The Yacht Club of Saint-Petersburg´s Swan 60 sailing yacht Bronenosec, sponsored by Gazprom has taken the 7th place in the Overall Maxi Combined Class of her first international yacht regatta of 2012 at Mapfre Palma Vela.
Swan 60 yacht Bronenosec experienced international fleet racing with some of the world´s top names at Mapfre Palma Vela Credit: MartinezStudio.es
Finishing today in a tactically challenging 6 to 8 knots form the North East during the morning’s overcast skies which lifted towards the afternoon producing a Southerly breeze, the team worked closely on their fourth day of racing.
With a combined style of racing required for their first regatta requiring both tight inshore racing and longer distance coastal racing within a range of wind conditions, the event has proven to be an ideal season opener for the team.
A steep learning curve for all of the crew working from testing breezy conditions in the Bay of Palma at the beginning of the week to lighter shiftier conditions over the last 2 days of racing, Mapfre Palma Vela has been an excellent test bed for the Yacht Club of Saint-Petersburg’s competitive campaign.
Light winds of 6 to 8 knots provided testing conditions for the Gazprom sponsored team on the final day of racing Credit: MartinezStudio.es
Vladimir Liubomirov, Commodore, Yacht Club of Saint-Petersburg and helming the Swan 60 this week for racing, sees this regatta as a committed start to their global debut: “I am keen to now debrief constructively with the team and set about making realistic changes to our boat handling, kit and general set up to continue pushing our boat speed forwards to meet that of the race boats who clearly have identified their top settings across all wind conditions from a few more years’ experience on this competitive circuit and to also spend time as a cohesive crew so we smoothly continue understanding each other in order to consistently achieve ultimate boat handling techniques, which I hope will translate to race wins.”
Having achieved a 5th place in the heavy weather and to have led fellow Swan 60 yacht Emma round the race track for a noted period of time, the Yacht Club of Saint-Petersburg team have proven that they have the ability to move up a gear on demand.
The Yacht Club of Saint-Petersburg Bow Team working cohesively downhill Credit: MartinezStudio.es
It is an excellent achievement for this newly formed team to have finished all of the races in the series of their first event with limited breakages. The Swan 60 can now look forward to slotting into the elitist world of high profile big boat racing against some of the world’s most competitive and accomplished yachts.
The Gazprom sponsored team now have now have another 5 international sailing events on the campaign agenda to prepare for with the long term aim of achieving consistent race results in order to build a solid series and focus on a podium finish.
