(Monte Carlo, Monaco)- After the success of the 1st edition, the Monaco
Sportsboat Winter Series 2014-2015 is back to liven up the waters off
the Yacht Club Monaco over the winter. Divided into five Acts scheduled
once a month from October 2014 to March 2015, these regattas are
designed to give experienced and amateur J/70 crews a chance to prepare
at the highest level for the upcoming season’s big regattas.This last weekend’s winter gathering of sixteen dedicated high-level J/70 teams from all over Europe, produced great racing and some surprises in the fleet sailing Hercules Bay. The YC Monaco’s PRO, Englishman John Coveney, welcomed the foreign crews to the J/70 Monaco fleet. Many of the crews are already looking forward to the 2015 J/70 European Championships that are being held in October at YCM.
"It is a great pleasure to come here once a month for the Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series,” said Ekaterina Skudina, double European Champion and World Champion from Russia. She continued to say, “Three crews from the Pro-Yachting Sailing Team project came from Moscow early in the week to train, work on theory/ tactics/ strategy, go through training on the water, and work on both mental and physical preparation for offshore sailing. In addition, the teams get a direct assessment of their progress and development during the Winter regatta series. At this time of year, the YC Monaco is undeniably one of the best training bases in the Med!” There is no question the Russian team member efforts paid off; with the trio posting solid top ten performances.
The
German LED ZEPPELIN team, led by the 22-year-old skipper Yannick
Hefner, was able to master the breeze and the Monegasque current for
their first ever competition in the Principality! After posting two
2nds on the first day, they sailed brilliantly the second day to coast
home with two bullets and the overall win for the weekend with just 4
pts net.The J/70 Class President of Monaco, Jacopo Carrain, sailed his CARPE DIEM both smart and fast on the first day, posting two bullets. However, on the second day, they couldn’t maintain the pressure on the LED ZEPPELIN team, posting a 3-4 to drop to second with 5 pts net.
The German team from Bayerischer YC sailed UNITED DOMAINS into a well-earned third place with a 5-3-bfd-2 for 10 pts net. Just behind them were a veteran Monegasque one-design campaigner, Dennis Fredriksen sailing ARIA into fourth place just three points back. Rounding out the top five was the top Russian team, Alexander Mikhaylik sailing ALEX TEAM. In fact, the balance of the three Russians also placed well, with Alexander Kurbeko on SKOLKOVO taking 8th and Igor Puzanov on SKOLKOVO II taking 9th by virtue of losing a tie-breaker on 21 points with his Russian teammate!
After counting results from the first two Acts, Jacopo Carrain’s crew on CARPE DIEM is leading the Winter Series for the twenty boats that are registered to compete. The next Acts are the following:
- ACT 3: 16 - 18 January 2015
- ACT 4: 06 - 08 February 2015
- ACT 5: 06 - 08 March 2015
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