The Open Polish Championship in match racing will be place this weekend in Szczecin, on the waters of Lake Dbie, as part of the World Cup and the legendary World Match Racing Tour series.
The regatta’s celebrity cast and an intriguing match format ensure a spectacular spectacle. Eleven teams from five countries will compete for World Sailing helmsman ranking points. At the same time, it is the World Match Racing Tour’s last regatta of the season, the World Match Championship. Previous ones in Poland were held in May at Szczecin.
At the commencement of the Szczecin regatta, the French team helmed by Maxime Mesnil is among the favorites to win. Currently, the world’s fourth helmsman has already won the World Cup regatta three times in Poland, is intimately familiar with the TOM 28 boats on which the Szczecin Match Race will be place, and has a very successful recent season behind him. The second Estonian crew, led by helmsman Mati Sepp, will attempt to foil his plans. However, this experienced crew, which is presently ranked 10th in the world, makes little mention of the waters of Szczecin. They’ve been a favorite here before, but they’ve never made it to the top step of the podium. Patryk Zbroi and his Szczecin YKP Szczecin crew have already won this game three times.
The following crews on the starting list have lower global rankings, but each of them could offer a threat to the favorites. Damian Michelier, a young Frenchman, has been progressively climbing the rankings for several seasons. He just won the hotly seeded Grade 2 race in Italian Ledro and is currently rated 72nd. Australian David Chapman, a very experienced professional sailor and current winner of the Sailing Champions League with many triumphs in many classes of yachts, both tiny and huge marine ones, is also a frequent visitor to Poland.
We will witness up to six Polish crews at the start. Przemysaw Tarnacki is the most successful Polish match sailor, a 7-time Polish Champion. Although he has not competed in the highest rank regattas for several seasons, he has knowledge and talents that allow him to successfully set conditions for the best in the world almost without preparation. Szymon Jabkowski returns to racing for the new Onboard team. Igor Tarasiuk is perhaps the busiest player in this group; regular starts in the Polish Sailing League and match regattas, along with a wealth of expertise, make the Porta Yacht Club Gdask team count in the podium fight. The attitude of Aleks Michalski of the Rockstars team, who is very experienced in fleet regattas but is making his match racing debut, will be uncertain. The debut of the youthful HRM Racing team, led by helmsman Kuba Gobiowski, may come as a surprise. The crew is made up of veteran Olympic contenders who have been taught by Ukasz Wosiski, the Polish Champion and a well-known and named sailor in numerous classes.
The race organizers give competitors with six identical regatta TOM28 yachts. As a result, each crew has a fair playing field, and the outcomes will be determined by talents and strategy rather than equipment. Because it is a standard utilized in match regattas all around the world, numerous crews from all over the world can attend the regatta.
Fans will experience a round-robin round, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals throughout the three days of racing on Lake Dbie in the Sailing Center. The regatta begins on Friday at 10:00 a.m. and concludes on Sunday at 4:00 p.m.
The qualifying round is made up of a series of peer-to-peer events, with each crew sailing in ten races. The winner of each race receives one point, while the loser receives none. The crews with the most victories/points will proceed to the final round. There will be approximately 60 short races / 1v1 elimination matches, followed by the finals for the top four teams. The seamless operation of the regatta will be overseen by four judges and two referees, who will evaluate races on the water and hear protests, applying monetary penalties quickly in the event of a violation of the regulations.
Interviews with competitors and race summaries will be posted on Facebook Polish Match Tour (https://www.facebook.com/PolishMatchTour) and YouTube OCS Sailing Sports Channel
The annual organization of high-level sailing regattas is made possible by the City and a permanent set of partners. The event’s character and significance perfectly fit into the Sail – eglarski Szczecin program as well as the promotion and development strategies of Szczecin and Western Pomerania.
The regatta’s principal sponsors are the City of Szczecin, West Pomerania, and Sail Szczecin.
The regatta partners include Centrum eglarskie, Hotel Moxy Szczecin, Yacht Paradise, and Yacht Paradise.
Harken Polska, Presti Szczecin Magazine, Etcetera, West Pomeranian District Sailing Association, YKP Szczecin, and the Polish Sailing Association are among the companies represented.
Since 2007, MT Partners and the Regatta Sailing Society have hosted a series of match regattas in Poland in collaboration with the Polish Sailing Association, the West Pomeranian District Sailing Association, and YKP Szczecin.
