It was raining as this Grade 3 ISAF regatta was opened. But this did little to dampen the spirit of the competitors gathered.
"Ekaterinburg Cup" is the preliminary stage of the First Grade ISAF Regatta "YAVA Trophy". Mayer of Ekaterinburg Arkadiy Chernetsky greeted the participants of the Event. He opened the Regatta and wished fair wind and seven feet under keel. The flag of the Event was displayed by Andrew Arbuzov, the winner of "Ekaterinburg Cup-2000". All the competitors were also greeted by the Head of the Verkh-Isetsky Rayon Vladimir Tereshkov. The Administration of the Verkh-Isetsky Rayon has prepared its own prize in honour of 75th Anniversary of the Rayon and 65th Jubilee of the Water-Sports Base of the city. The best crew of Ekat erinburg will be awarded three mountain bikes. During the press conference, devoted to the Opening of the Regatta the majority of questions were addressed to Neville Wittey. Neville is the skipper of the crew, where other members are Ekaterinburg citizens Petr Kochnev and Yuri Krioutchenkov, vice-president of the All-Russian Yacht Racing Federation.
Today, according to the format of the Event the preliminary stage was being performed in two groups А and В, seven teams in each. Four best crews from these groups go to the next stage. 28 June the preliminary stage in the group A has finished. The following teams appeared to be the best: Andrew Nikolaiev's (6 scores), Maxim Taranov's (5 scores), Maxim Logutenko's (4 scores), Evgeni Neugodnikov's (3 scores). They will sail with four best crews from the group В, which is to be defined tomorrow June 29.