A year full of match race action with 2nd edition of European Match Race Tour
by Helmut Czasny 20 Jan 2018 02:17 PST
European Match Race Tour © 2018 EMRT
Following the success of the inaugural edition in 2017, this year's European Match Race Tour will feature seven qualifying events all over Europe followed by the 2018 Grand Final in Montenegro's Tivat. The spectacular format will attract once more Europe's best match racing teams to a variety of boat types and high-quality sailing events. On the sportive side, last year's runner-up World #11 Patryk Zbroja from Poland will be challenging the defending champion, French skipper Simon Bertheau.
The European Tour will start on the beautiful waters of Croatia's Sibenik in February before heading the Adriatic coast south to Tivat in Montenegro. Stop number three in April will be at PWA's windsurf world cup venue at Podersdorf at Lake Neusiedl in Austria, followed by the Tour's first visit to Sweden, when Gothenburg will welcome the match race circuit beginning of May. Another stop in Scandinavia at Copenhagen's KDY will keep the teams busy on the Baltic, followed by Poland's Swinojusce, where the northern section of the Tour will finish with another remarkable event. Last year's host of the Grand Final, Ravenna, will provide the last opportunity to qualify for the 2018 Grand Final which will take place in September at Porto Montenegro, Tivat, where the mountains of Montenegro and the scenic landscape will provide a spectacular backdrop for the climax of the European Tour.
There will be no changes to the scoring system of the Tour. Each skippers' best three results from the qualifying events will count and the top eight skippers in the general ranking will qualify for the Grand Final. There will be double points on offer which guarantees excitement till the end. The skipper with the highest points from the three events plus his Grand Final score will be crowned Tour Champion 2018.
"It is definitely our goal to win the 2018 European Match Race Tour," explained Patryk Zbroja, "after finishing on second place with victories in Vienna and Szczecin last year, we are ready to go on top this year! The European Tour is a great format with exciting match racing events across Europe. Many great match race teams are on the road and we love to meet them and to win many events against them!"
The European Match Race Tour 2018
- Tour Stop 1 - 16-18 Feb 2018 – Sibenik, CRO
- Tour Stop 2 - 16 - 18 March 2018 - Tivat, MNE
- Tour Stop 3 - 6-8 April 2018 – Podersdorf, AUT
- Tour Stop 4 - 5-6 May 2018 - Gothenburg, SWE
- Tour Stop 5 - 26-27 May 2018 – Copenhagen, DEN
- Tour Stop 6 - 22-24 June 2018 - Swinojusce, POL
- Tour Stop 7 - 31 Aug-2 Sept 2018 – Ravenna, ITA
- Grand Final 2018 - 13-16 Sept 2018, Tivat, Porto Montenegro, MNE