Team Nika of Vladimir Prosikhin won the world championship in RC44 class in Marstrand, Sweden. This is the second title in class for «Nika». The champions' teammates, Bronenosec Sailing Team, won bronze.
By the final day «Nika» managed to achieve a solid 10 point advantage, which ensured the team the championship title even despite a not very good performance on the last day (the team came third in the first race, sixth in the second and eighth in the third).
Vladimir Prosikhin noted the role of team tactician Terry Hutchinson in the victory. He was able to «rally the team» and «Nika» immediately began to show better results, said Prosikhin.
The teams, ranked second through eighth for the finals, were very close to each other. Igor Lah's Team Cereef of Slovenia managed to secure second place thanks to a second runner-up finish in the last race. « Second place is of course good, but we wanted to win, to defend our title. Nika was objectively stronger this week, but we will try to get our title back next year»," Laha said.
«Armadillo» Vladimir Liubomirov could have claimed second place, but after a bad start in the last race, the team found themselves in last place at the first mark. Things got even worse in the first leeward section: as team tactician Cameron Dunn explained, the «Armadillo» had a small hole in the spinnaker. In the final stretch the boat caught the right wind and took the lead, ending the race with a photo finish with Peninsula Petroleum, which was resolved in favour of the Russian team. In the end, on points «Armadillo» equalized with «Katyusha» Igor Rytov, but thanks to two races won during the championship, it was the St. Petersburg Yacht Club team that took the podium. « Katusha» had to settle for fourth place.
The rudders went to «Nika» from Peninsula Petroleum. The opponents of the Russian team go to «to lick wounds» and to prepare for the next battle for the golden rudders, which will be held in a month in Cascais.
According to the results of the three stages of the tour, «Nika» and «Armadillo» are on the first and second lines. « Katusha» has risen to third place in the overall season standings.
