European Match Race Tour 2017 – 7 events and a Grand Final
by Helmut Czasny-Bonomo 18 Dec 2016 14:48 GMT
11 December 2016
European Match Race Tour start at historic Sibenik © European Match Race Tour
A new format for exciting sailing events will start in February 2017 and will crown a Tour champion during the Grand Final in September.
The European Match Race Tour is a new match race series formed by event organisers across the continent to promote sailing in general and match racing in particular. The tour will feature stops in 7 countries before heading to the Grand Final at the beginning of September in Italy's Ravenna. Only the top 8 in the general rankings will be invited to the Grand Final.
The tour will start in the beautiful town of Šibenik in Croatia in February before moving to Portomontenegro marina in Tivat for its second stop. While the tour will be heading to Austria's capital Vienna, there will be another stops in spring in Sicily and at the Yacht Club de Monaco. After having visited Denmark's capital Copenhagen in June, Germany's Ploen will join the tour as the last event to qualify for the Grand Final which will be hosted by the Circolo Vela Ravennate in September.
Invitation will be sent to the team finishing first or second at their national championships last year and to the best ranked nationals. Depending on availability, other match racers are welcome to join the first edition of the European Match Race Tour.
"This is a fantastic initiative which will give match racing an additional stage! We look very much forward to it!"said Thomas Czajka, recently winner of the Christmas Match Race in Triest with OneSails CEO Christian Binder at the helm.
Provisional Dates:
- Tour Stop 1 - 10-12 February – Šibenik, CRO
- Tour Stop 2 - 17-19 March – Tivat, MNE
- Tour Stop 3 - 31 March – 2 April – Vienna, AUT
- Tour Stop 4 - 7-9 April – Monaco, MON (under negotiations)
- Tour Stop 5 - 5-7 May – Marina di Ragusa, Sicily, ITA
- Tour Stop 6 - June – Copenhagen, DEN (under negotiations)
- Tour Stop 7 - 25 – 27 August – Ploen, GER
- Grand Final 2017 - 8 – 10 September – Ravenna, ITA
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