no longer gave me the excitement it once had.

Then, six years ago, a friend asked if I'd like to try Team Racing. At that point, I had never even heard the term.

I joined the group at GSYS (Gamla Stans Yacht Club), and from my very first session, I was hooked. Suddenly, I couldn't wait to get back to the starting line.

It was incredibly difficult. Incredibly challenging. And incredibly fun.

Here's why.

Team Racing brings together the best of sail racing

Team Racing isn't just another racing format. It's a unique blend of several sailing disciplines, each contributing something essential.

From FUNDAMENTAL SAILING SKILLS, it takes everything that makes a sailboat move efficiently - understanding wind, waves, sail trim, balance, weight distribution, and safety. You need to know not only how to sail fast, but also how to slow down, stop completely, and accelerate at exactly the right moment.

From FLEET RACING, it borrows strategic thinking across the entire course: reading wind shifts, maximizing speed, mastering crowded starts, and positioning your boat for the best possible outcome.

From SPRINT RACING, it inherits relentless intensity. Races are short, decisions must be made instantly, and every handling issue counts. There's no time to ease into the competition—you have to perform from the very first second.

From MATCH RACING, Team Racing takes close-quarters boat handling, tactical duels, start-line positioning, and perhaps most importantly, the ability to use the Racing Rules as a strategic weapon rather than simply a safety framework.

In Team Racing, the rules become part of the game. You can legally slow an opponent, create opportunities for a teammate, or force difficult decisions—all without breaking a rule.

But the real difference is the team

None of those skills alone will make you successful. The clue is in the name. You don't win Team Racing by sailing away from everyone else. You win by making your teammates better.

Sometimes that means sacrificing your own position to help a teammate move ahead. Sometimes it means controlling an opponent so your partner can escape. Success comes from trust, communication, and understanding exactly what your teammates are trying to achieve—even when they're too far away to exchange a single word.

That's why experience from business teams, sports, and leadership is surprisingly valuable. The strongest international teams are often made up of highly experienced sailors who have already mastered boat speed and tactics. Their biggest advantage is that they operate almost as a single mind on the water.

Each sailor instinctively knows what the others are trying to accomplish. That's what wins races.

Short races. Endless action.

One of the great attractions of Team Racing is the format itself. Instead of one or two long races, you sail many races throughout the day. Each race typically lasts only 9–12 minutes, yet includes numerous mark roundings, tactical situations, and dramatic lead changes.

At this World Championship, each team consists of two boats racing against two boats—a format known as 2v2. International Team Racing is also raced in 3v3 and even larger formats, but those become so tactically complex that only the most experienced teams can truly master them.

World Sailing chose the 2v2 format for this championship because it's simple to understand—for sailors and spectators alike: The team whose last boat crosses the finish line loses.

It really is that straightforward.

Racing decided on the water

Another feature that makes Team Racing exciting is on-the-water umpiring.

Just like Match Racing, umpires follow the boats around the course. If you break a rule, you can immediately take your penalty. If you don't, the umpire makes the call—and the penalty becomes more severe.

Penalties involve turning the boat one or more turns or circles and, in Team Racing, they must be taken as soon as possible. For spectators, this is fantastic. You may not always know who made the mistake, but you'll immediately see which boat is spinning. Better still, when the boats cross the finish line, the result is final. There are no lengthy protest hearings later in the day to decide who actually won.

Why GSYS believes in Team Racing

I hope this gives you a sense of why I think Team Racing is the most exciting form of sailing competition—and why our club, GSYS, has chosen to invest so heavily in it, both nationally and internationally; It is demanding. It is endlessly challenging.

And it opens the door to an extraordinary international community. Whether you're racing on Stockholm's Riddarfjärden, at Queen Mary Reservoir outside London, or at Newport Harbor Yacht Club on the Pacific coast—whose sailors earned the right to represent the USA at this year's World Championship—you know that beyond the racing you'll meet passionate, experienced people who share the same love for the sport.

The friendships often last much longer than the races.

Team Racing in short

I've tried to capture Team Racing in a single description:

Team Racing is sailing's most complete form of competition. It combines the fundamental skills of sailing with Fleet Racing's speed and course strategy, Match Racing's rules tactics and close combat, Sprint Racing's relentless intensity, and the teamwork, communication, leadership, and shared purpose found in the very best teams. The result is a discipline where technical skill, tactical thinking, and teamwork are equally essential to success.

Or, to put it more simply: It's unbelievably fun.

So, from one sailor to another: Give Team Racing a try.

Just don't be surprised if you never want to stop.