Marinella Laaksonen is the number one ranked female Finnish skipper in the World Sailing rankings and three time National champion in women’s match racing. Laaksonen began match racing in 2012 and has risen to the top of the field, climbing to number 4 in the women’s match racing world rankings in 2020 and not dropping out of the top 8 for almost four years. Laaksonen is the skipper of the L2 Match Racing Team that includes team members Sofia Tynkkynen, Camilla Cedercreutz, Henna Holopainen and Catharina Sandman. A force to be reckoned on the international sailing scene, Laaksonen and her team – including Marianna Kontulainen, Daniela Rönnberg,Eva-Lotta Hokkonen – have finished in the top 10 of the Women’s Match Racing World Championship in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Born in Helsinki, Finland, Laaksonen is a computer science student when she isn’t on the waves. She began her sailing career racing dinghies in competitions around Europe before trying match racing in 2012, starting as crew before changing to skippering two years later in 2014. Only a year later, she became National champion in women’s match racing for the first time and went on to win again in 2016 and 2018.

Laaksonen’s other achievements include 5th place in the women’s match racing world championship in 2017, 6th place in 2016 and 4th in the 2018 WIM-series. After making remarkable progress in the last few years, Laaksonen intends to continue competing at the highest level in the new decade.