Arctic Heroes crowned Russian Sailors of the Year!

Sail training vessels became both nominees and winners last Thursday at the äóìRussian Sailor of the Year Awardsäó.  The prize-giving ceremony was held in Moscow on the 2nd December with more than 70 applicants hoping to win one of 12 awards.

The Arctic sailing of the Peter I crew had their efforts recognised by winning äóìThe Best Long-distance Sailing Voyage of the Yearäó award. The award was presented to this new generation of Arctic explorers by Artur

Chilingarov, famous Polar hero of Russia, State Duma member.

This was the first time that participating vessels in The Tall Ships Races had been nominated for this award, with not just one, but two vessels represented – Akela (Captain Alexey Chegurov), sailed around Europe in 2009-2010 and combined this with participating in the Garibaldi Tall Ships Regatta and the Historical Seas Tall Ships Regatta, and Peter I (Captain Daniil Gavrilov), sailed around the North Pole in one navigation from June to November 2010.

In the New Year, these newly crowned ‘Russian Sailors of the Year’ are looking to arrange an Arctic Rally for ten yachts and Akela is planning to join The Tall Ships Races and The Culture 2011 Tall Ships Regatta.

Related Article – Arctic Heroes!