The third act of the Russian J/70 Sailing League Premiere Division took place at the Konakovo River Club, northwest of Moscow. The 16 teams were treated to a wide variety of winds over the three-day weekend, from a complete glass-out at times to over 20 knots. After a total of 42 races, so each team had 18 or 19 races, it was the ZID Art Sailing Team skippered Zoran Paunovich who won by a total of 13.6 points over Natalia Kravets sailing for the MATROYSHKA Team.
Day 1: The PRO managed to run 12 races, at least five to six for each team. The wind started off at a steady 6 knots and continued to strengthen into the high teens by late afternoon. Leading at the end of the day was the GRANIT-INVEST team skippered by Albert Gorkunov. Just one point back was the ZID Art Sailing team skippered by Zoran Paunovich, and laying in third was the RBF Sailing Team helmed by Andrei Eliseev.
Day 2: Eighteen races were completed in sunny, warm weather with gusts over 20 knots. Two teams ended up tied on points. The biggest ascent up the leaderboard was Natalia Kravets’ MATROYSHKA team, who became tied on points for the lead with Paunovich’s ZID Art crew. Then in third place was Karina Teliants’ 7-YACHTS Sailing Team.
Day 3: On the final day, 12 more races were held, so each team held 18 or 19 races. For those who had less starts, the average points of the team in the races was added to the total number of points. Vladimir Khomenko, Chief Judge, commented on what transpired on Sunday, “Today, the wind conditions in the morning were very difficult. The wind whirled around in a complete circle. We had to rearrange the marks three times before the first race, and during the day, we also had to correct it again. Sunday afternoon was relatively calm, there were few false starts, but the fleet suffered today—serious clashes took place. I would like to note that the rivals on the final day generally behaved more aggressively on the water, the starts in particular. This aggressiveness was evident in the number of collisions between the top boats. It was obvious skippers were taking chances to get a better score. Most of the time it did not pay off, as the judges flagged them for penalties.” In the end, Paunovich’s ZID Art Sailing team won four of the five races on their last day to clinch the overall win. Natalia Kravets’ MATRYOSHKA team from Ekaterinburg took second; their first time on the podium and best performance so far. Finishing third, and also their first time on the podium, was the SAIL&SEA Team skippered by Vasily Kharabardin. Dropping to fourth place was Karina Teliants’ crew on 7-YACHTS. She is still leading the overall Premiere League standings after three events. For more Russian J/70 Sailing League information, visit https://rusyf.ru/.