The Bulgarian crew of the yacht "Ivana and Alex" (Landmark 43 model) won the title in the IRC2 class at the European Sailing Championship, which was held in Corsica between October 7 and 12, BTA reported.
This is the first continental triumph for Bulgaria in this prestigious class and a historic success for the native sailing.
"This is an incredible success, achieved with a lot of work and effort, which Bulgaria can be proud of. We had expectations that we would do well, but in no case that we would win. Things developed very pleasantly. We are a very well-coordinated crew and we showed what we are capable of, we gave our all. "We almost finished in first place in group A. We were moving very steadily the whole time, but sailing depends a lot on the wind and other external conditions, which at one point did not allow us to catch up with the Swedes from Ran Racing," one of the crew members, Krasimir Naumov, commented to BTA.
The host of the championship was the city of Bonifacio on the island of Corsica. 31 teams from France, Italy, the USA, the Netherlands, Belgium, Romania, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Bermuda participated in the race.
The crew of "Ivana and Alex" included Chavdar Alexandrov – skipper, Alexander Alexandrov, Ivo Todorov, Lyuben Todorov, Plamen Bozhkov, Lyuben Tenekedzhiev, Mihaela Alexandrova, Ina Ilieva, Matey Sarastov, Krasimir Naumov and Georgi Boyadzhiev.
After the first two racing days and six races, "Ivana and Alex" came out on top in IRC2 and in the overall standings, ahead of the main contender Ran Racing (Sweden), as well as some of the best and most titled participating teams of Final Final (USA), Lisa R (Great Britain), Guenifey (France), Confluence (Italy) and Vito (Luxembourg), this year's winners in the 72nd edition of the prestigious Loro Piana Giraglia regatta. The Bulgarian crew demonstrated excellent preparation, precision and synchronicity, which gave them an early advantage over their competitors.
The biggest test for everyone was the legendary 24-hour race "Tour de Corse" – a route with a length of about 250 nautical miles (436 km) around the entire island. The competitors faced extremely variable weather conditions – from light headwinds to strong tailwinds with gusts of up to 28 knots (52 km/h).
During the night stage, when passing the Giralia rock, the Bulgarian crew encountered heavy rain and strong winds caused by a passing cyclone. Despite the difficult conditions, "Ivana and Alex" managed to maintain control and speed, showing character and resilience.
After 39 hours and 33 minutes of continuous sailing, the Bulgarian crew crossed the finish line and secured the title of European Champion in the IRC2 class, as well as a silver medal in Group A (a mixed group of all the more competitive classes IRC0, IRC1 and IRC2) behind the favorite Ran Racing.