21.06.2018.
Success of Serbian sailors at the World Championship
At the 50th World Military Sailing Championship held in Helsinki, between 14-21 June, Serbian sailors took the seventh place together with the Canadian national team. It was for the first time that the Serbian Armed Forces team participated in a military championship that brings together famous world and Olympic sailors, for which it is marked as a second priority world competition, right after the Olympic Games and the civil world championship.
The sailing team of the Serbian Armed Forces consisted of the coach Commander Jovan Krivokapić, Corvette Lieutenant Aleksandar Jovanović, Second Lieutenant Nikola Popov, Goran Stevanović and Nikola Marjanović. During the four competitive days, the Serbian Armed Forces team with skipper Nikola Marjanović sailed 14 races in a popular and exciting “match race” format where two sailboats compete against each other“We had the opportunity to sail with top professionals, and that was on the ship that no one from the crew had sailed before. It was not easy, we learned a lot, and the success achieved by our team, in this competition format, is the greatest success of Serbian sailors ever,” the coach of the military team, Commander Jovan Krivokapić said.
One of the most successful military sailors, Corvette Lieutenant Aleksandar Jovanović, the winner of the Euro Cup in the “micro” class, said he was proud to be part of the team that represented the Serbian Armed Forces in Helsinki:- The sailing conditions were great. The wind was constant and strong, and because of the small depths of the sea in front of Helsinki, the waves did not develop too much, Jovanović said.
There were 16 countries registered for this year's championship, and there were 15 competing teams in the regatta. The first place was won by the team of Brazil, the second place took former world champions, Russia, while the third place came to Poland. The first teams, together with hosts, Finns, who took fourth place, are composed of professional athletes who are preparing for the Summer Olympics to be held in Tokyo.
Serbian sailors had preparations on the ships of sailing clubs Ada and Zemun, sailing on the Danube and Sava rivers. During the championship, they won victories against professional sailors from Spain, France, the Netherlands, Qatar, China, Turkey and Denmark.
