J/70 Sailing Leagues Starting- Russia & Italy

(Porto Cervo, Italy)- In the upcoming weeks, several of the new J/70 sailing leagues will get going in Europe.  Two of them highlighted here include the role of YC Costa Smeralda hosting several events on their J/70s at their spectacular facilities at Porto Cervo on the island of Smeralda.  The other is the Russian Yachting Federation starting their program at the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi on the Black Sea.

YACHT CLUB COSTA SMERALDA
In Milan during the club’s annual press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Milan, the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS) officially presented its 2016 sporting season and is preparing for a particularly busy season of regattas in the Mediterranean with a 2016 calendar that boasts 15 events.

The months of June and July will host a succession of events ranging from races for superyachts to interclub regattas and competitions for one-design fleets. Racing commences with the Club hosting the Italian J/70 fleet for the first time for the Alcatel J/70 Cup (2-5 June) and continues with the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta (7-11 June), an eagerly awaited event that once again this year promises a large fleet of spectacular sailing giants. The second edition of the Invitational Team Racing Challenge, an international event in the true Corinthian spirit, will see top yacht Clubs invited to compete on board the Club's new J/70 fleet and will take place from 14th to 18th June. The first half of the sporting season concludes with another new event, the AUDI Italian Sailing League (8-10 July), an event that gathers top Italian yacht clubs for 3 days of competition, once again on board the YCCS J/70 boats.

The traditional summer "break", will also see several sporting events held, including the Members Championship (7 August) in the J/70 class. The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda's sporting programme concludes with the second edition of the Sailing Champions League (22-25 September), in which top teams from across Europe gather to represent their clubs on the waters of the Costa Smeralda sailing in their fleet of J/70s.

During the course of the press conference, representatives of the YCCS also highlighted some of the activities planned for 2017, in which the association celebrates the 50th anniversary of its foundation. In addition to anniversary regattas in the waters off Virgin Gorda and Porto Cervo, the Club is hosting the J/70 World Championship!!  Book your tickets now, this promises to be one epic event on the J/70 calendar in 2017!

"Once again, we are ready for a season full of new events and new collaborations which will allow new boats, sailors and friends to experience our Club,” commented YCCS Commodore Ricardo Bonadeo. "It is the vital contribution of our staff and our members, together with the patronage of our official partners ROLEX, AUDI and UBS, as well as our many sponsors and supporters, that makes all this possible. We are lucky to share with them a passion for the sea and for sport."  For more information, please see YCCS site- www.yccs.com or contact Jill Campbell- Tel +39 3401674755/ email- pressoffice@yccs.it

RUSSIAN SAILING FEDERATION
The Russian National Sailing League- the largest project ever for the Russian Yachting Federation- was conceived for the promotion and development of the club sailing programs across Russia- from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok! The second season of the project will consist of six stages; twenty-six teams have already applied to participate from across the great country of Russia. Sailing battles will unfold for club honors in Sochi, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Vladivostok- an aggregate distance of 9,500km or 10.5 hours of flying from one end to the other!

The first stage of the League will be held from April 8th to 10th with the support of Sochi Grand Marina by Burevestnik Group. Apparently, twenty-three teams are scheduled to participate in the event.

Traditionally, the races will be held in close proximity to the audience, a huge urban screen will broadcast the race from comments on the air, coast and entertainment program or everybody on shore.

Here are profiles of two teams that are participating in the first regatta in Sochi.

Konakovo River Club
The team is based at the Konakovo River Club- yachting resort northwest of Moscow about an hours drive away.  It has become a very popular place for Muscovites to escape during the summer for some fun & frolic at the beautiful riverside resort.

Konakovo has a special place for Russia’s National Sailing League. It was the site of the first league event back in 2014.  Then, in 2015, the league returned to the KRC for the third stage of the first complete season for the series.  Now, in 2016 the KRC will host the fourth stage in July on their fleet of J/70s.  It is worth noting that it was the KRC fleet members that helped bring the league to the Black Sea resort of Sochi!

Team KRC was set up 3 years ago to participate in the Russia sailing league program.  Steering for the team is Mark Kagan, who started racing in 2012 on the Moscow Sea.  The crews are all students of the KRC sailing program.  The team is learning fast; in the first stage at St Petersburg in 2015 they finished 11th, then ninth at Konakovo in home waters and, ultimately, 12th at the Grand Finale in Sochi.

The Konakovo crew lacked experience for equal competition with the strongest teams in the League, but the team worked hard and already in the 2016 season, they won the J/70 class at the famous Primo Cup- Credit Suisse in Monaco!  This was a stunning development for J/70 class sailors that came from seven countries across Europe.  This is a great sign.  Watch closely how this team progresses in the 2016 league championship!

Moscow Imperial YC
It has had the greatest of traditions in yachting over time for a Moscow yachting club.  The Imperial River Yacht Club dates back to July 6, 1867. The grand re-opening of the club, completely restored and revived on the Moscow River took place in a beautiful celebration on June 19, 2014.

The Team IRYC, which is participating in the 2016 National Sailing League, was formed just two years ago. Based on the waters of the Pirogov Reservoir, steering for the team is Artem Kuznetsov and sailing with him will be his sons Yuri and Nikolai.

Team IRYC took part in the three stages of the 2015 National Sailing League. In the Moscow and Konakovo stage, the IRYC team sailed extremely well and managed to post 5th and 6th place finishes, respectively.  But, in the Grand Finale in Sochi, the “wheels fell off the shopping trolley” as our friends from Way Down Under say.  The team could not get it together and finished 13th at Sochi; settling for 8th place overall for the series.

Knowing the mood of the team, you can be sure that in 2016 it will try to take into account all the previous mistakes. Watch out for the redemption program for the IRCY team!

The Russian Sailing League general partner is JSC (United Shipbuilding Corporation). The first stage partner is Sochi Grand Marina by Burevestnik Group. The Fitness League partner is a national chain of fitness clubs- X-FIT. General information partner is Championat.com. Media partners of the project include- Match TV, Forbes.com, Vesti.ru, Sport FM, Yachting Magazine and Vodabereg.ru. Regional Informational partners are- Retro FM and Maks-portal.ru. Strategic marketing and branding project come from Agency ViMarketing.  Please contact Anna Mstislav for more info- +8-916-720-45-71 or e-mail- pr@vfps.ru    For more Russian Sailing Federation league information