Katya Gorchakova from our Moscow office is making a name for herself in the sport of yacht racing.

Katya, who is Associate Director for Business Development and is based at our Moscow office, only began sailing in 2007 when she completed a skipper’s course with the Russian Sailing School. She followed that up with a Royal Yachting Association coastal skipper course and quickly put her new-found skills to good use for leisure sailing with her friends and family.

Katya explains: “Our destinations included Thailand, the Caribbean, Italy, Turkey and Croatia and it was really enjoyable, but I knew at some point I wanted to do more sailing without long distance travel.”

Change of pace

Katya joined the ProYachting racing club in Moscow and began racing J70 yachts (small, 6.9m fibreglass racing boats), the fastest growing yacht class in the world.

She formed a team with fellow racers named Angels, who have since competed in events in Russia, Spain and Italy.

Katya says: “I love racing because of the constantly changing conditions, the need to adjust to a constantly changing environment and the teamwork involved.

“We are usually the only predominantly female crew competing and most of the teams are professional, so it’s a real challenge but, despite this, we’ve done really well.”

Katya’s role in the team is as bowman, adjusting the sails and responding to the orders of the yacht’s tactician. She switches to the gennaker sail when the team are sailing downwind.

Close teamwork

Her highlight of last season was picking up a bronze at the sailing club’s annual race series (22 races from May to October), which automatically qualified the team for the national championships. Other notable achievements in recent years have included winning the Garda Lake Trophy and Victory Day Regatta in Moscow.

Katya says: “What we may lack physically and professionally compared to other teams (some of whom have Olympic experience), we make up for with our close teamwork.

“Racing can be very frantic and mistakes do happen, but we rarely argue and always save any discussions until after the race.

“The important thing is to be there for each other and be ready to step in if someone needs help.”

Races can involve up to 22 boats and are fiercely competitive as teams battle winds up to 25-27 knots.

Katya comments: “Rivals can go to great lengths to unsettle you and gain an advantage, even screaming at you as they mount an attack, so there is a psychological aspect as well.

“You also need to develop skills for reading the weather conditions, so you can predict when the wind is changing and adapt fast.”

Looking forward to the season ahead, Katya’s team have recruited a tactician from the Russian Olympic team, making them the only fully female team at their club.

Katya says: “Our biggest goal this year is to try to go better than our bronze medal and potentially win the competition.”