April 15, 2019
There is work to do
On Sunday, April 14, the 250-mile sailing regatta Plastimo Lorient Mini 6.50 ended in France, which was attended by teams of Russian yachtsmen Irina Gracheva and Fyodor Druzhinin.
The past competitions were the first this year to prepare athletes for the decisive start of the season – the Mini Transat 2019 transatlantic single race.
In the regatta Plastimo Lorient Mini 6.5 participated crews consisting of two people. Irina Gracheva performed in a pair with St. Petersburg racer Vasily Alekseev, and Fyodor Druzhinin was assisted by Belarusian yachtsman Alexander Rachevsky.
The completed race, 250 miles long, was held in the Bay of Biscay (start and finish in the port of Lorient) and lasted about two days. The wind conditions during these two days were not even: a rather mild, 10-knot wind at the beginning of the regatta closer to the end reached 25 knots on gusts.
In total, 68 teams took part in the competitions, six of which, for various reasons, did not reach the finish line.
Recall Irina Gracheva and Fedor Druzhinin in the race class Mini perform in different groups. Gracheva to prepare and participate in the Mini Transat chose the division of serial yachts, Druzhinin – division Proto.
For Russian yachtsmen, the first race of the season was quite successful. The ASSIST team (F. Druzhinin – A. Rachevsky) took the 5th place in its group (20 participants in total), and the IRINA GRACHEVA RACING team (I. Gracheva – V. Alekseev) became the 11th in the serial division (48 participants altogether ).
Irina Gracheva: “First of all, I’ll note that the current result is still the highest one I've achieved in Mini races. Given the age of the boat, as well as the fact that this is our first start of the season, I am satisfied with the occupied place. We successfully started and for a long time were among the leaders. Unfortunately, for the time being the boat does not show itself equally well at all courses – here we still have something to work on. On the second day, the fatigue accumulated in preparation for the regatta began to have an effect, at which time we kept around in the middle of the fleet. On Saturday afternoon, based on the analysis of the weather forecast carried out the day before, we undertook a successful maneuver, as a result of which we were again in the top ten. And although it was not possible to keep the obtained advantage to the very finish, the race can undoubtedly be recorded as an asset. We see how and in what direction we can grow, we know how best to unleash the potential of the boat ”.
The next official competition in which Irina Gracheva will take part will be the 300-mile single race Pornichet Select 6.50, which starts on April 27th.
Andrei Petrov
St. Petersburg
152 April 15, 2019 # 8927
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