Russian J/70 Sailing League Report

(Sochi/ Tuapse/ Konakovo, Russia)- The Russian J/70 Sailing League has already started off their 2019 sailing season and over the past two weeks it is in full swing!  Over 45 teams from all over Russia have been sailing in the Supreme Division and the Premiere Division; on famous Black Sea resorts in Sochi and Tuapse. In addition, a Qualifying event was held at the Konakovo River Club, northwest of Moscow.

Tuapse Supreme Division- Stage II
Twenty-three teams entered the battle for the title of the Russian Sailing League Champion; Burevestnik Sailing Team (ex. Leviathan) (steering Vadim Yakhinson), ArtTube RUS1 (Valeria Kovalenko), Calipso (Maxim Taranov), Sailing Academy of the Yacht Club of St. Petersburg (Anna Basalkina), PIRogovo (Yuri Morozov), Sail Lord— ASIA (Vyacheslav Yermolenko), Sail Lord– EUROPE (Andrey Ryzhov), NAVIGATOR Trem (Alexandra Peterson), Rocknrolla Sailing Team (Irina Sorokina), X-Fit (Vladimir Silkin), RUS7 (Sergey Shevtsov), Region-23 (Evgeny Nikiforov), CSKA (Mikhail Poslamovsky), Black Sea (Andrey Malygin), Komatek (Vyacheslav Frolov), OSK (Edward Skornyakov), East-West (Andrey Zuev), ZID art Sailing team (Evgeny Neugodnikov), Parusnik74.ru (Edward Podshivalov), Winner Sailing Team (Karina Teljyants), Matryoshka (Natalia Kravets), Akhmat (Alexander Bozhko) and the guest team “AMP of the Black Sea” (Nikolai Egorov).

Tuapse provided the sailors what could only be described as completely non-April weather and variable wind. A combination of rain, sun, clouds, and highly variable winds in both direction and velocity.

“The strength of the wind was constantly changing: from complete calm to 10-12 knots,” said Chief Judge Nikolai Yushkov. “I can only imagine how hard it was for the racers. What was important was not so much knowledge as luck, a sense of wind, and much good fortune!”

As a result, eleven races were sailed on the first race day. Fifteen teams had four starts, six teams had three races each and two teams had five each.

After the first race day, the undisputed leader was the BLACK SEA Team skippered by Andrey Malygin with an impressive 1-1-1-4 record. They were followed by NAVIGATOR TREM helmed by Alexandra Peterson with a 2-4-1-2 tally. RUS7 Team led by Sergey Shevtsov was sitting in third place with a 5-2-2-1.  Having a rough time in the variable weather off Tuapse were the leaders after Stage I; Alexander Bozhko’s crew from the Chechen Republic on AKHMAT finished the day in 6th place, while Valeria Kovalenko’s crew from Pirogovo on ARTTUBE RUS1 sat in a very uncharacteristic 10th place.

At the end of the regatta on Sunday, the PRO managed to run only ten more races.  As a result, it was Malygin’s BLACK SEA Team that managed to hold off a hard-charging AKHMAT Team skippered by Alexander Bozhko to take the top two spots on the podium.  Meanwhile, Petersen’s NAVIGATOR TREM Team lost a bit of their edge from the first day to drop into the bronze position.  Rounding out the top five were ZID ART Sailing Team (Evgeny Neugodnikov) in fourth and RUS7 (Sergey Shevtsov) dropping down the standings to fifth place after day one.

Konakovo Qualifying Division- Stage I & II
The Konakovo River Club northwest of Moscow will be hosting the first qualifying stage event for the Russian Sailing League’s “entry” division in their fleet of J/70s next weekend.

These competitions are only a great opportunity to meet other sailing teams from around Russia, but also an opportunity to qualify for the next division higher in 2020- the Premiere Division.

This year, two qualifying stages will be held in the fleet of J/70s at the Konakovo River Club. Nine teams will take part in each of the two qualifying stages, and the top four of each event will take part in the 2019 Russian Championship regatta.

Recall that last year 24 teams took part in the Russian J/70 Sailing League Championship, which took place in Pirogovo. For 2019, the championship will take place in Sochi from October 25th to 27th, hosted by Sochi Grand Marina by the Burevestnik Group.

Tuapse Premier Division- Stage II
Last weekend, the second stage of the Premiere Division took place in Tuapse. Fourteen teams participated in the regatta from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Voronezh and Yekaterinburg.

Over the three-day event, the organizers managed to hold twenty-one races. Unfortunately, a gentle wind prevented the fulfillment of the entire planned program. On the first day, the wind reached 10 knots.  However, for the next two days, the breezes barely pushed up to 5 kts! As a result, most of the starts- 11 - were raced on the first day of the regatta.

Friday's victor was the SAIL & SEA Team skippered by Vasily Harabardina. The crew from St. Petersburg sailed very well, posting three 1sts, two 2nds, and a 4th. Ending the day tied for second place were Ekaterina Stolbneva's DOBRYNA Team with a 4-1-6-2-3-2 tally and PEC: SPORT YOUTH Team led by Dmitry Popkov with nearly identical scores of 2-3-6-3-1-3.

On the second day, only five races were held. The leader of the first day, the SAIL & SEA Team, was unable to hold their position; two 5ths and one 3rd in three races drove the crew down to second place. Leaping into first place was Dmitry Popkov’s PEC: SPORT MOLODEZHKA Team after posting a 1-1-2 for the day. Then, moving into third place was Alexey Lesnikov’s B-TEAM (they were the winners of the first stage).

On the third and final day on Sunday, the wind “officially” died. “In the morning, the wind reached 5 knots, so we managed to hold two races,” said Daniil Dejanov, the main judge of the regatta. “We caught every breath of wind, but unfortunately, we couldn't get more than four races on Sunday.”

As a result, Popkov’s PEC: SPORT MOLODEZHKA Team failed to hold onto the top line after posting a 4-3-3 for the day, ultimately having to settle for the bronze medal in Tuapse. “For the second time in a row, we were winning after the second day,” said Mikhail Filatov, the helmsman of PEC: SPORT MOLODEZHKA. “First place was not far away! But, we made a few mistakes on the last day.”

Second place went to the UGAR Crew team. Two victories on Saturday and one on Sunday enabled the crew of Ruslan Yakupov to climb the podium for their first time in the Premier Division!

The winner was Vasily Kharabardin’s SAIL & SEA Team.  After leading the first day, then dropping off any podium position on the second day, it was a strong comeback for the team on the last day to take back the lead.

“I liked the race in Tuapse,” said Kharabardin. “The weather was different, but although the wind was not very strong, the judges and organizers managed to hold a good regatta. The fight to get on the podium was sharp and highly competitive. We were very worried when on the second day we failed so badly! But, we were happy to be lucky on the last day.”

Sochi Supreme Division- Stage I
Sochi Grand Marina by the Burevestnik Group hosted the first event for the Supreme Division’s 2019 sailing season.  Over the three days, the fleet was challenged by a wide variety of weather and solid breezes.  Twenty-eight races were completed for the twenty-four top sailing teams in the Russian National J/70 Sailing League.

In the end, it was the champion Chechen Republic skipper Alexander Bozhkov on ACHMAT that won the regatta in convincing fashion, garnering more than his fair share of 1sts and podium finishes.  Taking second was a colleague of his, Valeria Kovalenko’s ARTTUBE RUS1 Team from Pirogovo.  Bozhkov can be seen frequently crewing for Kovalenko when she sails the larger J/70 open events across Europe and around the world- a fast, smart combination those two are!  Third in the opening Sochi event was RUS7 skippered by Sergey Shevtsov. Rounding out the top five were BLACK SEA Team (Andrey Malygin) and NAVIGATOR TREM (Alexandra Peterson), fourth and fifth, respectively.  For more Russian J/70 Sailing League informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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