News

Leaders of the Gazprom Swan 60 World Championship 2013, Bronenosec, have cemented their pole position in further Summer Solent conditions. The warm, variable winds from day 3, peaking at just above 10 knots provided the continued calm conditions for two races. Dropping a discard has further enabled Bronenosec to push ahead.

Vladimir Liubomirov Commodore of the Yacht Club of Saint-Petersburg and owner of Swan 60 Bronenosec (RUS) has the edge over Igor Frolov helming Swan 60 Tsaar Peter (BVI). Bronenosec has an outstanding 7 races in first and second places, sitting a comfortable 8 points in the overall lead.

The Gazprom Swan 60 Class is also inspiring a younger team to race big names this year with the German SGM entry taking part in a nationwide project where ambitious young sailors are introduced to the big boat world under the guidance of experienced racers. 20 year old, Kai Becker is an upcoming racer onboard SGM, “I have already learnt a lot this week as we have some pros on the team. This is a big step for me as I am used to racing with 2 or 3 people and on the Swan 60 we have 18 crew”.

After racing finished in the Gazprom Swan 60 World Championship fleet the discipline changed to match racing with female Olympic racing stars Ekaterina Skudina (RUS) and Shirley Robertson (GBR) taking the helm. Ekaterina Skudina finished in 4th place at the London 2012 Olympic Games and was Russian Women’s Sailor of the Year from 2009-2012. Shirley Robertson OBE living locally in Cowes is a double Olympic gold medallist and took a 2-0 victory today over her younger Russian counterpart. Shirley enjoyed today, “I was slightly nervous about racing Ekaterina as she is an excellent match racer, but I had a great team out there and it was a lot of fun”.