London (9 May, 2022) Estonian match racer Mati Sepp and his Clean Energy Sailing Team won the 2022 edition of the Porto Montenegro Match Race this weekend, an official event of the World Match Racing Tour and stage 4 of the 2022 championship series.

The three-day event was hosted by the Porto Montenegro Yacht Club, part of the spectacular Porto Montenegro superyacht destination with racing on the waters of the UNESCO protected Bay of Kotor.

Light winds graced the opening day of the event which challenged the race committee to complete the first flight of racing in the round robin qualifying round. The Northerly breeze filled for the start of Day 2, swinging to the SW in the afternoon to completing six flights by the end of the day.

After a wait ashore for the late breeze on Sunday, the race committee was able to complete the final flight of the round robin but, with a final warning signal at 4pm, it was not possible to complete a semi-final and final.

The top 3 places for the event were therefore decided from the round robin. A three-way tie break for the top 3 teams was broken after an assessment of the win-losses of the teams and their results against each other. The calculation put Estonian Mati Sepp in the lead with 2 wins versus Italian Riccardo Sepe’s 1 win, and fellow Italian Rocco Attili’s with no wins.

A challenging event for the organizers in light airs, Principal Race Officer and Porto Montenegro Marina Director Tony Browne was pleased to secure a result for the event;

β€œWe are extremely proud to have hosted this stage of the 2022 World Match Racing Tour at the Porto Montenegro Yacht Club. Even though wind conditions were not ideal, the on-water action was extremely tactical and exciting for sailors and spectators alike with all teams exhibiting high levels of skills onboard. We look forward to our continued involvement on the world match racing circuit, and to welcoming familiar faces again next year to Porto Montenegro.”

The event was generously sponsored by Porto Montenegro https://portomontenegro.com/ Β with support from Portokali and superyacht refit yard Adriatic42 https://adriatic42.com/

Final results;

  1. Mati Sepp (EST) – Clean Energy Sailing Team
  2. Riccardo Sepe (ITA) – Blessed Galleria Sailing Team
  3. Rocco Attili (ITA) – RBYS Racing
  4. Dave Hood (USA) – DH3 Racing
  5. Bojan Rajar (SLO) – Eureka Sailing Team
  6. Jeffrey Petersen (USA) – Golden State Match Racing
  7. Sophie Otter (GBR) – Team Otter
  8. Ellie Cumpsty (GBR) – Team Phoenix

For more information on Porto Montenegro Yacht Club, visit https://pmyc.portomontenegro.com/

ABOUT PORTO MONTENEGRO

Previously a historic naval base, Porto Montenegro’s transformation into a luxury yacht marina has been led by some of the world’s most respected business figures including UK businessman Lord Jacob Rothschild, the founder of luxury conglomerate Louis Vuitton MoΓ«t Hennessey, Bernard Arnault, and Peter Munk, founder and former chairman of Barrick Gold. In 2016 Porto Montenegro was acquired by the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the principal investment arm of the Government of Dubai with investments spanning financial services, transportation, energy and industries, real estate and leisure and retail. www.portomontenegro.com

ABOUT WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR

Founded in 2000, the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) promotes the sport of match racing around the world and is the longest running global professional series in the sport of sailing. The WMRT is awarded β€˜Special Event’ status by the sport’s world governing body – World Sailing – and the winner of the WMRT each year is crowned World Sailing Match Racing World Champion. Previous champions include Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR), Taylor Canfield (USA), Peter Gilmour (AUS), Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Peter Holmberg (ISV), Adam Minoprio (NZL), Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Bertrand Pace (FRA), Jesper Radich (DEN), Phil Robertson (NZL) and Ian Williams (GBR). Since 2000, the World Match Racing Tour and its events have awarded over USD23million in prize money to sailors which has helped to contribute to the career pathway of many of today’s professional sailors.Β  Β www.wmrt.com