Svendborg welcomes sailors for EUROSAF Match Racing Open Europeans

by Dan Ibsen on 11 Aug 2016 Svendborg Sound Sailing Club (SSS) and The Royal Danish Yacht Club (KDY) are hosting the EUROSAF Match Racing Open European Championships from 11-14 August 2016. The venue for this event is waterside at Hotel Christiansminde, Svendborg where racing is very close to the shore and can be followed by spectators.

12 crews from 11 different countries have lined up in Svendborg in order to fight got this title and the Trophy. The European Match Racing Championships was initiated in Denmark in the mid 1990s by the Royal Danish Yacht Club on behalf of the European Sailing Federation, and the championship has been organized every year since this.

Top ranked skipper is the Dane Joachim Aschenbrenner who earlier this year won the EUROSAF Youth Match Race Championship 2016 (Open). In 2014 he won the ISAF Match Racing Youth World Championship and followed up with a silver medal in 2015. This year he has started in M32 I the World Match Racing Tour, but are back in the classic keelboat match racing for this event. Joachim is considered to be one of the favorites to win this years title, but will be contested by Mati Sepp (EST) and Pierre Rhimbault (FRA) for the title.

Skipper name (Nationality) and World Ranking

• Joachim Aschenbrenner (DEN) - rank nine
• Mati Sepp (EST) - rank 11
• Pierre Rhimbault (FRA) - rank 17
• Antti Luhta (FIN) - rank 24
• Marek Stanczyk (POL) - rank 25
• Markus Rönnberg (FIN) - rank 26
• Max Trippolt (AUT) - rank 36
• Nelson Mettraux (SUI) - rank 42
• Falix Oehme (GER) - rank 47
• Valerio Galati (ITA) - rank 55
• Kim Kling (SWE) - rank 91
• Raimondas Siugzdinis (LTU) - rank 382

Thursdag and Friday is scheduled for Round Robin, maybe Saturday morning, and thereafter the weekend will focus on quarter finals, semifinals and finals.

The two organizing clubs both celebrate their 150 year anniversary in 2016, as the two oldest clubs in Denmark, and also among the oldest in Europe. This event will strengthen the bond between these two traditional clubs, and is only one of many activities in celebration of both club’s 150 anniversary.

The regatta will be sailed in RDYC’s six J/80 boats with crews of fou, and spectators can watch the races at very close quarters from waterfront public areas in Christiansminde, or from the beach at Vindeby Camping, Tåsinge.

The event is supported by Svendborg Kommune/SvendborgEvent, Sport Event Fyn and Sport Event Denmark. The lead sponsors of the event are Fynske Bank, AUDI and Hotel Christiansminde.

Royal Danish Yacht Clubs 150 years jubilee regatta program, including this European Match Racing Championship is supported by the A.P. Möller and Chastine McKinney Möller Foundation.