Russian-style Volvo Ocean Race
The finish of Volvo Ocean Race was held on June 27 inSt. Petersburg. It is the first time for the city to host such a prestigious Race hence a special preparation: in the middle of the day Blagoveshchenski and Dvortsovy bridges were open for half an hour for the parade of ships, the race village was placed on the beach of the Peter-an-Paul Fortress for both participants and guests. Despite the rainy weather typical for St. Petersburg, thousands of citizens greeted the yachts. The parade of VOR participants up the Neva river was greeted by the fireworks at the Dvortsovy bridge which was broadcasted to a huge screen. The festive ceremony was conducted by Viktor Gusev in two languages.
The Race started nine months ago in Alikante, Spain. During this period the bots visited 10 ports in 9 countries. The yachtsmen visited Capetown (RSA), Kochi (India), Singapore, Qingdao (China), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Boston (USA), Galway (Ireland), Goteborg and Stokholm (Sweden). The tenth and final leg of the Race finished in St. Petersburg. All in all more than 37,000 miles have been sailed. The participants could not escape ill-favored moments like pirates, damages, injures and lack of fresh water. The victory was achieved by a Swedish crew (Ericsson 4). As Ericsson 4’s Torben Grael said “It’s a funny feeling because some of these guys you had never met before and you become like brothers. Now we go our own ways and it’s a strange feeling.”
The Kasatka boat is the first yacht to participate in the Race. After three legs Russian team had to suspend racing because of financial problems. Nevertheless it was a serious undertaking of Russia in the global sailing sport.
For the celebrations a stage was placed near the Peter-and-Paul fortress where dancers, singers and circus artists gave a performance. Special attractions, a cinema hall, sponsors’ pavilions and Volvo platform were also arranged for grown ups. Enormous work wasconducted by a media center. During a couple of days St. Petersburg was visited by representatives of international yacht clubs, European media and partners. In general the event was held on a very high level with the support of such sponsors like Puma, Volvo and Ericsson.
Immediately after the finish the winners of the last leg - Telefonica Black crew - were awarded. The prize – a marine painting – was given to the winner by St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko. In the evening a reception was held in honor of the participants. The Governor personally congratulated the crews, organizers and supporting teams.
The solemn prize-giving ceremony was held on June 28 at 12 o’clock. All the participants were given the prizes and the Race symbol – glass statute in the form of a sail ship. Master class at the yacht was available for everybody on June 28.
One of the most important events within the framework of VOR finish was signing of an agreement between the city Government and All-Russia Sailing Federation on cooperation in development and popularization of sailing sport. The document was signed by St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko and Governor of the Tver Region Dmitri Zelenin, head of VFPS. First of all the document envisages the support of youth sport and yachting clubs as well as international competitions in St. Petersburg, All-Russia championships and seminars for judges and trainers.
Yuliya Khakimova