European Match Race Tour 2018 Grand Final at Tivat, Montenegro - Overall
by Helmut Czasny 18 Sep 2018 10:31 BST
Polish skipper Piotr Harasimovics and his HRM Racing Team © 2018 EMRT / PMYC
Polish skipper Piotr Harasimovics and his HRM Racing Team dominated the final stages of the European Tour 2018 Grand Final in Montenegro's Tivat.
With a clear 3-0, he overtook the winner of the Round Robin, Sylvain Escurat from France, while Croatia's young guns with skipper Marko Smolic defeated Austria's Helmut Czasny to secure the bronze medal. The Polish victory also put Harasimovics ahead of Slovenia's Dejan Presen to crown the Pole the 2018 European Tour Champion.
The 2018 Grand Final took place in the historic bay of Kotor just in front of recently built Porto Montenegro's superyacht harbor. Tivat, nestled in the famous bay – a UNESCO world heritage site – like a natural amphitheater proved to be the perfect choice with excellent sailing conditions on the water, the spectacular backdrop of Montenegro's famous mountain, the Lovcen, and a high quality organization provided by Porto Montenegro Yacht club.
Right from the beginning the French representative Escurat took the lead to secure the win of the qualifying round. It was only until the last day that Piotr Harasimovics, world #21, showed an brilliant display and to ensure Poland's first ever victory of the European Match Race Tour.
"We are very satisfied to provide great racing today to win the Grand Final here in Tivat" explained Harasimovics at the prize giving, "but it is like a dream comes true to win the European Tour! It is a great format and we look forward to defend our title in 2019!"
"Piotr is a great winner – we were close but we will improve to come back stronger next year" said runner-up Sylvain Escurat, "but the Grand Final at Tivat will be remembered as a top-level event with a fantastic venue, a great club and outstanding organizers!"
The 2019 European Match Race Tour will feature again seven events in seven different countries all over Europe with the Grand Final hosted in Sibenik, Croatia, in October 2019.
Final results (top five):
1. Piotr Harasimovics POL
2. Sylvain Escurat FRA
3. Marko Smolic CRO
4. Helmut Czasny AUT
5. Teo Piasevoli CRO
Overall Final results (top five):
1. Piotr Harasimovics POL 140 pts
2. Dejan Presen SLO 130 pts
3. Sylvain Escurat FRA 105pts
4. Marko Smolic CRO 100 pts
5. Helmut Czasny AUT 90 pts