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One of the largest regattas for children in Russia ended in Gelendzhik

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For the 29th time during the school autumn holidays Gelendzhik turns into a real Mecca for young Russian yachtsmen. In one water area competitions are held simultaneously in 14 classes: 29th, 420, 470, «Europe», «Zoom 8», «Cadet», «Laser», «Laser 4.7», «Laser-Radial», «Luch», «Luch-Mini», «Luch-Radial», «Optimist» and«Techno».

This year 51 teams came to participate in one of the largest regattas for children in Russia, which took place from October 27 to November 4.

Their number constituted 672 yachtsmen. This is the highest number of participants in the history of these competitions.

After the eventsin 2018, when a sudden squall scattered the fleet of the Gelendzhik regatta all over the water area, security measures were strengthened. Not counting the 8 officiating boats, EMERCOM boats and transport police, more than 50 team support boats were invariably out on the water to patrol the competition area.

«I cannot say that last year something extraordinary happened. Yes, there was an extreme dangerous situation, but not supernatural. Just bad weather caught everyone on the water unexpectedly. And with a sharp increase in wind, squalls. The weather was fine, everyone was at sea, and suddenly a squall came and caught everyone at sea. But this is normal. We have the kind of sport connected with nature, with the elements. You can not predict the weather 100%. In fact such situations happen not only in Gelendzhik; there were similar cases at other regattas when the storm came abruptly, many yachts flipped. Children are taught how to act in such situations and how to bring the boat back. These are separate elements that athletes have to go through. But for common people who are not in sport and do not understand such a situation looks a little bit out of the ordinary, - president of Gelendzhik Sailing Federation Pavel Gribanov commented for itBoat. - We made the analysis of the mistakes with those who had organized the regatta, with the refereeing brigade; we discussed the corrections that need to be made so it would not happen this year again. And this year, thank God, everything was successful and well. There were just bad weather or strong winds, it was known right away, so the races did not take place at that moment».

Of the planned 7 days, we were able to actually hold the race on only four days. However, on the third day of sitting on the beach when the weather was already starting to improve, some teams still entered the water for training.

All in all each of the classes managed to hold from 7 to 11 races.

The 30th anniversary Gelendzhik regatta will be held in 2020 from October 28 to November 4. In future the organizers hope to organize broadcasts of the races with commentary, tracking and filming of the participants from the air. And who knows, maybe one day the number of young yachtsmen taking part in the races will exceed 1,000 and not only Russians but also representatives of other countries will compete with each other.

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