The National Congress Palace. International Youth Cup to be held in Saint-Petersburg from June 8 to June 12
In 2016, the best junior athletes from France, Italy, and Russia will take part in the two stages of the exciting International Youth Cup racing competition. The first stage will be held in Saint-Petersburg, Russia’s northern capital, in the waters close to the National Congress Palace in Strelna. The second stage will be held in October, in the French city of Marseille. The National Congress Palace has become the title partner of the International Youth Cup Russian stage.
The location has a significant meaning, since it was in Strelna that Peter the Great originally planned to build his seaside residence. The National Congress Palace today is both a business and a cultural centre with all the necessary facilities to host such an event. It is close to the Gulf of Finland; it offers excellent accommodation facilities and marvelous surroundings making any visit worthwhile from the cultural point of view as well. The complex is also the title partner of the White Night Sails – the National Congress Palace Cup Regatta. In addition it has founded the youth hockey National Congress Palace Prize Cup. Given the importance of developing youth sports, the State complex will be glad to open up its facilities and welcome the young yachtsmen.
According to Mr Valery Gulev, vice-president of the Russian Yachting Federation (RYF) in charge of the development programme of the Russian Federation Junior Team, “the main purpose of these youth cups is to exchange and share experience, ideas, and technological developments with our foreign competitors. We started running this competition two years ago, and since then the International Youth Cup has been held in Russia, Italy, and France; and we can now say that this hard work has already begun to pay off. At the last Junior World Championship, four Russian teams came within the top-ten, and Stefania Elfutina won the gold medal. Later this year, she will also be representing Russia at the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro. We will continue this work with the aim of preparing the national Olympic team for the Olympic Games 2020 to be held in Japan.”
The official Regatta Opening Ceremony will take place at 12:00 on 8 June at the National Congress Palace (25, Portovaya street, Strelna). This will be followed by competitions in the following junior classes: single-handed Laser Radial (men and women); double-handed 420 (men and women); double-handed 29-er (open, mixed-gender teams possible); and windsurfing sailboard RS:X (men and women). According to the competition rules, fleet races will be held over three days of the Regatta, with one day being allocated to team races. The winners will be determined by the results of the fleet races, and the results of the team races shall determine the winners of the IYC rolling cup.
The Closing Ceremony is planned to be held on 11 June, at 19:00, at the Constantine Palace in the presence of the President of the Russian Olympic Committee Alexander Zhukov, the Minister for Sport of the Russian Federation Vitaly Mutko, the ISAF President Carlo Croce, the President of the French Sailing Federation Jean-Pierre Champion, the President of the Russian Yachting Federation Vladimir Silkin, and the RYF Vice-president Valery Gulev, as well as friends and curators of various yachting sport development programmes of the three participating countries attending.
REGATTA ACCREDITATION
Please contact Alexey Zhirov
Tel.: +7 903 612 51 70
E-mail: az@vfps.ru
The programme is not restricted to the main sports competition, since every country organizes a sightseeing programme for its guests to offer future Olympic athletes an opportunity to get to know the culture of the host country. Saint-Petersburg will be no exception. The young athletes will have the opportunity to enjoy a tour of the Constantine Palace, as well as a visit to Peterhof and a tour of Saint-Petersburg by night.
SAINT-PETERSBURG PROGRAMME
June 8th
10:30 – Tour of the Constantine Palace
12:00 – IYC Opening Ceremony
14:30 – 18:00 – Fleet races
June 9th
11:00 – 18:00 – Fleet races
June 10th
11:00 – 16:00 – Team races
17:00 – 19:00 – Visit to Peterhof State Museum
June 11th
11:00 – 15:00 – Fleet races, reserve day for Team Races
20:00 – 22:00 – Closing Ceremony and Gala Dinner at the Constantine Palace
23:00 – 02:00 – Saint-Petersburg by night tour The White Nights
The National Congress Palace. International Youth Cup media partners: Match TV and Saint-Petersburg TV channels, Vesti.Ru and Gazeta.Ru news and information portals.
Background
The International Youth Cup was founded by the national yachting federations of Russia, Italy, and France. In 2014, the regattas were successfully held in Italy and Russia. In 2015, the athletes competed in the French city of Brest and in the Italian city of Formia. The team gold in this regattas was won by the following teams: the French team at the Italian stage in 2014, the Russian team coming first at the stage held in Russia; with the Italian and the French teams in Brest and Formia respectively in 2015.
Dear journalists, should you require daily video content, interviews with participants, or HD photographs, kindly contact the regatta press-centre via az@vfps.ru.
