Over the April 13-15th weekend, the second stage of the Russian J/70 Sailing League took place in Sochi, Russia, racing just offshore on the Black Sea for the 27 teams participating in the regatta. In the end, another new leader emerged from the ranks of Russia’s top sailors: Maxim Taranov’s team on CALIPSO from Tuapse, Russia. On the first day of competition, 15 races were held. Each of the teams sailed five races. Topping the leaderboard with 8 points was the BLACK SEA Team with skipper Oleg Kuzmin from the host city of Sochi. Then, second and third place was shared by KONAKOVO RIVER CLUB’s Dmitry Shunin from Moscow and LEVIATHAN’s Vadim Yahinson from St Petersburg, both sitting with 14 points each. One point behind them was CALIPSO’s Maxim Taranov, and then one more point back was ARTTUBE RUS1’s Valeria Kovalenko crew from Taganrog (Moscow). On the second day, 11 more races were sailed, bringing the total to 26. Nine teams had sailed eight races, 18 teams a total of nine races. Saturday’s races did not change the composition of the top five, but it did change the team standings on the leaderboard. Taranov’s CALIPSO led, followed by Kuzmin, Kovalenko, Yakhinson and Shunin. The third day saw more good sailing conditions, and the regatta PRO managed to knock out 10 more races, for a total of 36 races completed. In the end, each of the teams sailed a total of 12 races. Sailing in their first Russian National J/70 Sailing League regatta, it was Maxim Taranov’s crew on CALIPSO who won by just 3 points, with 30 total. His crew consisted of Vladimir Shishkin, Nikolai Kryuchkov, Egor Zuev and Ilya Polishchuk; like ARTTUBE RUS1, this team had only two finishes off the podium in 12 races. Taking second place was Valerya Kovalenko’s ARTTUBE RUS team, consisting of Alexander Bozhko, Igor Lisovenko and Denis Rozhkov. The team had a rough start, scoring a 5-2-8 in their first three races, but they came roaring back, posting two firsts and five seconds en route to racing up the leaderboard to take the silver. As a result, their two second places in the first two events gives them a strong lead for the overall series. In third place were KONAKOVO RIVER CLUB’s Dmitry Shunin, Artem Basalkin, Artem Markov and Ivan Kolinko. This finish, coupled with a fourth in the first event, has moved them up into second place behind Kovalenko’s team for the overall series. For more Russian J/70 Sailing League information, visit https://rusyf.ru/news/4235.