Final day of Match Racing, Open European Championship

Russian teams take the first and the second places and France took bronze

Even the most experienced race officials cannot remember a lack of wind situation on the Verkh-Isetsky lake practically during all racing days. Unfortunately, the final fourth day of the competition was neither an exclusion. Thus, it was possible to have all in all eight flights in four days, that is only 24 races.

– We did our best to get what was possible in this weather, – said the European Championship Race Officer Anna Deyanova, – so here, at the starting vessel, we are always checking for wind. Certainly, nobody expected such hot and windless weather in the end of August, it may be great, but not for us. But it does not in any way make these competitions less important. It’s just remarkable that we managed to have here so many foreign participants and umpires! Do you know that among the participants, we have the WS Match Racing women’s ranking leader Pauline Courtois from France, her fellow-countyman Maxime Mesnil, who is taking the fourth position in the WS Match Racing open ranking, and our Technical Delegate has come here straight from the Olympic Games in Tokyo, so we can say, we have here the top of the world sailing. It’s great we all could come here. And, in spite of the flat calm lake, the competition is constituted: the sailors completed the necessary number of races, which allows us to draw the results.

On the eve of the last racing day, the two thirds of the European Championship victory podium were Russian: the team of Pavel Kuznetsov was on the top position of the standings, the French team of Maxime Mesnil took the second place, and one more Russian yachtsman Andrey Kochnev with his team closed the prize winners’ trio.  

However, half an hour before the last attention signal time, the long awaited wind appeared and the Race committee managed to run the one more (eighth) flight of the Championship. And it has substantially changed the standings! Andrey Kochnev has won in his race and went up to the second position, and Maxime Mesnil, in his turn, had to move down to the third place. Pavel Kuznetsov’s crew had their first defeat in this regatta, but it had no impact on their final position.

To recap, 10 teams from Russia, France, Italy, Poland and Finland have taken part in 2021 EUROSAF Match Racing Open European Championship.