“RocknRoller”….to Victory in San Remo.

Dmitry Samokhin, Andrey Kirilyuk & Kasper Harsberg win in San Remo.

17 teams enjoyed the Italian sunshine at the 2nd Dragon Winter Series of Yacht Club San Remo 17th-19th Dec in near perfect sailing conditions before returning home to celebrate Xmas. One victorious team that will be raising a glass or two during this festive period are RUS 76 “RocknRolla” helmed by Dmitry Samokhin, crewed by Andrey Kirilyuk & Kasper Harsberg after winning this extremely competitive regatta.

San Remo provides a dramatic backdrop as Dragons prepare to start.

Victories on the opening day were shared by GBR 819 “Fever” Klaus Diederichs in Race 1 and ITA 77 “Bunker Prince” Evgeny Braslavets in Race 2. Although the wind was lighter on day 2 with only one race completed it was again ITA 77 that took line honours. Evgeniy, who won Olympic Gold in Atlanta, Georgia 1996 in the 470 class, is no stranger to the Dragon Class having won the Dragon World Championship in La Rochelle, 2015. Klaus is also a former Dragon World Champion winning his title in Weymouth back in 2013, so no one can say the competition in San Remo was not of the highest standard 🙂

ITA 77 “Bunker Prince” and GBR 819 “Fever” celebrate race wins in San Remo.

Helm of GBR 819 Klaus Diederichs told me “It was another good weekend in San Remo, with an International Fleet of 17 boats, sailed in beautiful weather with sunshine and 15 degrees. We had 7-10kts on Friday, Saturday was a bit lighter so just one race and 12-15kts on Sunday. It was close racing at all times with 4 boats within 2 points before the final race. Several new boats from Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Also at least 5 boats arrived early for training….2022 promises to be competitive”.

So going into the last day as Klaus mentioned, 4 teams were all in with a chance of overall victory. With perfect sailing conditions and 2 back to back wins it was RUS 76 “RocknRolla” who took the title! Helmed by Dmitry Samokhin, crewed by Andrey Kirilyuk & Kasper Harsberg, this top team continue to pile on the pressure, sail a clean fast race and top the leaderboard once again… Many Congratulations.

Winners of the 2nd San Remo Winter Series RUS 76 “RocknRolla” Dmitry, Andrey & Kasper. (Another spectacular photo from Elena Razina)

Winning helm Dmitry told me “We were very happy to be able to race in these uncertain times. Yacht Club San Remo was great as usual and conditions were as good as you could wish for in winter. 5 races out of the 7 planned and the top 4 positions in final standings were defined by the last race. So it was like a true ‘Medal Race’, which tells you something about the competition! Klaus, Evgeny, Anatoly – all could easily be at the top. We were a bit more lucky on the last day scoring two bullets :-)” Well done my friend… As to luck ….  I remember a very famous Golfer called Lee Trevino, saying “The more I practice, the luckier I get“. Many congratulations to You, Andrey & Kasper.

With a strong finish of 2nd place in the final race it was GBR 819 “Fever” who took the runner’s up spot. Klaus Diederichs sailing with Jamie Lea and World Star Champion Diego Negri counting 1,3,4 & 2 showed they too will be a contender at the 2022 Europeans & World Championships.. Great talent and again well practised.

2nd overall in San Remo GBR 819 “Fever” Jamie, Klaus & Diego.

The final podium place went to ITA 77 “Bunker Prince” helmed by Evgeny Braslavets, who just managed to keep RUS 27 Anatoly Loginov (Winner in Cannes 2 weeks ago) behind him in the last race. Evgeny considers San Remo his second home and is usually found with his crew sitting at the same corner table at the Yacht Club enjoying the fantastic food prepare by Club Chef Jimmy..

3rd overall in San Remo ITA 77 Evgeny Braslavets, Boris Kravchenko & Sergey Timokhov.

With RUS 27 “Annapurna” Anatoly Loginov having to settle for 4th, it was great to see the local team of ITA 49 “Javelin” finish in 5th place overall and top Corinthian Team.. This beautiful Pedersen and Thuesen Dragon built in 1959 helmed by Fabio Mangione, crewed by Davide Bortoletto & Davide Leardini have not long been together, so very well done Fabio for this top 5 finish. Fabio was Italian Champion in the Dinghy 12 ‘Classico in 2019 so is used to being at the front of the fleet, as demonstrated by “Javelins” 2nd place in race 3 achieved on Saturday in the lighter winds.

5th Overall ITA 49 “Javelin”. Fabio Mangione, with Davide Bortolletto & Davide Leardini.

There is no doubt this winter series is proving very popular and congratulations to Yacht Club San Remo for all the hard work they put into running these regatta’s. Special thanks go to Club President Beppe Zaoli, Overall Race Management Leader Umberto Zocca Di Montelupo and PRO Fulvio Parodi.

More Winter Series next year, In San Remo, Cannes, Puerto Portals & Vilamoura….

We can also look forward in 2022 to our first Grade 1 in Monaco, 3-6 March. Europeans in San Remo, 4-8 April. 2nd Grade 1 Douarnenez, 4-7 May. World Championships Kuhlungsborn, 12-17 June. Gold Cup Ostend, 21-26 August. 3rd Grade 1 Port Camargue 12-15 October. 4th Grade 1 + Finals Puerto Portals 15-20 November….

Higher, Faster, Longer…..   Stay Safe.   Enjoy Xmas & New Year….       Stavros.

P.S Brilliant Photo’s once again from Elena Razina..  Who not only takes amazing photo’s of the Dragon Class, but has recently won “Photo of the Year” nominated by St Petersburg Yacht Club. Check it out on Elena’s Facebook page…  Well Done!!