Dear Atlantic Challengers,

We would like to share with you our AC Russia-Finland joint experience.

Our friends from Finland were planning a trip to St.Petersburg a long time ago, but the funding came late enabling the trip only in September. Nevertheless it was worth waiting for in every respect!

14 Challengers from Jakobstad spent 3 days in St.Petersburgh accompanied by 15-20 of the Russian crew. Having two gigs on the water we found no point in having a Russian and a Finnish boat , so we mixed crews to break barriers and learn from each other. It is obvious that for the Russian coxes commanding in English was quite difficult: there were times when setting sails they would switch to Russian, but even so mixed crews have shown very good command of gigs handling them in gusty north-west winds. Day one was wrapped up with joint dinner in a cafe kindly offered by our Finnish friends.
Day two was dedicated to a full scale sail& oars race and a rowing trip into the city of St.Petersburg. The sail&oars race came out very nice proving once again that the winner is the one who does switches from sails to oars and back faster and better. It was wonderful to see mixed crews putting their full strength under oars and then gigs flying with single reef to a turning mark!
After a little lunch crews were back in the boats to explore St.Petersburg from the water. For this trip the weather was not that favorable: the squall with heavy and cold rain came raising the questions in the heads of the Russian coxes – should we continue? But the answer from the crew had just one meaning – yes, we do continue. The trip lasted till nine in the evening and we hope everyone enjoyed seeing Hermitage, Peters&Pauls fortress, famous St.Petersburg bridges and embankments from the water.

Not having really enough time to totally break language and cultural barriers I hope all participants benefited from the venue and we are looking forward to hosting similar or longer venues with our AC friends in the future.

The photos reflecting the best moments of our joined weekend will be available on our web site shortly www.challenge.org.ru

With warmest wishes from St.Petersburg,
Misha Plekhanov & Zlata Bredova

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