May 29, 2019
The first, third and seventh
According to the SB20 Russian Association, three crews from Russia took part in the Hyeres Cup regatta, which took place last weekend in France. All three at its completion were at the top of the final protocol.
The first place is for Absolut team of Igor Ginzburg, the third – for MST Vasily Grigoriev, the seventh – for VIS Sailing team of Timur Sabirzyanov. In total, fourteen boats went to the start.
Artem Basalkin (Absolut) tells about the competition:
– The regatta took place in three days, and all three days – different weather conditions. Day one – in the fresh wind with the possibility of gliding, in the second – the same direction, but weak wind, in the third – changeable wind in direction and in force.
I was pleased that in different conditions we almost always had high speed. Even with not very good starts or with unsuccessful ones, we always chose the race ahead, competing with the French leaders right up to the finish. This time, our coach Rob Smith helped us very much in setting sail and not only that we took at this stage. We have a lot of reserves for growth, and we are still far from high condition.
We didn’t set any tasks for the start of the result at this regatta, but when we won all three races after the first day, we automatically understood that we had set the bar for ourselves. And then they played to hold the lead, watching their closest rivals.
As predicted, the main contender was the two-time world champion in the class, the young Frenchman Robin Follin. By the way, the first day his boat lacked one person, they were chasing three of them, which affected the speed of tacking. I think it also served as a bonus for our victory at the regatta. And, perhaps, the result could have been different if in the first fresh wind the rivals were in full strength.
Ahead of our team the whole season with four regattas of good level to the World Championships in Yerah, which will be held in October. We consider them for our team growth to the main start of the 2019 season.
83 May 29, 2019 # 9045
Chief Editor
