2020 Open Estonian Championships.

Dmitry Bondarenko Wins the Estonian Championships in Tallinn.

The 2020 Open Estonian Championship was held last weekend at Kalevi Yacht Club in Tallinn. It bought together the best of all Estonian Sailors to test their skills in a variety of wind conditions. On Friday and Saturday it was extremely windy with rain, but on Sunday the wind subsided and the sun came out.

The main photo shows the top 3 teams.. Bronze Medals went to EST 12 Mihkel Kosk, Marko-Rollin Podra & Raido Lembit (Left).  Gold Medals to GBR 408 Dmitry Bondarenko (Centre), Alexander Shalagin, Nikolai Poljakov & Alexei Murashkin. Silver Medals to Aleksander Karboinov, Igor Barashkov & Alexel Artamonenkov (Right).

Extremely Windy Conditions for the early part of Estonian Championship.

On Friday and Saturday the 10 boat fleet sailed 6 short Windward-Leeward races in Tallinn Bay. Although EST 12 (Mihkel Kosk) won the first race and EST 8 (Aleksander Karboinov) won race 5, it was GBR 408 (Dmitry Bondarenko) who set the early pace by winning race 2,3,4 & 6.

The sun came out and the wind dropped for the final day in Tallinn.

On the final day sailed in glorious weather it was EST 12 who took race 7 with EST 8 maintaining consistency in 2nd place and EST 5 (Aleksel Zigadio) in 3rd. But it was GBR 408 Dmitry Bondarenko who clinched the Championship by winning the final race (race number 8) to finish on just 11pts after discard. EST 8 2nd on 15pts and EST 12 3rd with 20pts.

The Dragon Class is on the rise again in Estonia as the interest in one design racing is bringing back the old sailors and encouraging young enthusiasts. It would be great to see large fleets again in Estonia as it was in the 1960’s and early 1970’s before the Dragons were excluded from the Olympics. Anyone requiring information of Dragon Racing in Estonia should contact Mihkel Kosk (kosk111@hotmail.com).

A great time was had by all at the Kalevi Yacht Club.

Higher, Faster, Longer……    Stay Safe.  Stavros.