2. RACING

The race started at 16.00. The boats are arranged by classes on the Neva waterway between the St. Peter and Paul fortress and the spit of the Vassily Island. Start. The participants depart for the first lap, we wait who will be the first to come from under the Kronwerk bridge after the first lap. At last - our boat comes the first, next comes "MERCURY NII TM" (No.10) and "AUTONAUTIQUE" (No.13). We are in the lead for two more laps, then No.10 and No.13 overtake us and move ahead to "settle their differences". Nobody should expect miracles - their light sport boats with low pilot sitting are better suited for running over choppy water. Also the horsepower rating of the number 13 is conspicuously higher (how could the technical commission overlook this??).

We are racing without major incidents for the first six hours. By this time we are 4-5 laps behind the number 10. The number 13 is nearly 15 laps behind us, loosing about half hour because of breakdown of the bow railing. All other boats in the class are also far behind us. At 22.45 - the first serious incident. The number 10, driven by Alexey Ishutin, provokes a tussle in the safety corridor before the John bridge. As a result of this tussle our boat piloted by Konstantin Dmitriev is thrown against the bridge support and turns around across the span. The next boat No.36 of class PR700 at high speed crashes into our boat's side, piercing the starboard stern float. The result - the pilot of the No.36 is thrown overboard, Konstantin trying to pull him out also drops into water from which he is rescued by lifeguards and sent to the emergency station. Our boat is towed to the repair pontoon. We quickly equip and send off another pilot, and the float repair team of MNEV & K is getting ready on the shore. In several laps we stop the boat for repairs. Repair of the float takes around 30 minutes. We are drawing a sad conclusion - we lost nearly one hour, that is about 30 laps. Luckily Konstantin has not sustained any injury at all.

Till one o'clock a.m. - no major changes. We are 28 laps behind the "MERCURY NII TM" team. "AUTONAUTIQUE" came very close and is only 4 laps behind us. It is getting darker. In the beginning of the second hour Andrey Gerastchenko leaves for the race. In twenty minutes it gets completely dark. And in ten-fifteen minutes more, our boat fails to come back from the next lap. Painful vigil continues some twenty minutes and then the participants and the spectators see unusual and scary picture - the rescue boat is towing our boat to the repair zone ... in the upside down position. The pillar of the engine is projecting upwards from the stern. The "head" of the engine is completely submerged. Navigation and marker lights flicker from under water ... The picture is topped by Andrey himself sitting on the bow of the rescue boat and giving commands for mooring.

As we learnt later, the cause of the capsizing was a conventional plastic bottle with tightly closed cap. Nobody knows, by what miracle it got between the pillar of the engine and the recess of the bottom. By wedging at the time of entry it caused the break of the flow on the submerged part of the engine, total loss of control and instantaneous capsizing of the boat.