The Racing Russian
Valentin Zavadnikov is the first Russian ambassador for La Belle Classe Superyachts, the Yacht Club de Monaco initiative aimed at promoting and protecting the values of yachting. European editor, Justin Ratcliffe sailed with the Russian owner of the Heesen-sponsored Synergy sailing team during the fourth round of the RC44 Championship Tour.…
Well-known politician, hardcore yachtsman and committed superyacht owner Valentin Zavadnikov is the first Russian ambassador for La Belle Classe Superyachts, the Yacht Club de Monaco initiative aimed at promoting and protecting the values of yachting. He was also present at the ceremony aboard Smeralda during Monaco Yacht Show last month when fellow superyacht owner Guido Krass (who is due to appear in a future interview with The Superyacht Owner) was nominated to the same select committee. Earlier in the season, Justin Ratcliffe sailed with the Russian owner of the Heesen Yachts-sponsored Synergy sailing team during the fourth round of the RC44 Championship Tour on the west coast of Sweden.
Zavadnikov was born in the inland city of Krivoy Rog in the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, but was introduced to sailing at a young age by his father when the family moved to the Primorsky region of Far Eastern Russia near Vladivostok (coincidentally, Primorsky means ‘maritime’ in Russian). He began sailing dinghies competitively as a student at naval engineering school, especially during and after the 1988 Olympics in Seoul when Vladivostok was the training base for the Russian sailing teams.
“If you’re on board for just a couple of weeks each year then chartering makes perfect sense, but not for three months.” – Valentin Zavadnikov, yacht owner
His first job was as a control engineer with the Primorsky Shipping Corporation, but he has since worked as a top manager in various fields and following his membership of the Council of Federation he has campaigned for the establishment of a competitive market economy in Russia. Having lived close to the sea for most of his life, it was his move to Moscow in 1994 that prompted him and other like-minded businessmen to set up the Synergy sailing team, initially racing an IMS Grand Soleil 40ft and a Transpac 52 before embracing the RC44 class with a possible America’s Cup campaign as the long-term goal.
“A regatta can be relaxation, extreme, pleasure, brainwork and so on, all at the same time,” Zavadnikov says. “Almost everyone on the team was from the Far East of Russia and when we moved to Moscow we realised that we really missed the sea. And that’s how the Synergy project got started.”
Zavadnikov has chartered superyachts in the past and did so during the RC44 Tour event in Cascais, Portugal, when his current yacht was laid up for warranty work. But the decision to become a superyacht owner was effectively a by-product of his busy sailing schedule. Spending up to 12 weeks a year on the international regatta circuit, the yacht serves as a mothership during events in Europe.
“When you get to 100m you’re talking about a ship, not a yacht, and you lose that sense of contact with the sea...” – Valentin Zavadnikov, yacht owner
“If you’re on board for just a couple of weeks each year then chartering makes perfect sense, but not for three months,” Zavadnikov explains. “My current yacht, and Celestial Hope before her, provides a comfortable base when I’m racing and has everything on board that I need. We had a week on board during the America’s Cup World Series in Venice when I was invited to sail with Oracle and Artemis, and in the lead-up to Venice we spent three weeks cruising Greece, Montenegro and Croatia.”
Most of his business activities can be conducted from aboard the yacht, but during the match racing in Sweden he flew back to Moscow for a day, returning in time to take the helm for the fleet races. Perhaps because of these business commitments, Zavadnikov has little interest in cruising to more far-flung destinations around the globe.
“I believe you can experience just about everything in Europe and the Mediterranean,” he claims. “You can fly to the fiords of Norway or the coast of North Africa to join the yacht in just a few hours, for example, compared with the 24 hours it takes to travel to somewhere like New Zealand to see similar sights.”
He is just as pragmatic when it comes to the overall length of his motoryachts, preferring vessels of about 50m overall that can fit into most superyacht marinas.
“When you get to 100m you’re talking about a ship, not a yacht, and you lose that sense of contact with the sea, which to my mind is the whole point of owning a yacht in the first place,” he says.
As a marine engineer, Zavadnikov has come to enjoy the build process and admits to working on ideas for his yachts way before they are ever built. He is interested in hybrid modes of propulsion, especially diesel-electric because of the fuel savings and relatively silent cruising it can provide, but he believes the future of the yachting industry lies with composite materials.
Become a member today to read the full article in Issue 5 of The Superyacht Owner.
Aboard Smeralda as owner Guido Krass becomes ambassador for La Belle Classe (from the left: Zavadnikov, Oeino, Krass)
All images by Justin Ratcliffe
Zavadnikov was born in the inland city of Krivoy Rog in the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, but was introduced to sailing at a young age by his father when the family moved to the Primorsky region of Far Eastern Russia near Vladivostok (coincidentally, Primorsky means ‘maritime’ in Russian). He began sailing dinghies competitively as a student at naval engineering school, especially during and after the 1988 Olympics in Seoul when Vladivostok was the training base for the Russian sailing teams.
“If you’re on board for just a couple of weeks each year then chartering makes perfect sense, but not for three months.” – Valentin Zavadnikov, yacht owner
Valentin Zavadnikov relaxes after the day's racing
His first job was as a control engineer with the Primorsky Shipping Corporation, but he has since worked as a top manager in various fields and following his membership of the Council of Federation he has campaigned for the establishment of a competitive market economy in Russia. Having lived close to the sea for most of his life, it was his move to Moscow in 1994 that prompted him and other like-minded businessmen to set up the Synergy sailing team, initially racing an IMS Grand Soleil 40ft and a Transpac 52 before embracing the RC44 class with a possible America’s Cup campaign as the long-term goal.
“A regatta can be relaxation, extreme, pleasure, brainwork and so on, all at the same time,” Zavadnikov says. “Almost everyone on the team was from the Far East of Russia and when we moved to Moscow we realised that we really missed the sea. And that’s how the Synergy project got started.”
The Synergy Team RC44 in Marstrand, Sweden
Zavadnikov has chartered superyachts in the past and did so during the RC44 Tour event in Cascais, Portugal, when his current yacht was laid up for warranty work. But the decision to become a superyacht owner was effectively a by-product of his busy sailing schedule. Spending up to 12 weeks a year on the international regatta circuit, the yacht serves as a mothership during events in Europe.
“When you get to 100m you’re talking about a ship, not a yacht, and you lose that sense of contact with the sea...” – Valentin Zavadnikov, yacht owner
“If you’re on board for just a couple of weeks each year then chartering makes perfect sense, but not for three months,” Zavadnikov explains. “My current yacht, and Celestial Hope before her, provides a comfortable base when I’m racing and has everything on board that I need. We had a week on board during the America’s Cup World Series in Venice when I was invited to sail with Oracle and Artemis, and in the lead-up to Venice we spent three weeks cruising Greece, Montenegro and Croatia.”
The RC44 fleet under a leaden sky in Marstrand
Most of his business activities can be conducted from aboard the yacht, but during the match racing in Sweden he flew back to Moscow for a day, returning in time to take the helm for the fleet races. Perhaps because of these business commitments, Zavadnikov has little interest in cruising to more far-flung destinations around the globe.
“I believe you can experience just about everything in Europe and the Mediterranean,” he claims. “You can fly to the fiords of Norway or the coast of North Africa to join the yacht in just a few hours, for example, compared with the 24 hours it takes to travel to somewhere like New Zealand to see similar sights.”
He is just as pragmatic when it comes to the overall length of his motoryachts, preferring vessels of about 50m overall that can fit into most superyacht marinas.
“When you get to 100m you’re talking about a ship, not a yacht, and you lose that sense of contact with the sea, which to my mind is the whole point of owning a yacht in the first place,” he says.
As a marine engineer, Zavadnikov has come to enjoy the build process and admits to working on ideas for his yachts way before they are ever built. He is interested in hybrid modes of propulsion, especially diesel-electric because of the fuel savings and relatively silent cruising it can provide, but he believes the future of the yachting industry lies with composite materials.
Become a member today to read the full article in Issue 5 of The Superyacht Owner.
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