of Sopot Match Race, taking place on the Baltic in the Polish holiday resort close to Gdansk. As a nation Poland is one of the most prolific internationally when it comes to match racing with the annual Polish Match Tour comprising five or six events annually. As a result, according to event organiser and competitor Przemek Tarnacki, his country also has more sailors in the top 100 of the ISAF match race rankings than any other. It is therefore fitting that Poland’s top event for the first time this year should form part of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour.
“For us, for the community, for this part of Europe, it is fantastic,” says Tarnacki of his event’s new status. “Society here will be much more aware of it this year, because for us all the time we are educating, educating sponsors and media, etc about what the event is, what match racing is and what impact the Alpari World Match Racing Tour has on the international sailing scene and its connection with the America’s Cup. In France, Sweden or Germany that is much easier to communicate than it is in Poland.” Sopot Match Race is centred around the town’s giant 0.5km long pier, Europe’s longest wooden pier, which in the height summer is visited daily by 20,000 people.
The start and finish of each race is held immediately off the pier. As Poland’s leading match racer, 2002 World Champion and former America’s Cup helmsman describes it: “Sopot is one of the best sailing stadiums in the world and all of the racing is run close to the pier, so the spectators have a really close view of the action that is going on on the water.” Jablonski used to sail 470s here when he was studying at the Sports Academy in Gdansk, has competed at Sopot Match Race regularly over the last four years, in addition to his extensive duties helming or acting as tactician on pro-race boats and superyachts around the world. “Sopot is a holiday town,” Jablonski continues.
“It is very, very crowded in the summer as there are a lot of beaches, plenty of good hotels and restaurants. And it is a great place to do sport, go mountain biking, running, skating and there are a lot of concerts going on in the summer.” Historically in addition to Sopot Match Race, the venue has played host to the European Match Racing Championship in 2007 and back in the 1990s hosted prestigious events for the One Ton Class and the ILC 40s. Jablonski remembers: “Pro sailors like Francesco de Angelis and Torben Grael say they’ve never forgotten those events for its great sailing on the water, great parties, great food, great atmosphere and great looking girls!”
At Sopot Match Race this year, 12 teams will be taking part. In addition to seven of the eight Alpari world Match Racing Tour card holders (Francesco Bruni is unable to compete due to his Luna Rossa commitments), this includes two from Poland, one led by Jablonski, the other by Tarnacki who until recently was world no8 in the ISAF match race rankings.
Also sailing will be Sweden’s Johnie Berntsson, Denmark’s Nicolai Sehested, and Finnish match racer, Staffan Lindberg, the latter two gaining their places through the two qualifying events. As to how Jablonski expects to do: “I will be probably very good in the ‘guest category’, if there is one, because I only match race two times a year or so, but it is still the sailing that I like the most: The direct fight with your opponent, you can play the rules and boat speed and I love to test my skills, to see if I have lost my touch, and push people in the pre-start! I like the challenge and even if I am exhausted and sometimes disappointed if it doesn’t always go my way, it is always great fun.”
The event is sailed in 34ft Danish-built Diamond 3000s, an IOR-type design from the late 1980s with long overhangs, a relatively small cockpit and running backstays. “They are a serious 3 tonne boat, so good for match racing with quite a tall rig of 14m. They are suitable for our venue because if you used TOM 28s or J/80s, they would be too small for sailing off the pier which is quite big,” says Tarnacki.
Like other events on the Tour, the event is used as a corporate hospitality vehicle and this year its sponsors include Samsung, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey, which is providing all the top class alcohol for the event’s official functions, Albert Riele Swiss watches and Ferrari, which will have 30 cars at the venue, as the event has been chosen as the finish for Ferrari’s rally around Poland. Racing takes place over 4 days from Thursday 31st July until Sunday 3rd August and sunshine with a light to moderate sea breeze are to be expected. The format will see a full round of Qualifying, with the winner advancing to the Semi Finals, followed by a 6 team Quarter Final then Semi Final and Final.
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