The Yacht Club of Saint-Petersburg (SPBYC) was once again packed with young sailing enthusiasts over the weekend as over 70 youngsters aged between 7 and 14 from Saint-Petersburg, Moscow and other cities took part in the second part of the Optimists of the Northern Capital for the Gazprom Cup.
The second event, hosted by SPBYC, took place on June 2nd. There were three races on the day from 10:00am on the water in front of Peter and Paul Fortress, the Strelka of the Vasilyevsky Island and the Winter Palace. This area is a culturally rich and iconic location for the young racers to have competed at. Besides the fierce competition on the water, the beach of the Fortress was filled with a festive atmosphere with onshore activities and entertainment and throngs of spectators cheering on their teams.
The racing was intense and competitive, with Leonid Pushev from Saint Petersburg beating second place Daniil Usachev, also from Saint Petersburg, to take first place. Bogdan Golovnin, the winner of the first stage of the racing for the Gazprom Cup, placed third. There was good participation and competition between the girls too, with Moscow’s Zoya Novikova taking first place, SPYC’s own Youth Sailing School member Alyona Pyanikova taking second place, and Vyborg’s Karina Levahina coming in third. The extremely close and competitive racing peaked right on the last day with several protests which were concluded in time for the prize giving.
Vladimir Liubomirov, Commodore at the Yacht Club of Saint-Petersburg, commented on the success of the event:
“It is nice to see so many young, talented Russian sailors taking to the water in our beautiful city. It is important to Russian sailing that young people are actively participating and racing, and I’m proud that the Yacht Club of Saint Petersburg is playing a central role in helping these young people get involved in this amazing sport.”
The event was brilliant for the budding young Optimist sailors taking part, but the fun was not limited to just the young athletes. Three thousand spectators watched from the beach of the Peter and Paul Fortress, which hosted a festival to coincide with the racing. Children were able to get involved in arts and crafts, play tug of war, jump on the trampolines, try out a sailing training simulator, or just sit and watch the races in a city where sailing is drawing people of all ages into such a unique and vibrant sport.