According to the results of the next round of RC44 Championship Tour that ended on September 25 in Cascais, Portugal, the Saint-Petersburg Yacht Club team «Nika» won the third place in fleet racing standings. Club team «Battleship» finished sixth.
The next, after a long break, meeting of the RC44 fleet in Portugal took place on September 21-25.
For the Saint Petersburg Yacht Club Bronenosec Sailing Team and «Nika» teams, the first day of the competition was a surprise, which was traditionally dedicated to match racing.
The first half of the day was entirely under the dictate of the St. Petersburg club teams, but a minimal touch by «Bronenosec» on the pre-start procedure of the boat «Charisma» (Monaco) cost the crew Vladimir Ikonnikov / Michele Ivaldi two penalty points. As a result, «Armadillo» recorded «only three victories in the» mount instead of five.
«Nika» had a more cautious day, winning all her meetings except the club «derby» where she lost «to Armadillo».
On 22 September «Nika» had an exceptionally bad start, while Bronenosec Sailing Team, though showing unstable arrivals, finished the day in the top three.
On 23 September Bronenosec Sailing Team claimed their first stage win, while «Nika» started to rectify the situation and finished the day already in fourth position.
The fleet was not able to determine the leader or at least clearly outline the top three on the penultimate day of competition. The first and fifth lines were separated by just five points. At the same time, Vladimir Prosikhin's team managed to move up to second place and Bronenosec Sailing Team was the fourth.
The decisive day of the stage, September 25, passed in fresh winds of over 15 knots, and proved to be one of the most productive. Three fleet races were held, which resulted in one of the tightest standings of the season: first and sixth lines were separated by only six points.
The final day of the competition was unsuccessful for the Saint Petersburg Yacht Club teams. But if «Nika» kept the top three and won the bronze medal, «Armadillo» finished sixth, with a deficit of just one point to the top five.
The stage win, also by a one-point margin, was celebrated by the class veterans, Swedish Artemis Racing. Early leader of the standings, Slovenian team Cereef finished second.
In the overall RC44 Championship Tour 2016 match race standings «Armadillo» retained third position, but also two other teams - Cereef and British Aqua- now have 11 points. In turn, «Nika» shared the first line with Swedes Artemis before the start of the decisive stage in Malta.
«Battleship» has lost positions in the fleet racing programme of the season and is now sixth, albeit with a minimal gap to the top three. « Nika» shares fourth place with Britain's Penninsula Petroleum.
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