The first sailing competition of the year took place in Mykolaiv

A sailing competition was held in Mykolaiv; photo by Galina Sennikova, NikVesti

From 30 April to 3 May, the regional yacht club hosted the annual all-Ukrainian ‘Sails of Mykolaiv Region’ competition for young sailors. These are the first all-Ukrainian regattas of the year, and Mykolaiv was given the honour of hosting them.

This was reported by a correspondent for NikVesti.

The regatta was attended by boys and girls born between 2009 and 2018 from the Mykolaiv, Kyiv, Poltava, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Vinnytsia regions. A total of 94 athletes were registered, competing in 82 boats (in the «Cadet» class — double crews) in the following classes: «Optimist», «Cadet», «RS Tera Pro», «RS Tera Sport», «ILCA 4» and «Ultra D». Forty-two athletes competed in the «Optimist» class.

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The opening ceremony was attended by distinguished guests: Anton Tabunschyk, Chairman of the Regional Council; Dmytro Tarasenko, an aide to the Head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration; Mykhailo Nikolaev, Head of the Youth and Sport Department of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration; Jakob Torild Hansen, Head of the Danish Embassy Office; the Head of the Regional Youth Sports School for Sailing «Regional Yacht Club»; and the Head of the Mykolaiv Regional Yurii Zhuravlev, head of the Regional Sailing Federation; Serhii Shumilov, Vice-President of the Ukrainian Sailing Federation and Chairman of the Competition Committee; Olena Poteria, representative of the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Ukraine; and Vitalii Postavchuk, Chief Judge of the competition.

Before the start of the celebrations, the competitors and guests observed a minute’s silence in memory of the fallen heroes. Afterwards, the team captains were invited to raise the National Flag of Ukraine.

In January this year, the Mykolaiv Regional Specialised Children’s and Youth School of the Olympic Reserve for Sailing, «Regional Yacht Club», received nine new «Optimist» class dinghies. This was made possible thanks to the support of the Kingdom of Denmark and the ‘Shchedryk’ Charitable Foundation.

In his speech, Anton Tabunschyk expressed his gratitude to the Kingdom of Denmark for this powerful gesture of solidarity and friendship. Serhii Shumilov thanked the defenders for making it possible to hold a competition of this scale in Mykolaiv. In previous years of the war, all-Ukrainian regattas in the region took place on the Tilihul Estuary, where the necessary infrastructure is lacking.

Yurii Zhuravlev thanked the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration for its constant support and the Department of Youth and Sport for the new life jackets for the athletes. Words of gratitude were also expressed to the head of the Danish Embassy’s office, who, together with partners, helped secure the new sailing boats.

Jakob Torild Hansen admitted that the yacht club is his favourite place in Mykolaiv.

«Here you can sit on the shore of the estuary and admire the sails. For me, this is the very image of our beloved Mykolaiv. I am delighted that such young athletes have the opportunity to train here, and I hope they will enjoy using our gift,» said Jakob Hansen.

He also presented measurement certificates for the donated sailboats to the best athletes at the sports school.

In keeping with an old maritime tradition, the new boats were generously sprinkled with sparkling wine during the launch.

The races took place in favourable weather conditions, but the starts were postponed several times due to air raid alerts. The chief judge of the competition, Vitalii Postavchuk, explained:

«Twelve races were planned, but the constant alerts really disrupted us. Over four days, we managed to hold nine starts. So we would like to thank the defence forces and everyone who helped organise the regatta and ensure its safety for this opportunity.»

During the long wait for the starts, coaches from other cities held masterclasses for the children and exchanged experiences with their Mykolaiv colleagues.

Ultimately, the regatta proved successful for the young sailors from Mykolaiv. The awards ceremony took place on 3 May.

Winners and prize-winners:

In the «Optimist» class for boys:

• 1st place — Andrii Bondariuk (Odesa)
• 2nd place — Kyrylo Kuryuchkin (Mykolaiv)
• 3rd place — Tymofii Pantelei (Kyiv).

In the Optimist class for girls:

• 1st place — Alina Sorokina (Mykolaiv)
• 2nd place — Lada Harnaha (Mykolaiv)
• 3rd place — Yuliia Solomonova (Mykolaiv).

In the Optimist class, junior group:

• 1st place — Lada Harnaha (Mykolaiv)
• 2nd place — Lev Prymakov (Dnipro)
• 3rd place — Artem Belykov (Mykolaiv).

In the RS Tera Sport class:

• 1st place — Anastasiia Trokhachova (Kyiv)
• 2nd place — Stefaniia Samoilenko (Kyiv)
• 3rd place — Mariia Zatula (Mykolaiv).

In the ‘RS Tera PRO’ yacht class:

• 1st place — Oleksandr Chykalov (Zaporizhzhia)
• 2nd place — Arina Duzha (Dnipro)
• 3rd place — Yehor Povaliashko (Zaporizhzhia).

In the «Cadet» yacht class for boys:

• 1st place — Kateryna Butenko and Davyd Hutiev (Kyiv)
• 2nd place — Andrii Ronskyi and Anatolii Moskalenko (Kyiv)
• 3rd place — Nadiia Kostenko and Andrii Peredrii (Mykolaiv).

The «Cadet» yacht class association awarded the youngest competitors in this class — Maksym Safronov and Vladyslav Malyshko.

In the «Ultra D» yacht class, the winners were:

• 1st place — Yevhen Kleptsov (Mykolaiv)
• 2nd place — Ihor Zalevskyi, (Odesa)
• 3rd place — Artem Dzhumaev, (Mykolaiv).

The «Atlant» Children’s and Youth Sports School in Mykolaiv presented separate awards to its female athletes in the ‘Ultra D’ class:

• 1st place — Oleksandra Yankovych
• 2nd place – Polina Krutsylo
• 3rd place — Veronika Protsenko

In the «ILCA» yacht class for juniors, the following places were taken:

• 1st place — Andrii Mastitskyi (Mykolaiv)
• 2nd place — Andrii Tambulov (Mykolaiv)
• 3rd place – Ivan Kharin (Mykolaiv).

In the «ILCA» class for girls, the winner was Alina Sannikova.

The young athletes are already starting to prepare for their next competitions today.

Photo report

A sailing competition took place in Mykolaiv, photo by Halyna Sennikova, NikVesti

A sailing competition took place in Mykolaiv, photo by Halyna Sennikova, NikVesti

A sailing competition took place in Mykolaiv, photo by Halyna Sennikova, NikVesti

A sailing competition took place in Mykolaiv, photo by Halyna Sennikova, NikVesti

A sailing competition took place in Mykolaiv, photo by Halyna Sennikova, NikVesti

A sailing competition took place in Mykolaiv, photo by Halyna Sennikova, NikVesti

A sailing competition took place in Mykolaiv, photo by Halyna Sennikova, NikVesti

A sailing competition took place in Mykolaiv, photo by Halyna Sennikova, NikVesti

A sailing competition took place in Mykolaiv, photo by Halyna Sennikova, NikVesti

A sailing competition took place in Mykolaiv, photo by Halyna Sennikova, NikVesti

A sailing competition took place in Mykolaiv, photo by Halyna Sennikova, NikVesti

A sailing competition took place in Mykolaiv, photo by Halyna Sennikova, NikVesti

A sailing competition took place in Mykolaiv, photo by Halyna Sennikova, NikVesti

A yachting competition took place in Mykolaiv, photo by Halyna Sennikova, NikVesti