Russian teams are in the lead after the first day of RC44 Championship Tour

Russian teams have successfully debuted in the new season of RC44 Championship Tour, which opened on 27 April in Sotogrande, Spain.

Three Russian-flagged boats - Nika, «Battleship» and «Katyusha» - finished first, third and fourth respectively after the first four races, despite the fact that the teams had to deal with the aftermath of the storm that damaged their boats the day before.

The first day of the RC44 Sotogrande Cup saw continuously changing wind conditions which meant that the organisers had to change course at least once in each of the four races held. It was not easy for the competitors either as each race had a new winner.

Only two teams showed more or less stable results. Vladimir Prosikhin's Team Nika never finished worse than fourth. Chris Bake' s Team Aqua was only one race out of the top three.

«Nika» won the second race, but a special reason for the pride of Vladimir Prosikhin and tactician Terry Hutchinson was the third race, in which the team got a bad start, but managed to move from the end of the fleet to fourth place.

«We were last, but the mood and attitude on the boat was fighting and Vladimir showed great psychological toughness»," recalls Terry Hutchinson.

«It is too early to talk about anything yet, it is only the first day," Vladimir Prosikhin said cautiously. - I like the boat to show stability and to work together. Terry came back, and the spirit, which we lacked, came back with him. He's a great tactician and a very good coach. It's good to see the team strong again».

Terry Hutchinson was the tactician for Team Nika in 2014.

At the end of the first day of the RC44 Sotogrande Cup «Nika» is in first place, two points ahead of nearest pursuers Team Aqua. Only one point separates another Russian team - Bronenosec Sailing Team - from second place.

The first day of the RC44 Sotogrande Cup race «Bronenosec» opened with an unsatisfactory result. The team finished at the tail end of the fleet, but by the second race was able to pull itself together and improve its result of 4 arrivals.» Two second arrivals followed, with Battleship «leading the fleet several times as the races progressed.

Crucial to determining the day's standings was the fourth race, with four teams vying for third place at once before the start, including «Armadillo».

«Controlling three opponents at once is not an easy task, but we did it, - says helmsman Kirill Frolov, - in fact, we were a little short to win this race. On the other hand, there are still three competition days ahead and there will be a lot of fighting. The main result of the day is that we are not inferior to our rivals».

For Kirill Frolov, this is the first competition in the RC44 class. The yachtsman previously raced on SB20.

Another Russian team - «Katyusha» Alexander Novoselova - is in fourth place, losing «Armadillo» three points. « Katyusha» started the day with a big win. The team was less fortunate in the following races, coming in sixth, seventh and fifth.