EUROSAF Match Racing, European Open Championship, 2013

EUROSAF Meets with the Sails of the White Nights, in St Petersburg.

The Sails of the White Nights - the National Congress Palace Cup, is one of the most famous regattas in Europe and marks the long tradition in Russia of celebrating the longest days of the year, when night changes to day. This year, part of this celebration includes the EUROSAF Match Racing, European Open Championship, which has attracted some of the top European match racers to compete for the prestigious Piraterne Trophy. This trophy was presented to EUROSAF by the Royal Danish Yacht Club - Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub and is awarded annually to the winner of the European Open Championship.

The Sails of the White Nights - the National Congress Palace Cup, takes place in a unique environment, right in the heart of the City of St Petersburg. The backdrop for the racing is the renowned Hermitage, with the equally famous Saint Isaac's Cathedral.  The Hermitage was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and is now one of the largest and oldest museums in the world, having been open to the public since 1852.

Racing in the EUROSAF Match Racing, European Open Championship gets underway on Thursday, 30^th May, with today allocated to team practice. Teams from 10 different countries are competing in what is an ISAF Grade 2 event.  Amongst those competing is Eric Monnin from Switzerland, Mads Ebler from Denmark and Staffan Lindberg from Finland.  The boats being used are "Santer-760" keel boats, which have an overall length of 7,6 m and are raced with a crew of three. The event format, as with most match racing events, is

•             Stage 1 – Round-Robin(s)

•             Stage 2 – Quarter Final –  knock-out series

•             Stage 3 – Semi-Finals – knock-out series

•             Stage 4 – Final and Petit Final – knock-out series

The championship is scheduled to conclude on Sunday 2^nd June.

Attending the event on behalf of EUROSAF in John Friend, the Secretary General, who when asked said “we are absolutely delighted to be in St Petersburg, in this unique sailing ‘theatre’ and to be partnering with the Sails of White Nights, St-Petersburg regional sport social organization and the St-Petersburg Yacht Club in this championship. We would particularly like to thank the Russian Yachting Federation for facilitating this arrangement, which will create a very different and exciting championship environment”.

More information to follow.

EUROSAF Match Racing, European Championships, 2013

EUROSAF announce the Notice of Race for the Women’s European Match Racing Championship, to be held in Gdynia, Poland, plus the addition of a new event for European Universities.

EUROSAF is delighted to announce the publication of the Notice of Race for the EUROSAF Match Racing, Women’s European Championship, which is to be incorporated within the Volvo Gdynia Sailing Days, in Gdynia, Poland, from 17^th to 21^st July. Applications for entries for this ISAF Grade 2 event are invited from all interested sailors and EUROSAF Member National Authorities.  Entries  close on 15^th June, 2013. Notice of Race published here

Joining the Women’s Championships this year are three other match racing events, the long established European Open Championship, the Youth European Championship (under 23 on 31^st December 2103) and a brand new event, the EUROSAF University Sailing, European Match Racing Championship.

With the first regatta in the EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup now finished, attention turns to Medemblik in The Netherlands, where the Delta Lloyd Regatta commences on 21^st May

Organised by the European Sailing Federation (EUROSAF), in association with five of the major regatta organisers in Europe, the new series offers Olympic, aspiring Olympic and Paralympic sailors, an opportunity to compete against the best sailors from around the world. Entries have been brisk for a new series, in a post-Olympic year, and include several Olympic medallists and a good number of world champions.

So far, approaching 1,000 sailors have entered across the first four regattas, including some famous names, so the standard of competition will be high.