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Aren't you feeling lazy on this fanststic summer day?!

After having entered the expected starting area in the region of Nyhamn (59 57’ N, 20 00’ E), the organizing committee made a decision to hold races that shorter than usual thanks to Southern wind letting vessels travel at 6 to 7 knots increasing the chances of making at least one of them happen. After having announced the classical 4 mile distance (sailing by the lee) and putting up the signs, around 3:00 pm the judges engaged the starting procedure.

The beginning of the race was rather smooth: at the start line, the fleet effortlessly gave away the initiative to the leaders of stage one, letting «Anna» (SMM crew), “Seventh Wave” (“Rosterminalugol”) and Solitaire (“Rosmorport”) ahead of itself. Running just a few steps forward, in the exact same order yachts crossed the finish line with “Anna” being noticeably much further ahead of its opponents. Surprisingly, but this time everything went quite smoothly and peacefully. Normally, in races like this, when the distance is covered by performing long and controlled tacks, it’s not the team effort that plays off – rather  how well the sail is set, and how confident the boat is handled.

“Ust-Luga Company” team, firmly holding the leadership position in the first season, this time demonstrated a score that is far from impressive. It started among one of the last, making those supporting the team feel a little nervous. However, the job it did later on the distance is beyond any expectations. Eventually, at the finishing line, Gloria’s crew moved to the 4th position, letting “Solitaire” take a lead with a less than a minute time lag between the vessels.

At the end of the first race, when the wind speed increased to around 9 to 10 knots and became so strong that the racing committee right away gave a start to another race. And it seems that there are no those who regret about making this decision – the race turned out to be a big success! A good start and an active competition in the area of top sign including a tight leeward leg – definitely the part that made the race worth remembering. This time no one was going to give away their starting position to their rivals. Feeling the wind abate, the fleet moved out to the area of the far-end sign of starting line, where, a minute before starting signal, the competition was already getting hot. An active position that “Peter I” took let it cut a few boats out of the pre-start area. Obviously, for a yacht with such a large displacement (27 tons) it was challenging to have a fair contest with all the other competitors that are almost twice as light. Another confrontation that took place was between “Anna” and “Seventh Wave”. In their effort to start from a more advantageous position, both yachts found themselves pushed out of the starting position boundaries. According to the leaders of the first race, it was “Seventh Wave” that broke the rules. But after the finish, there were no mutual protest directed towards each other, meaning this episode will remain no more than just a subject open for discussions or opinions.

Starting in the very end of the peloton, despite the handicap, “Anna” quickly took over the leading position and after having reached the top sign, kept the initiative to itself during the whole race it. Demonstrating impressive results, this time “Ust-Luga Company” team, came second to finish, but considering that handicap it was given, was only placed as third. “Solitaire“ appeared second, demonstrating continuous success and consistency: in each race the “Rosmorport“ team was inevitably in the top three positions. It seems that a one minute advantage was not enough for “Seventh Wave” to go beyond the sixth position. “Nord” and “PUL trans”–  “Avos” – performed exceptionally well and stood out of the pack. «Nord», having the smallest racing handicap was only slightly behind the best yachts of the fleet, and the «Avos» team, that was definitely not at the peak of their performance during the first race, did everything they possibly could to get back on track and continue with more enthusiasm than ever before which is exactly what let it rightfully move up in the tournament table.

As you remember, “Dixie” (“Russian Railways” team – “Red Arrow”) yacht did not take part in the competition due to an unexpected engine breakdown.

Team ranking (including handicap) summarizing the results of three races looks as follows:

1. “Anna” (“SMM”), 3 points
2.“Solitaire” (“Rosmorport”), 7 points
3. “Seventh Wave” ( “Rosterminalugol”), 12 points
4. “Sanuk” (“GC “Nord”), 14 points
5. “Gloria” (“Ust-Luga”), 16 points
6. “Dolorosa” (“PUL Trans”– “Maybe”), 20 points
7. “Evita” (“Ust-Luga Company”), 20 points
8. “Galatea” (“Baltinvestbank”), 21 points
9. “Peter I” (“Mining Technologies” – “RUSARC”), 26 points
10. “Dixie” (“Russian Railways” team – “Red Arrow”), 28 points

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