Ukrainian sports fans have a reason to rejoice. On July 30-31, 2011, one of the F1 Powerboat World Championship’s stages will be held on the water reservoir near Vyshhorod (Kyiv oblast). The protocol of intent to host the stage of the F1 Powerboat World Championship in Ukraine was signed on January 25 by Idea Marketing SA’s vice president Lavinia Cavallero and the Kyiv Regional State Administration chairman Anatolii Prysiazhniuk.
Let’s recall that the F1 Powerboat World Championship is one of the most important events in the sports world, and was first held in 1981. Since then the contest was held in over 30 countries. In 2011 the championship starts in May in Portugal; the next stages will be held in St. Petersburg (Russia), Kazan (Tatarstan, Russia), the Kyiv region (Ukraine), China and the final one will take place in December in the United Arab Emirates. This is the first time Ukraine will host a stage of the prestigious sports event. During the championship, large vessels (resembling catamarans) with an engine capacity of 400 horsepower that are able to go from zero to 100 in four seconds, will cruise the reservoir’s water expanse.
“Having seen the Kyiv Sea — the prospective venue of the contest, we were pleasantly surprised by the level of compliance with conditions for a water race,” Cavallero told The Day. In her opinion, despite the fact that there are still six months of hard work ahead, the race’s organizers believe that their Ukrainian counterparts “will host the race successfully.”
According to Prysiazhniuk, the Kyiv Sea has a perfect water surface and a dam that protects the waterway from strong winds. Among the conditions the race organizers set for the Ukrainian side, a few are particularly important: they need to build stands designed for 50-70 thousand spectators, prepare the town of Vyshhorod for the contest, and modernize roads. In addition, they should buy fire boats as well as special boats, which in the case of an accident will provide emergency medical assistance to the race’s participants. “We considered everything, and I’m sure we can do it,” stresses Prysiazhniuk.
To fulfill these goals, the organizers need at least two to three million dollars, according to Prysiazhniuk’s calculations. The costs will be met, according to the chairman of the Regional State Administration, exclusively at the expense of sponsors and patrons. Prysiazhniuk declined to say who they were, but added that there are people willing do it already, and there will be even more of them. Tickets for the water sport event will be free, except for a small number of seats in the VIP area.
Experience shows that the contest will be watched in 100 countries by approximately 300 million people, organizers say. “In fact, it is a big advertising campaign for Ukraine, which will attract tourists from around the world, and investment flows, too,” MP and Deputy Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Family, Youth Politics, Sports and Tourism Elbrus Tedeiev informed The Day. He added that the water Formula 1 is a light warm-up before the country’s real test, that is, the Euro-2012.
If Ukraine successfully copes with hosting the powerboat race in 2011, then, according to Cavallero, it can count on continued participation in the future.
