On June 4, the results of the first of the four stages of the international series of sailing regattas TENZOR INTERNATIONAL CUP 2023 were summed up at the Tenzor Sailing Club near Moscow.
The competition, held with the support of the All-Russian Sailing Federation and the title partner of the Tenzor Consulting Group series of financial and legal companies, was attended by 24 teams and more than a hundred yachtsmen from 15 cities of Russia, Serbia and neighboring countries.
Three racing days were spent on the contrasts of the weather, making the regatta even more unpredictable and interesting in a sporty way.
The start of the competition and the first five races were held in low wind conditions with unexpected approaches, which were very difficult to predict, so luck played an important role. It was not possible to identify a clear leader – the teams “Akhmat”, PEC: Sport, Skolkovo Sailing Team 3, PAVETRA, “Scarlet Sails” were able to win one race each. The Hubex/Pirogovo and Tenzor Teams had stable arrivals in the top six, and the Akhmat team became the intermediate leader of the classification.
Together with professional yachtsmen, children – participants of the Tenzor Cup Junior competition came out to challenge the water and wind. 16 young yachtsmen and yachtsmen competed on the water, as well as in coastal relay races. The top three teams were “Tenzor”, “Straight Knot” and “White Squall”.
The second race day met the participants with truly extreme weather conditions: the temperature dropped from 20 to 8 degrees, and the northerly gusty wind and incessant rain seriously complicated the competition conditions. Despite this, it was possible to hold 10 races. There was excitement and tension, and even the most experienced crews demonstrated their ups and downs on this day. In the group of leaders, Kirill Frolov’s Hubex/Pirogovo team took the first position, seriously breaking away from the closest rivals – the PAVETRA and Akhmat teams. But for one of the favorites of the Tenzor Team tournament, the day turned out badly – the crew flew out of the top ten and found themselves in the role of catching up. Last year’s winners of the Tenzor International Cup, the Russian Bogatyrs team, as well as the ZID art Sailing Team from Serbia, also raced unstably.
The final third race day of the first stage of the Tenzor International Cup 2023 was the most intriguing and exciting. It got warmer, and a steady north-westerly wind of 7-9 knots came to the water area of the Pestovsky reservoir, which allowed for 9 races, and the total number of which in three days equated to the number of competing teams – 24!
The intrigue lasted until the last, and the final race made even the leaders of the competition – the Hubex/Pirogovo team Kirill Frolov nervous. It was not without difficulty that Frolov’s crew managed to maintain the “status quo” and win the first stage of the Tenzor International Cup 2023. “Silver” was won by the PAVETRA team, and its helmswoman Alexandra Chicherova won the unofficial women’s standings.
The three winners of the first stage were closed by the team “Akhmat”. With the first three arrivals in the asset, “Akhmat” has started its debut season in the Tenzor International Cup 2023 perfectly. The Russo Trans teams of Yuri Morozov and Zoran Paunovich’s ZID art Sailing Team demonstrated good dynamics during the regatta, taking the fourth and fifth final places, respectively. In sixth place, the regatta was completed by the Bars Sailing Team, which brilliantly spent the final race day, showing three first arrivals at once. The “Top 10” was supplemented by the teams of “Russian Bogatyrs” of Igor Rytov, Dolce Vita of Inna Balashova, Tenzor Team of Andrey Pushkin and “Pirogovo” of Sergey Kuznetsov.
The density of the fight in the second ten was also very high, and although the first arrivals could be noted by Eyed Mushrooms, PEC: Sport, Nord, “Scarlet Sails”, but they did not manage to fully unravel the unstable Moscow wind and show better results.
The race weekend was generous not only for sporting events and emotions. The extensive coastal Saturday program for children and adults pleased with a master class from experienced coaches and wards of the Spartak Hockey Academy, yoga classes, the creation of unusual flower arrangements with Flora-Line, an interactive performance for children and other activities, and the highlight of the Saturday evening program on June 3 was the concert of the popular Uma2rman group, which was able to ignite the audience and became the perfect end of the yacht festival.
All participants of the competition received pleasant gifts from the partners of the stage – the Mod’s Hair Paris salons, French Kiss, Smartbar, the 5 Oceans club, the Kangaroo salons, and the main prize for the winner of the regatta was a tour to Baikal from Anro Trip.
The next meeting of the participants of the Tenzor International Cup 2023 will be held from July 6 to 9 at the second stage of the series at the Tenzor Sailing Club in the waters of the Pestovsky Reservoir, where a new set of awards will be played.
Quotes:
Kirill Frolov, Hubex/Pirogovo team: “We have lived so many emotions this day! We had a hassle with unstable parishes, but we are very pleased that we managed to show such a result. We added drive and fire to ourselves in the last race, where we had a match with the PAVETRA team, since the difference was one point. There was one bad parish – the tenth place. Of course we were tired, but it was great. The strength of the squad is very serious, because the victory is more valuable.”
Alexandra Chicherova, PAVETRA team: “We have a good team, Pavel Karachov is a great tactician, and all the guys are professionals, it’s easy to race with them. And, probably, we had a little more luck. The most difficult thing for today was to maintain composure, to stay in the “top 5” by parish. The wind was very strong from different directions, and luck played an important role. Strong teams failed, newcomers, on the contrary, were selected to the top. It was necessary to remain calm and chase the “light”. There is a high level of competitors here, it was the first time I steered at such a strong regatta. Thank you all for the fight, it was very interesting, and I hope to see you soon.”
Alexander Bozhko, Akhmat team: “We are happy with the result, as the strongest riders gathered at this tournament. There are many teams, the water area is difficult. Every race is worth its weight in gold. We fought to the end and gained some stability. It is always difficult to race in Pestovo, everything was decided in the last race, where the three leaders fought among themselves. And the strongest were lucky. We will continue to increase the pace!”