(From the Match Race Hard website)

All set for the start of the EUROSAF European Match Racing Championship

All is ready for the start of the 2010 EUROSAF European Match Racing Championship in Hard, Austria next Tuesday. Organized by Yacht Club Hard and sanctioned by the EUROSAF, the regatta will run from Tuesday until Saturday and will see some of Europe’s best match racers vying for the title of European Champion.

This is the second combined EUROSAF Open and Women’s European Match Racing Championship and the winners of the Open Championship are awarded the Piraterne Trophy while the Women’s Championship is for the Wossala Trophy.

The skipper lineup includes some of Europe’s top names is match racing. In the Women’s division the skippers to watch will be Germany’s Silke Halhbrock, the reigning European champion, and Lucy Macgregor, the up-and-coming British sailor currently leading the world match racing rankings. Macgregor was not so fortunate last year in Denmark when the extremely light conditions forced the organizers to scrap the semifinals, resulting in her elimination.

In the Open division, top-ranked Pierre Antoine-Morvan from France, Mads Ebler from Denmark and Alvaro Marinho from Portugal will be vying for the European title. For Marinho and Ebler the waters of Lake Constance off Hard will be familiar, having raced in last year’s Match Race Cup. Marinho faced Ebler in the semifinals and after one victory the absence of wind forced again the organizers to can all racing. Marinho went on to clinch the title on the round robin countback.

Racing in the EUROSAF European Match Racing Championship will take place right in front of the shore

The EUROSAF European Match Racing Championship starts on Tuesday, May 11th with the practice races, followed by a double round robin, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, from Wednesday until Saturday.

Men crews will be racing on the Blu26 yachts, also used in World Match Racing event in Saint Moritz. These 26-foot yachts are raced with a crew of 4 men and their sail plan is adapted to the European Lakes. Women crews will be racing on the Schultz22 yachts. These 22-foot yachts will be raced with a crew of 3 women, similar to the Elliot 6m, the new Olympic women match racing yacht.

Set on the banks of beautiful Lake Constance and located a couple of miles from the meeting point of the Austrian, German and Swiss borders, picturesque Hard will be the ideal venue. Racing takes place a few dozens of meters from the shore, giving the public the chance to be as close as possible to the action.

Racing will take place on two separate race courses, with separate race committees and officials. The first race course will be inside the Binnenbecken pond, giving spectators the unique opportunity to have a 360-degree access to the races. The second course will be on Lake Constance itself, again as close to the shore as possible.

SKIPPER LINEUP - WOMEN

Name Nationality Ranking
Lucy Macgregor GBR 1
Silke Hahlbrock GER 5
Juile Bossard FRA 8
Lotte Meldgaard DEN 11
Renee Groeneveld NED 14
Cristiana Monina ITA 20
Rita Goncalves POR 27
Ekaterina Skudina RUS 33
Petra Kliba CRO 39
Margarita Cameselle ESP 40
Sofia Bekatorou GRE 51
Vesna Dekleva Paoli SLO 54

SKIPPER LINEUP - OPEN

Name Nationality Ranking
Pierre-Antoine Morvan FRA 14
Mads Ebler DEN 16
Alvaro Marinho POR 19
Andrew Arbuzov RUS 20
Staffan Lindberg FIN 22
Jacopo Pasini ITA 28
Eric Monnin SUI 29
Marek Stanczyk POL 32
Stefan Meister GER 54
Nick Cherry GBR 56
Jeroen den Boer NED 91
Hans Spitzauer AUT 144