The breeze finally kicked in for the last day of racing at 2013 Russian Dragon Open in St.Petersburg. On 30th of June the fleet went out for the final battle in 10 knots that have increased to 13-15 during the day. Inside the time limit the committee has successfully run two races that brought up a new Russian Champion.
Final day’s racing got underway on time with 10 knots of W breeze. Needless to say that after postponed day overnight the stakes were extremely high. At least five teams had realistic chances of winning the event. So the fight went to the wire.
The defending champion, Anatoliy Loginov with his RUS27 “Annapurna” team and early regatta leader Dmitriy Samokhin on “Strange little girl” (RUS76) were playing their own game with the rest of the fleet on the background. The first race of the day didn’t provide the answer who’s going to lift the trophy although RUS27 managed to hold off their competitors. Anatoliy crossed the line in third while RUS76 were forth. But the chances were equalized again as the right to throw- out applied.
Given that scoring before the final race the tension has raised even more. After the start the teams went on controlling each other from tack to tack. RUS27 showed another good performance and gained an early control while then RUS76 managed to overcome the competitor. And again, on the downwind leg of 1.8 mile long-course “Annapurna” appeared in the having already the title in sight.
But the eagerness of the two competitors was so strong that it resulted in light collision. That forced RUS27 to alter the course and Dmitriy resumed control. On the finish line “Strange little girl” was second (after RUS35 “Sunflower” who won) and the third were RUS27. The competition went to jury room.
As soon as racing results has given one point advantage to the RUS76, the protest hearing was intense and lasted for a while. However, the decision rendered didn’t influence the current leaderbord so RUS76 has won the Championship with single point margin. This seems to become a custom for Russian Nationals: last year the winner was decided on the countback out of the rarest three-way tie.
It must be noted that after numerous European regatta trophies the “Strange little girl’s” team has added first Natioanal Title to their CV. The second place took already 4th time National champion and Russia’s Yachtsmen of the year 2010 Anatoliy Loginov and his RUS27 “Annaourna”. The third place of the Russian Dragon Open went to Moscow’s “RotFront” – Artem Kuznetsov’s team RUS36.
With the closing of 2013 Russian Dragon Open vice-president of IDA Mr.Vasiliy Senatorov has announced that next year’s Championship will be held in August 2014, from 22th to 25th. No doubt one can expect to witness again the toughest competition between the most recognized crews of the Dragon class worldwide.
Full results can be found on http://dragonopen.ru/
2013 Russian Dragon Open Championship press service
