September 16, 2019
Baltic passed – ahead of France!
The Russian Championship 2019 in the yacht class SB20 is completed. Stormy weather did not allow the organizers and athletes to hold the scheduled starts on Saturday and Sunday, so the results of the competition were summed up on the basis of the first two racing days.
© Elena Razina
On Sunday morning, it was noticeable that the participants of the Russian championship managed to miss the races in just one day spent on the beach. This became apparent when the words of the chairman of the racing committee, Vladimir Komel that today the judges do not see obstacles to the start of the races, caused a boom of approval gathered in the tent of yachtsmen. The weather, which interfered with the competition on Saturday, was completely blown out during the night, and the new south wind had not yet reached the storm force predicted for the afternoon. The race committee hoped to hold at least two races.
But – it did not work out, the reality turned out to be even more severe than the pessimists expected. Already about twenty minutes before the start of the starting procedure, the signal of the cancellation of the races was heard on the main judging vessel. “The wind intensified to 26 knots, gusts to 30. The big wave, and the yachts can’t cope with it. The wind intensified suddenly. We thought that at least one race would be enough, but it did not work out. Now we accompany the fleet to the marina. In such critical conditions, it is impossible to continue the competition. The regatta is over, ”the head judge said on the radio.
It was not possible to complete the racing program 100%, but on the shore everything went on as usual. In the evening, the championship was completed by a colorful awarding ceremony for winners and winners – a bright point in a long series of memorable events that accompanied sailing races. It's only overboard – on the street – rain and wind, cold autumn, and under the arches of the festive tent – warmth and comfort, the bright lights of spotlights and the smiles of yachtsmen gathered here tonight.
At the very beginning of the ceremony, the racers were welcomed by the leaders of the Russian SB20 class association – President Ivan Gromov and Executive Director Natalya Fedorova. Following them, judges headed by Vladimir Komel rose to the stage. All of them were presented with memorable gifts and prizes from the sponsors of the competition. And then the sponsors themselves were noted. This year the regatta was held with the support of Mamakofe, FroMar, TEGRUS and Housewarming. City blocks ". Warm words were also spoken to the organizations on whose territory the regatta camp was based – the St. Petersburg River Yacht Club of the Trade Unions and the sailing club ZIGZAG.
Before proceeding with the awarding, the participants of the national championships were presented with a new prize – a challenge champion cup, which from now on will be awarded annually to the winner of the national championship.
Teams – every single one! – took turns taking the stage to get their portion of applause, which rival friends gave each other. Finally, the turn came to the podium. However, before the medals were presented to the audience, there was one more surprise: Oleg Zherebtsov, one of the founders of the SB20 association in Russia, came to congratulate the riders. Addressing the participants of the championship, he recalled how modestly the life of the class began in our country: only five crews played the first championship title among themselves. Now the class is on the rise, and as many as ten teams from Russia will leave for France in just a month, where the next world championship will be held.
So gradually, step by step, the evening quietly reached its climax: the winners and winners of the regatta stepped on the stage. Medals for third place were awarded to Alexei Semenov and his Portuguese crew – Hugo Rocha and Fran Palacio. Silver went to Vadim Pushev, Ivan Gromov and Alexei Kolobanov. The winning prizes together with the coach and the team’s tactician were taken by the wards of Artem Basalkin – Alexei Lesnikov, Yana Basalkina and Andrey Tukalov.
Well, the final chord of the festive evening was the presentation of medals of the Russian Championship. However, the difference from the overall standings was small: instead of the Portuguese team, the sailing squad of Daniil Banayan: Grigory Vasinkevich, Alexander Prokofiev and Gayane Konovalova ascended to the third step of the podium. They were awarded bronze medals of the 2019 Russian Championship.
Congratulations to our best athletes!
Alexey Semenov, RUS 3711, third place in the overall standings of the Russian Championship:
– Of course, I wanted to drive more. Given that Saturday was lost in this regard, today everyone was fine tuned. Honestly left. But there are class rules in which it is noted at which wind it is possible to conduct races. The wind seemed to make it possible to start, but if we talk about security … In France, if the fleet is still driven out in such weather, there are always safety boats nearby. Not the installers or the empire, but the escort boats that control the safety of the riders, so that, if, God forbid, something happens, come to the rescue immediately.
In such weather, I’m ready to assume, it would be hard for Moscow crews to find themselves in unusual conditions. A wind of such strength there, of course, happens, but there is almost no such wave. As for those who train here, or, say, in Cascais, then, taking into account how much the general level has grown, I think that in the main part everyone was ready for racing. We considered the championship also as a training session. Especially when they realized that we have a serious underweight. At the World Cup, we hope to be already in normal weight. I think that all ten Russian teams in Hyeres should be in the top thirty. And then it will be a good performance. And then we'll see how everything will turn out.
Daniil Banayan, RUS 3656, Russian Championship bronze medalist:
– The abolition of the race was not a surprise to us. I have been familiar with this water area for a long time, and, looking at the forecasts, I realized that the weather situation is quite natural. On Saturday, a strong and sane, stable "west" blew, and on Sunday it was replaced by a gusty, squally south wind, which is really dangerous – before I already had the opportunity to verify this from my own experience. Meanwhile, in no case would I call our third place “bronze without a fight” – after all, seven races are behind! And in these races we have gained our place. In general, we showed good results – we have two second and one first parishes. But several times we made technical errors related to the setting of the gennaker. As a result, in three races scored 10-12 "extra" points.
As for the opportunity to go to the start in today's wind – we were ready for this. As a whole for the championship: during the season we set up and tested the equipment in different conditions, we adjusted the weight “to the bar” for the competition. Therefore, in the boat and in my team, I was 100% sure. The bronze of the Russian championship is a big step forward for us. Last year I myself finished the national championship in ninth place, and the guys who spoke with the other helmsman, one position lower. And now together we have achieved such a high result. We are very satisfied!
Vadim Pushev, RUS 3730, silver medalist of the Russian Championship:
– Of course, both yesterday and today we still wanted to compete for first place. If another race took place, then after the second throw, points would be compared with the leaders. And then we could just fight among ourselves: who will come faster. We planned to take the lead in front and keep the second boat under control. But the wind made its own adjustments. There is nothing to be done – it blew very much and, in principle, the judges did the right thing to cancel the race. When the wind is under thirty knots, chasing is difficult in any class of boat. If it had already been inflated already during the race, there’s nothing yet, but give a start … Especially since the forecast was to strengthen. Everything came an hour earlier than planned.
I believe that this championship, among other things, was very useful for those who will travel to Hyeres for the World Cup in October. Moreover, in France such strong winds – in the region of thirty knots – are quite common during races. And it is very good that the competition was not calm, but in such conditions. We ourselves are going to train in St. Petersburg “all the way”, somewhere until October 1.
Artem Basalkin, RUS 3712, champion of Russia:
– Thank you for your congratulations! We are very pleased with our performance at this regatta – we drove very well! The second day was difficult. But we defended our positions, kept two points of the reserve. We were ready to keep the main competitors, we knew who we could skip ahead, given the tournament situation. In the seventh race, our closest rivals went the wrong way, and as a result, we broke away from them a little. Like many other teams, we considered these competitions also as preparations for the upcoming World Championship in October. But before France, we planned to practice racing in the Black Sea. It is important for me that our helmsman, Aleksey, gets at least another 10-12 hours of practice in the races, so that the skill is greater. In Sevastopol, the second and third squad will train for two weeks. Maybe Alexey will come. And so, today, our next joint exit is planned in France, where we will arrive three days before the World Cup. Several really strong Russian teams will compete in Hyeres, including Ginzburg, Semenov, Grigoriev, Pushev and we. I think we can all be among the first fifteen. And, of course, we will fight for the first place in the team event!
Prizewinners of the Russian Championship 2019:
1. RUS 3712 (Alexey Lesnikov, Artyom Basalkin, Yana Basalkina, Andrey Tukalov) – 13 points
2. RUS 3730 (Vadim Pushev, Ivan Gromov, Alexey Kolobanov) – 15
3. RUS 3656 (Daniil Banayan, Grigory Vasinkevich, Alexander Prokofiev, Gayane Konovalova) – 24
132 September 16, 2019 # 9474
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