For the second year in a row Team Nika of Vladimir Prosikhin took gold from Russian Sailing Championship in SB20 class.
The competition was held in St. Petersburg from September 12 to 17. There were 25 teams in 12 races.
All four days «Nika» confidently maintained its leading status, six times coming to the finish line first and eventually leaving the opponents at least 10 points behind.
The battle for the top places in the standings took place in rather harsh conditions. Gusty wind, drizzling rain and rough Baltic sea surge certainly contributed to the unexpected distribution of the final positions.
«Igor Ginzburg's» Absolute team (RUS 3753), which had started the competition from 10th place in the first race, was fifth in the overall standings.
The fourth place went to the crew of Prosense Team of Grigory Vasinkevich (RUS 3712), who at the beginning of the final day was at the bottom of the top five. They were only 1 point adrift of the bronze medal.
Vasily Grigoriev and MST (RUS 3327) took third place for the first time in their history.
VIS Sailing Team headed by Vadim Pushev (RUS 8730) achieved a silver medal on equal points with the bronze medalist. The day before they had only fourth place in the overall standings, and there was not much chance to be in the top three.
After the awarding ceremony, Vladimir Prosikhin, the 2017 Russian champion, shared his impressions:
«This championship brought together a very powerful fleet. It was not easy to win! At the same time our crew had no opportunity to train, as I rarely go to Russia. As a result, the championship of Russia was the first tournament of the year for Team Nika. It was like jumping from a place without a run-up. Therefore, I think that our first place is a hard, but deserved result.»
