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“Minsk Grand-Prix-2023” finished on 3 September 2023 in Minsk, the capital city of Belarus. The event included Belarus Open Championship and Belarus Junior Open Championship in FSR Category (radio-controlled racing boats) and F5-E Category (radio-controlled yachts). Over 80 competitors came to the championship, nearly half of those were participants from various regions and parts of Russia…

► Competition protocol

► Competition photo report

“Minsk Grand-Prix-2023” heartily welcomed Russian teams from such cities as Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Tver, Vyborg, Obninsk, Smolensk, Staraya Russa, Tumen, and other Russian regions, such as Novosibirsk, Samara and Vladimir Regions.

The modelers competed in two age categories – seniors and juniors. 78 racing FSR boats and over 30 F5-E yachts took part in the event. Thanks to a quite significant number of competitors, the competition was held among all previously announced classes; besides, in several most popular classes, the struggle was indeed tough and exciting.

The competition took place at two venues simultaneously. FSR models were racing at Komsomolskoe Ozero where the organizers had set up a very convenient starting area while F5-E Classes ran in Kurasovshchina Park located in Minsk, at an artificially made water reservoir. The weather was more than just favorable– it was practically perfect for the starts. From the very first day, the races followed non-stop. All sport disciplines (classes) competed in full and in line with their schedules. As FSR and F5-E starts were arranged at two separate water areas, races and yachtsmen competed parallel to each other, without creating any mutual inconveniences.

The F5-E Class competition involved 15 races; and it was quite sufficient to objectively define the winner and prize-winners. Top of the standings was taken by Dmitriy Koypish (Belarus), Evgeniy Vinogradov and Maksim Khaziakhmetov (both from Russia). Andrey Misyakov, one the strongest Belarussian yachtsmen who bears the title “Master of Sport of International Class” and has successfully represented Belarus at several World Championships, here, at “Minsk Grand-Prix-2023”, unexpectedly came 4th. This fact is proof of the high level of F5-E competitors at the event. As for juniors, Ivan Lygin (Russia) was decisively the best among young F5-E modelers.

The rivalry turned out to be serious in FSR Classes as well. The competition itself was quite spectacular: the usually peaceful lake saw speed boats running at about 90-100 kph, with their engines roaring and water splashes glittering in the sun. The models would at times collide while trying to get around their rivals which were running next.

The Championship winners (per FSR Classes) are:

• FSR-H-3.5 and FSR-H-15: Roman Agafonov (Russia);

• FSR-H-7.5: Viktor Surmach (Belarus);

• FSR-H-27: Pavel Saltykov (Russia);

• FSR-O-3.5 and FSR-O-15: Vitaliy Yukkers (Russia);

• FSR-O-7.5: Sergey Chertkov (Russia);

• FSR-O-27 and FSR-O-35: Viktor Bogdanov (Russia);

• FSR-V-3.5: Alexander Sidorkin (Russia);

• FSR-V-3.5j: Kristina Sidorkina (Russia);

• FSR-V-7.5: Sergey Trusevich Belarus);

• FSR-V-7.5j: Andrey Kasach (Belarus);

• FSR-V-15: Alexander Horst (Russia);

• FSR-V-27: Sergey Bitkov (Russia).

In total, 18 teams participated in the competition, among them 6 from Belarus and 12 from Russia. The team competition was won by Moscow City team, next came “Boatracing” team, also from Russia’s capital city and third was “DOSAAF School” (Belarus).

The ShipModel Sport International Federation (SMSIF) would like to express its appreciation and gratitude to the Belarussian Federation of Ship Modeling Sport and DOSAAF Water Sports School for the excellent organization of “Minsk Grand-Prix-2023.”

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