Official opening ceremony of the Black Sea Tall Ships Regatta was held on September 21, 2016 in new building of maritime station in the city of Sochi.

Winners of the second race of the regatta were welcomed by the Sochi City Head Anatoliy Pakhomov, representative of the Sail Training International (STI) Training Sailing Ships Association Robin Snouck Hurgronje, First Deputy Director of PAO “Sovkomflot” Igor Tonkovidov and others.

During the event, Anatoliy Pakhomov greeted the teams and wished them success in the upcoming race along the Sochi – Varna route. Robin Snouck Hurgronje, in turn, noted that such competitions are held for more than 60 years, contributing to  strengthening of international relations and development of sailing sport in the world.

Representative of the Training Sailing Ships Association is glad that the international regatta is held in Sochi for the second time.

In 2016 teams from five countries take part in the competitions: Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Spain and Poland, and crew members represent 15 countries.

At the end of the ceremony, Anatoliy Pakhomov and Robin Snouck Hurgronje exchanged memorable gifts as a sign of further cooperation.

After the opening ceremony a press-conference was held on board of Mir sailing ship owned by FSUE “Rosmorport”. The conference was attended by Anatoliy Pakhomov, Robin Snouck Hurgronje, Igor Tonkovidov and also the FSUE “Rosmorport” General Director Andrey Tarasenko, and the FSBI “Black Sea Seaports Administration” Navigation Safety Department Head Aleksandr Devyatkov.

Andrey Tarasenko noted that on the Black Sea Regatta the maritime part of the Russian Ministry of Transport is represented by three sailing ships, which are full participants in the race –Mir, Nadezhda and Khersones. Cadets of 5 field-oriented academies of Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Novorossiysk, Sevastopol and Vladivostok are aboard the vessels.

The enterprise Head dwelt on future plans of the FSUE “Rosmorport” sailing fleet.

Nadezhda sailing ship, which crossed Asia and entered the Black sea to take part in the Regatta, is preparing to circumnavigation. The vessel together with another vessel of the Branch, Mir, plan to participate in transatlantic regatta.

Andrey Tarasenko also told that during Russian stage of the Black Sea Tall Ships Regatta Nadezhda lost a part of fore mast. The incident occured during harsh weather conditions with gusts of squall wind up to 27 metres per second and wave height more than 3.5 metres. Strong dynamic wind load on the rig resulted in torn shroud and, as concequence, in broken fore mast. At this time, cadets and crew were aloft, dousing sails and keeping fighting for the first place in the race.

 “Now the sailing ship is under repair, but on Tuesday the vessel is planned to enter the seaport and to take part in the parade. The crew is tidying up the vessel and changing sails”, - Andrey Tarasenko said.

The enterprise head also noted that Nadezhda is the only vessel that has a tradition to enter the seaport with cadets aloft which is an indicator of the highest skill.

Khersones sailing ship is still in the Black Sea. The ship had just been repaired after 10 years of inactivity. Andrey Tarasenko noted that it is the only vessel, which under sails and the engine turned off rounded Cape Horn. According to a maritime tradition, a vessel passed the constantly rough Drake Passage under sails is called “albatross”. Khersones is the only operated “albatross”.

“According to seaworthiness, the vessel is one of the best and used to take the first places” – he noted.

Currently, young crew passes training on sailing ship. It is planned that in the future Khersones will take part in regattas and will have the same fate as other tall ships.

At the end of his speech Andrey Tarasenko thanked the Sochi City Head Anatoliy Pakhomov for organization of the celebration and possibility of holding Regatta in the city.

Answering journalists’ questions about the FSUE “Rosmorport” attitude to sailing practices, the enterprise General Director emphasized that this very kind of training brings up real sailors.

“Those who can control sails will be the real professionals, because being young you already understand the wind force, waves, feel the maritime power” – Andrey Tarasenko said.

Also, during the press-conference the regatta participants were greeted by the title organizer First Deputy Director of PAO “Sovkomflot” Igor Tonkovidov.

He thanked FSUE “Rosmorport” General Director Andrey Tarasenko for participation of the enterprise’s sailing ships in the regatta, having noted that “it is a great and complicated task to maintain a lot of sailing ships in perfect condition, and provide them for participation in competitions”.

Sailing ships will stay in Sochi till September 24. During three days the city residents and guests will have a unique opportunity to go aboard vessels. The festive program includes music concerts, creative competitions, sports activities and colorful fireworks. There will also be a photo exhibition.