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

Kristen Pironis

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,” commented Kristen Pironis, executive director of Visit Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. “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 25-29 and to Skovshoved Harbour in Copenhagen, Denmark September 21-24.

CRAB Radio will be the only FM radio station licensed and operated in Annapolis, Maryland. Following in the great Annapolis radio footsteps of WANN, WNAV, WHFS, and WRNR, CRAB Radio seeks to showcase the local music and arts scene and elevate the local voices of Maryland’s capital city. According to the Maryland Hall website, “Our mission is in our name: Community Radio for the Arts and the Bay.” Heard on WYZT-LP 104.7 FM, the station launches on April 2 with a live broadcast from Maryland Hall’s ArtFest.

“We are so thrilled to be able to provide this platform for sharing stories, music, and podcasts about our community, the arts, and the environment,” said Laura Brino. Director of Programming, Maryland Hall, as quoted in Eye on Annapolis. “Being able to program a radio station is such a gift for the organization, as it adds another accessible creative space where the community can drive the content as we aim to provide opportunities for more voices to be shared.”

Photo credit: Women’s World Match Racing Tour