Photo: Adelaida Lasher

Odessa welcomed the participants of the Open Sailing Championship of Ukraine in the class of yachts Platu25, which started on October 1, with real sea weather. The crew of the current champion of Ukraine Rodion Luka became the early leader of the standings. In the waters of the Odessa racing yacht club Luka won three races in a row.

It is not the first time that Odessa hosts national competitions in the Platu25 yacht class, which is actively developing in Ukraine. If last year's championship gave a lot of emotions to the participants, this year's one promises to be a real sail festival in South Palmyra. It's not just that many of the participants spent a busy season and training, but not that the total number of crews has increased. The highlight of the 2021 season is the special significance of the Ukrainian championship, as it precedes the European championship in the Platu25 class, which also starts here at the Odessa Racing Yacht Club.

So, for 23 crews from all over Ukraine, the stakes are high. Autumn weather contributes to this in the best way.

Let the first three races of the championship be dominated by the experienced crew of the current champion, Olympic medalist Rodion Luka, then we should expect surprises. After all, some teams today showed a stable result. First of all, it is the team of the Olympian from Mariupol Valery Kudryashov, who still takes second place and the Kyiv team of the ex-member of the national team Sevastiyan Levchenko from the Kyiv racing yacht club (third step). Even further in the table, we see good results for the bronze medalist of the 2020 championship Volodymyr Bindyuhin, closing the top-5.

The good start of the experienced Yulia Kirpa from Kyiv, who ruined her day with a false start in the third race, also attracts attention. The situation is similar to the coordinated female crew of Anastasia Kolisnychenko from Kyiv. Undoubtedly, these teams will be "in the game".

It is nice that Odessa is already hosting the Platu25 Ukrainian championship. After all, this is not just a week of competition. During the season, our club organizes competitions and teams from all over the country to prepare. And this year the attention to our city has increased because the European Championship is ahead. This is a new challenge, responsibility, and a new stage of development for our club.

Albert Kabakov