European Match Race Tour 2017 Event 1 at Šibenik, Croatia
by Helmut Czasny-Bonomo 12 Feb 2017 22:53 PST
10-12 February 2017
Simon Bertheau wins the European Match Racing Tour opening event at Sibenik © Dubravka Pajk Photography /
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French Skipper Simon Bertheau won the opening event of the European Tour ahead of World #20 Dejan Presen from Slovenia and the Russian Vladimir Liparvski. The multiple Olympian Christian Binder from Austria and the Croatian Pavle Kostov were tied in fourth place.
The Tour event in Sibenik, perfectly organized by the Wave Sailing Centre, challenged the ten teams with various conditions. Was it the famous bura wind with gusts up to 30 knots on the first day, so came light wind tactics into play on day number two. But on the final day, the bay of Sibenik provided a outstanding match racing venue with sunshine and sea breeze the whole day.
Simon Bertheau stunned the other skippers with outstanding performance over the three days. The young French skipper and his crew showed great teamwork and good sailing performance. With just one race lost to the second placed Dejan Presen, it was a well-earned victory. The French took also the lead of the European Match Racing Tour which will continue in one month's time at Tivat in Montenegro.
"We are so happy to have won and it is great to be the leaders of the European Match Racing tour" exclaimed a super-happy Bertheau after the prize giving.
Event 1 Results:
1 - Simon Bertheau – FRA
2 - Dejan Presen – SLO
3 - Vladimir Lipavsky – RUS
4 - Christian Binder – AUT
5 – Pavle Kostov – CRO
6 - Teo Piasevoli – CRO
7 - Piotr Harasimowics – POL
8 - Julian Kircher – AUT
9 - Jure Jerkovic – CRO
10 - Bojan Rajar – SLO
European Match Race Tour 2017 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
Tour Stop 5 - 25-27 May – Szczesin, POL
Tour Stop 6 - June – Copenhagen, DEN
Tour Stop 7 - 25 – 27 August – Ploen, GER
Grand Final 2017 - 8 – 10 September – Ravenna, ITA
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