Cold mistral on hot.

The fifth Russian business regatta Land Rover Cup on the route Sardinia - Corsica took place. About 200 participants, a fleet of 27 yachts, 9 days and 6 berths, including the famous Porto Cervo. The most beautiful places, the strongest expressions during the daytime races and the strongest drinks in the evening, the most beautiful dinner outfits and tactical plan for breakfast, the most experienced skippers and novices with rapturous eyes.

And the nail of the program is the mistral.

As long as you set sail, time stops, there is no land, no past or future, no thoughts and obsessions, no cold or heat, no pain, no pleasure either. There is one moment, which lasts exactly as long as it takes for the crew to become not a sum of efforts, but a single will, so that actions and desires dissolve in each other, become one and the same. The wind. When everything is done, there comes a second in which nothing happens, everyone stops and waits. This is the moment of truth. The bets are done, there are no more bets. Everybody's on zeros. Actually, that second is gone. But it's in my head. She is the one who pulsates in temples, she is the one who does not breathe, she is the one who pours her arms and legs like lead and does not let them move, she is the one who is all that is on the Earth - is hope... And the powerful blow that turns everything into nothing - all fears, doubts, lack of experience, misunderstanding, fatigue, everything means everything. This blow, it's like passing the baton, a blow to the shoulder, which concentrates everything that the one who has finished his distance and now hopes only for you.

This wind blow to the sail is the power that can be yours if you open it in yourself.

There are many ways to meet the wind. In the format chosen by RBC and Land Rover for their traditional business regatta, the wind may not even come to it at all, as in one of the days when the race stopped after a few hours of calm - life did not stop. There were many other meetings and acquaintances, toasts, oysters, gatherings and walks. However, on another, penultimate day, when the race was canceled five minutes before the scheduled start due to a strong storm and wind, which did not even allow to set the starting line, applicants eager for a decisive fight for prizes were upset. A little disappointed was also the long parking lot that followed on a small island near Sardinia, albeit with the romantic name La Maddalena. Porto Massimo had a beautiful sea, but nothing else. And this was not enough for the participants of the regatta, spoilt by the most beautiful Sardinian Porto Rotondo and Poltu Quatu, especially the Corsican Bonifacio. The more excited everyone was waiting for the decisive race.

On the seventh day of the regatta, the storm that rose 7 points the day before and the wind at 35 knots did not calm down, but only intensified. But it was the final day of the race, and to cancel it was unthinkable. For about half of the participants at that moment there was nothing but a desire to win - to defeat their rivals, circumstances, themselves. There were no exquisite dinners all the previous week, a dizzying starry sky, the sea, the turquoise color of which can only be explained by Photoshop, a beautiful company, dancing, adventure ... There was only a table with the results of previous races, the upcoming distance and the boat, which at this point has become a little more manageable, understandable, predictable than at the beginning, becoming a like-minded and a member of the team, not a faceless rental boat with an uncertain character and unknown habits. And the race kicked off.

It was a real battle!

With collisions, torn sails, monstrous winch burns, bruises, fatal mistakes of some and explained by the mere skill of luck of others. It was an unforgettable day for which the weather did everything it could to reach its maximum extreme, where the race could take place as part of a similar amateur regatta, but without crossing it. However, the idea of a two-credit race, a «triangle» plus «a loop» and the transition from Porto Massimo to Porto Cervo, narrowed to one transition. The referee's catamaran, like last day, could not anchor. The Mistral's gusts reached 20 m/s and the participants had to race in life jackets, which were a rigid rectangle that covered the torso from the front and awfully constrained the movement. It is impossible to bend or turn. And run during an instant turn from one open to the other under the boom - the task is almost impossible and really dangerous.

The waves covered even large boats almost entirely.

The wind was blowing in a western direction, but its power was excessive. Any mistake - and the yacht was turned and carried away like a feather. The more surprising is that the finish was quite tight.

In the overall standings the places were distributed exactly as we predicted in the first reports of our diary of the regatta, when there were clear leaders with a significant advantage in points, but most importantly, with a noticeable superiority of the rivals in the fighting spirit. Even though the gap after the third race was narrowed and the following days could be full of intrigues and surprises, in the final struggle everyone returned to their places.

In the most numerous division of «Sardinia» (Bavaria boats) the first place was held by the crew of the magnificent Yevgeny Nikiforov, who got a wonderful well-coordinated team. From the very beginning they were not satisfied with any other place but the first one. We managed to get on board them during one of the races, and this day left only the most pleasant and unforgettable emotions.

In the division of «Corsica» the absolute champion was the crew of charismatic skipper Andrey Arbuzov. In the «La Maddalena» division the victory went to the crew of the boat headed by Artem Yablokov.And in the «Bonifacio» division the best was Vartan Harutyunyan's crew, who three years ago for the first time took part in Russian business regattas as a simple sailor. In the «Maxi»division, in which none of the three crews seriously fought, Amazon Creek's friendship and boat with skipper Vladimir Klimov won.

The award ceremony was held in the yacht club Costa Smeralda, one of the most elite places in Europe. It is impossible to buy a membership in YCCS, one can only hope for a huge yachtsman's track record and a recommendation from one of the 400 members of the club, such as Silvio Berlusconi. But even for newcomers to the Russian Business Regatta, an unheard of exception has been made. Our modest charter boats stood next to the giant yachts of the world celebrities, but the ship of the King of Norway, who came to the marina with us, had to settle for a long berth. Still, nothing can interfere with the real Russian scale, and it is beautiful!