July 8, 2019
Now ahead the final!
The result of the third qualifying stage of the Euroleague in St. Petersburg: the first two places on the account of teams from Germany; two Russian teams selected for the final of the Sailing Champions League 2019!
The qualification stage of the SCL 2019 was the final point of the selection before the finals in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The stakes in this competition were incredibly high, so the stage was very tense and combative. On the first day, the yachtsmen poured rain, on the second – because of the calm – the race committee managed to hold only four races, and the final day gave the athletes 9 starts.
Following the results of the regatta for all teams, there were 8 races (a total of 24 starts in three days). A weak, windy wind, a constant change of its direction, as well as a strong current of the Neva made this stage absolutely unpredictable, which maximally intensified the struggle in the leading group.
The tradition of the German teams – to win the stage in St. Petersburg – continued. Two clubs at once – Bayerischer Yacht-Club from Lake Starnberger (south of Munich) and the club from Bremen Wassersport-Verein Hemelingen – are located on the first and second places.
Julian Autenrieth, Bayerischer Yacht-Club (BYC):
“The water area is very demanding for riders: a current, often changing wind … At the same time, everyone was in the same conditions. We had very good starts, it helped a lot. In general, the place for racing is wonderful: the city center, the beach in the city center. The first day was pretty nervous, but then we got together, set up a team work. It's good that everything ends well! ”
The teams of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club were out of luck on this day. At first, the Academy team flew out on a false start and received OCS (the race was not credited), in the next race our guys were punished with a penalty on the last upper mark, and then a 360-degree turn threw the team of Anna Basalkina into several positions – she was in 8th place.
The second team, which received a wildcard as a team of the host yacht club, was assembled from young and promising athletes of the Sailing Academy. The team leader was a young olympionist Artem Sudakov, a tactician – Daniel Banayan. In the last race of the day, the race committee decided on a false start to the team, but the guys filed a protest, because according to the tracker and according to the video from the drone, the false start was not. According to the results of the review of the protest, the judging panel left our team in 6th place (if the false start were declared invalid, the guys would move to the 2nd position). Thus, the team qualified for the final.
Artem Sudakov, captain of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club team:
“We have a very well-coordinated team, we were able to rebuild communication in just one training session. Luck was on our side, everyone worked together smoothly, so at some point they were able to recoup. Yes, we are the youngest team … Well, if it were not for this decision of the race committee, it would be the second ".
Following the regatta, the crew of the Pirogovo yacht cube under the leadership of Vladimir Lipavsky, our famous match driver, winner of the League of Nations final and silver medalist of the SCL 2017 final, superbly drove away. The guys selected the final and completed the regatta at the 4th position.
Vladimir Lipavsky, captain of the "PIRogovo" team:
“The conditions are difficult, this time the course was not particularly rabid, it is usually stronger. But due to the fact that there was a very weak wind, and it was changeable – this created great difficulties, and the conditions constantly changed. Just get used to a certain configuration – how things change and you need to re-calculate time. We will go to Switzerland. While it’s pointless to bid, St. Moritz is a small lake where it can also blow from every angle, so we’re not predicting yet. ”
Alexey Zhirov
PR-director of the Yacht Club of St. Petersburg
The general partner of the qualification stage of the Sailing Champions League 2019 in St. Petersburg is PJSC Gazprom.
88 July 8, 2019 # 9227
Chief Editor
aheadfinal
What do you think?