RC44 Championship Tour - Vladimir Liubomirov, Bronenosec to take part

by Jessica Gray on 14 Jun 2013

Bronenosec, Vladimir Liubomirav Richard Knight

The RC44 fleet are preparing for the third event of the 2013 RC44 Championship Tour. The Bronenosec Sailing Team owned by Russian Vladimir Liubomirov have joined the class and will compete for the first time at the RC44 Sweden Cup in Marstrand later this month. Liubomirov is no stranger the international sailing world, having won the prestigious Russian Sailor of the Year Award 2012 and is the current Commodore of the Yacht Club of Saint Petersburg and skipper of the Swan 60 Bronenosec. [Sorry, this content could not be displayed]Having purchased No Way Back from Pieter Heeerma, the winning boat at the 2009 RC44 World Championships, Liubomirov and his Gazprom sponsored Bronenosec Sailing Team are keen to further promote professional sailing within Russia. 'The successful start of the Gazprom Swan 60 project gave us the opportunity to think about a more, let’s say, technically advanced class. The basic goal is to have several leading St. Petersburg Yacht Club professional teams in the hope of encouraging youth sailing within Russia and raising the profile of professional Russian sailors.' Liubomirov will be joined for the RC44 Sweden Cup by experienced RC44 tactician Michele Ivaldi whose regular Team CEEREF are unable to compete in Sweden, before Italian America’s Cup veteran Tommaso Chieffi takes over for the remainder of the season. 'Tommaso has not only become one of the ideologists of Gazprom Swan 60 class creation but also helped to build an excellent team onboard Bronenosec. I believe Tommaso is one of the most talented sailors and also a bright strategist. I personally learnt a lot from him as a helmsman and it is, in a lot of ways, his merit that we were so successful last year.' Explains Liubomirov. Having worked closely together in the Swan 60 class, Liubomirov and Chieffi have carefully picked a talented team of Italian and Russian sailors. Bronenosec Sailing Team Crew List Vladimir Liubomirov (RUS) – Owner/ Driver Ekaterina Skudina (RUS) – Match Race Helm Tommaso Chieffi, (ITA) – Tactician Pietro Mantovani, (ITA) – Bowman Dmitriy Arsenyev (RUS) – Bowman Lorenzo Mazza, (ITA) – Trimmer Alexander Shalagin (RUS) -Trimmer Francesco Rapetti (ITA) – Pitman Vladimir Ikonnikov (RUS) -Trimmer Alberto Barovier, (ITA) – Main Trimmer Igor Frolov (RUS) – Team Manager Diego Torrado (ESP) – Boat Captain Bronenosec Sailing Teamwill combine the RC44 Tour events alongside their racing schedule for the Gazprom Swan 60 project. The next event of the Championship Tour will be the RC44 Sweden Cup 2013, hosted at the Swedish sailing mecca, Marstrand from the 25 – 29 June.

RC44 Championship Tour Fleet Race Ranking

(After two events)

1 Team Aqua – 3
2 Katusha – 4
3 Artemis Racing – 7
4 Team CEEREF – 8
5 Team Nika – 9
6 Synergy Russian Sailing Team – 11
7 Ironbound – 17
8 Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team – 18
9 Aleph Racing – 19
10 Team Italia – 20
11 Aegir Racing – 20
12 RUS7 Sail Racing Team – 20
13 MAG Racing – 26
14 Puerto Calero Sailing Team – 28

RC44 Championship Tour Match Race Ranking

(After two events)

1. Katusha – 10
2. Team Aqua – 7
3. Aleph Racing – 6
4. Synergy Russian Sailing Team – 6
5. Artemis Racing – 6
6. Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team – 6
7. RC44 Team CEEREF – 5
8. Aegir Racing – 5
9. Team Italia – 3
10. RUS7 Sail Racing Team – 3
11. Team Nika – 2
12. MAG Racing – 2
13. Ironbound – 0
14. Puerto Calero – 0