Saturday, August 17, 2013

First J/70 Russia Regatta

J/70 Russia Cup match race winners (Kaliningrad, Russia)- From August 1st to 4th, the first J/70 regatta in Russia, the "Yachting Russia Cup", took place off Kaliningrad's beautiful beaches on the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea.  The format was an amateur match-race supported by the local yacht club and "Amber Breeze" with the theme of "Jazz & Sail"-- the sailors had fun on the water by day and were treated to excellent jazz music in the evening for three straight days!

J/70 one-design sailboats- sailing Russia Cup regattaParticipating in a round-robin format followed by a championship/ repechage elimination ladder, teams from Russia, Ukraine, Latvia and Germany participated.  The first day of racing was nearly perfect-- plenty of breeze blowing up to 15 kts and lots of sun.  Everyone had fun both on the water and at the beaches watching the racing inside the breakwater of the old fishing harbor.

In the end, the teams all pronounced the regatta a huge success and the music/ jazz session as OTT (over the top)!  A special "thanks" goes out to Elena Otekina for the fun photos taken of the event.  For more sailing photos and information on this first J/70 regatta in Russia, please go to Elena's Facebook page.