Congress Palace Cup – New champion crowned at Sails of White Nights

by Erik Brydges on 13 Jun 2012 Sails of White Nights, organised by the Yacht Club of Saint Petersburg, concluded today, Tuesday 12th June. After coming second in the round robin stage, and then working his way to the final, New Zealand’s William Tiller comes out on top to win the Sails of White Nights Congress Palace Cup held in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The event crowned a new champion after the reigning three time champion, Andrey Arbuzov, was beaten by Tilller, three races to two, in the quarterfinals. Tiller then went on to beat fellow New Zealander Reuben Corbett to face Russia’s Vladimir Lipavsky in the final. Tiller won all five final races against the Russian, putting Lipavsky in second and claiming first place for himself. Lipavsky’s fellow countryman, Sergey Musikhin, was bested by Corbett, who took third place, leaving the other Russian in fourth.

The Sails of White Nights Congress Palace Cup has been going from strength to strength each year, first being officially named as the National Congress Palace Cup in 2007, then, in 2008, ISAF included the event in their World Match Racing Tour calendar. Most recently, in 2009, ISAF promoted the event to a Grade 1 regatta, the highest rating an ISAF match racing event can have. This status has attracted some of the best sailors from around the world to Saint Petersburg to race at such a competitive level. In 2012 however, the Sails of White Nights – Congress Palace Cup applied for the event to be rated as an ISAF Grade 2 regatta so that more sailors could take part.

Tiller described his on the water battle with Lipavsky: 'Vladimir Lipavsky is a worthy competitor. It’s one of the cases when we meet a sportsman at different competitions and each time he becomes still stronger. We’ve met before in a sparring in Vladivostok and in Estonia. He’s advanced a lot.'

The Sails of White Nights – Congress Palace Cup is an event that ties into a broader celebration in the city of Saint Petersburg at a time where, for eighty days, the sun barely sets. Vladimir Liubomirov, Commodore of the Yacht Club of Saint-Petersburg explains why the Sails of White Nights – Congress Palace up is so important to the city:

'The period of ‘White Nights’ is especially significant for St. Petersburg. Blanketed in twilight the city becomes mysterious and is breathing with romance. The ‘White Nights’ have such a strong attraction that people simply leave their houses to walk along the streets. Such a combination of romance and dynamics in a city is reflected in our tradition to host a sailing event in the very heart of the city.'

And, although the competitors were busy racing, the beauty of this unique Eastern European racing venue was not lost on them. 'Five days flew by quickly. Mostly we were occupied in the races, deep in sports, yet we managed to go to a city sightseeing tour,' William Tiller commented. 'I fancy St. Petersburg and its unique water area. The city is beautiful, wonderful, and we’d love to be back here'.

The Sails of White Nights – Congress Palace Cup was organised by the Yacht Club of Saint-Petersburg, the non-commercial sailing support fund 'Sails of White Nights', the Committee of the Physical Culture and Sport of the Saint-Petersburg Administration in conjunction with the Russian Yachting Federation, and the Russian Ministry of Sport.

Final standings:
1 William Tiller (NZL)
2 Vladimir Lipavsky (RUS)
3 Reuben Corbett (NZL)
4 Sergey Musikhin (RUS)
5 Staffan Lindberg (FIN)
6 Stratis Andreadis (GRE)
7 Sam Pearson (GBR)
8 Andrew Arbuzov (RUS)
9 Alexey Stupka (RUS)
10 Marek Stanczyk (POL)
11 Nikolay Korolev (RUS)
12 Robbie Allam Yacht Club of Saint Petersburgh website