Viktor Arkadyevich Yazykov is a famous Russian yachtsman. Unique surgical operation on the high seas

(1948-10-29 ) (64 years old) Place of Birth: Citizenship: Father:

Yazykov Arkady Semenovich

Mother:

Yazykova Nina Ivanovna

Spouse:

Yazykova Lyudmila Vasilievna

Awards and prizes:

Yazykov, Viktor Arkadievich(October 29, the village of Lazarevskoye, Krasnodar Territory - Russian, Soviet yachtsman, traveler, designer and creator of yachts, participant in many competitions, regattas and round-the-world races, crossed the Atlantic Ocean 8 times and the Pacific Ocean 5 times.

Biography

External images
Viktor Yazykov
	Photo by Viktor Yazykov at www.putnikost.gorod.tomsk.ru

Birth, early years

Viktor Yazykov was born in the village of Lazarevskoye, near Sochi.

At the age of 13, he was left without a father, left school and went to work at a local shipyard as an apprentice. The idea to dedicate life to the sea was born early, in 1962. At the Lazarevskaya shipyard there was a yacht club. It was here that he first mastered the skills of handling sails. I must say that both father and mother, and younger brother Stanislav worked at the Lazarev shipyard. Yazykov himself, in the courtyard of the house, built his first sailboat. Then he built the Hummingbird catamaran - already, as expected, according to the drawings.

Military service. He served in the Airborne Forces, was demobilized as a foreman of a company of paratroopers.

After the army in 1970 he entered the Far Eastern Naval School at the Faculty of Navigation. He studied on the same course with the future captains of the modern large-capacity sailboats "Pallada" and "Sedov" Yuri Arsentiev and Nikolai Zorchenko, as well as with Pyotr Sosedov, who later became a famous television director. Since 1974, he worked on the ships of the Ministry of Fisheries of the USSR.

Yachting career

A typical fragment of a sailing regatta

Achievements, races, projects

Unique surgical operation on the high seas

Strange as it may seem, it was not victories in regattas and races that brought Yazykov worldwide fame, but a unique medical operation that he performed on himself on the high seas.

During a long race, Victor injured his arm, abrasions on his right elbow led to a huge, yellow-purple tumor, the pain from which made it impossible to do anything. Many hundreds of miles separated the rider from the nearest port. Contacted the race committee. From there, they organized a consultation with retired US Navy doctor Daniel Karlin. He operated painfully for a long time, it was not possible to stop the bleeding. I applied tourniquets, then cut them ... I warmed my hand for several hours. I fortified myself with red wine and chocolate and fell into a deep sleep. I woke up 8 hours later, I felt better… Meanwhile, on autopilot, Yazykov's yacht showed the best speed of the entire race and covered 239 miles.

Basic life principles

Invest yourself in the business to the maximum - no matter what he does - only then can he get the maximum in return. After such difficult lessons, the understanding comes that there is no other way in life - this is a law that cannot be broken. And whoever violates it - greatly regrets it.

Notes

Categories:

Personalities in alphabetical order
October 29
Born in 1948
Yachtsmen of Russia
Navigators of Russia
Travelers of Russia
Travelers around the world
Persons: Primorsky Krai
Travelers of the USSR
Graduates of the Far Eastern Naval School

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

See what "Yazykov, Viktor Arkadyevich" is in other dictionaries:

Wikipedia has articles about other people with this surname, see Zhirmunsky. Viktor Maksimovich Zhirmunsky Date of birth: July 21 (August 2) 1891 (1891 08 02) Place of birth: St. Petersburg Date of death ... Wikipedia

Institute of Oriental Languages. Indonesian group 1967 Institute of Oriental Languages at Moscow State University. M. V. Lomonosov (IVYA at Moscow State University) was formed in 1956 in Moscow on the basis of several departments of the philological and historical faculty ... Wikipedia Wikipedia

Breastplate of the laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation State Prize Russian Federation has been awarded since 1992 by the President of the Russian Federation for his contribution to the development of science and technology, literature and art, for outstanding ... ... Wikipedia

Badge of the laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation has been awarded since 1992 by the President of the Russian Federation for his contribution to the development of science and technology, literature and art, for outstanding ... ... Wikipedia

Viktor Yazykov was born on October 29, 1948. Lazarevskoye - his place of birth - was then called a resort village, and now it is a district of the city of Sochi. I was the eldest in the family, then two more brothers were born - me (Anatoly) and the youngest, Stanislav.

Father Arkady Semenovich is a man of a cheerful disposition, an excellent carpenter and carpenter. From him, Vitya inherited a love for wood and a virtuoso mastery of the skipper (with two hands, by the way). Mother Nina Ivanovna is a teacher by education. A kind person, but quite strict, domineering and stubborn. From her, Viktor Yazykov inherited strength of character.

They raised us each in their own way, unpretentiously. From his father, for pranks, he occasionally got a slap on the back of the head, less often, for very serious offenses - a belt. From the mother - "notation" - a fairly frequent, long and unpleasant procedure. The main education is, of course, daily household duties and housework. Since our early childhood coincided with the construction of a house, there was plenty of work. And work in the garden and the garden made the necessary variety.

Victor has been dreaming about the sea since I can remember. His favorite books are about the sea, his favorite writer is Jack London, his favorite animal is the wolf. No, of course, his character is not wolfish, and he does not look like the “sea wolf” - the character of his favorite writer, but he can easily argue with him by strength of character.

“The idea to dedicate life to the sea was born early, in 1962. I remember exactly that day - a few days before my fourteenth birthday, my father died ... We had a small boat on the shore - a tuzik. With my father, we often went to sea on it. One day my father went fishing with a friend. It was autumn, and strong storms often came ... The comrade was found a few days later on the shore, the boat was also thrown out by the waves, but the father was never found. I turned out to be the eldest in the family - two brothers, just kids. I had to leave school (I finished my studies later in the evening) and go to work at our shipyard as an apprentice. Then a clear, conscious dream appeared to be in the ocean under sail, to go on a round-the-world voyage. When I saw yachts at the shipyard, a plan was born in my head. Sailor. You need to get a navigational education. He figured that the middle brother Tolya would also be good to enter the seafarer, and the youngest, Slavik, needed to be a design engineer in order to design and build a yacht later. According to that long-standing plan, life developed - all the boats were made together. Slava is still in charge of the construction, not a single unit is assembled without his knowledge. The middle one, Anatoly, also invested a lot of effort and money in the first “Laguna”, and then in the “Wind of Changes.”

At the Lazarevskaya shipyard there was a yacht club. It was here that he first mastered the skills of handling sails. I must say that both father and mother, and younger brother Stanislav worked at the Lazarev shipyard. A kind of second home. Vitya built boats here, learned to build dinghies and yachts. Then he himself, in the courtyard of the house, built his first dinghy. Then he built the Hummingbird catamaran - already, as expected, according to the drawings. Then this catamaran rotted on the roof of the frontier post house, where it was placed for unauthorized access to the sea.

Far East

“After the nautical school - to the Far East, to the fishermen. Work in the northern seas is real, masculine. Enormous hardening, there are no weak ones - either this is your element, or go back! As a fisherman, I earned 2-3 thousand a month with an average salary in the country of 120 rubles! He started as the second assistant to the captain, but on the next flight he went first, then as the first mate, and then he took it and went to the yacht club for 100 rubles. Nobody left the fishermen just like that - a very thieves job, but I wanted work for the soul, for myself, and not for the sake of pieces of paper! We went along the Sea of Okhotsk, to the Pacific Ocean, to Japan, a couple of times it was covered in ice. But I was drawn to my homeland, to the Black Sea.”

In 1979, being the head of the yacht club of the Nakhodka merchant marine fleet, V. Yazykov brought a yacht to Japan for the first time in the history of the Soviet Union.

In the Far East, he found a family for himself, and new relatives for us - his wife Lyudmila and son Alyoshka. When Victor's mother fell seriously ill, they moved to the Krasnodar Territory, where Yazykov began building his first ocean-going yacht.

Yacht “British Friendly Lagoon”

The construction of the yacht intermittently lasted about six years. In 1986 Victor was called to liquidate the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. He left for six months, and returned, “gaining a dose of radiation” after three. Within six months, Yazykov was recovering, he could not really do anything. A great success in the work on getting rid of radiation turned out to be green tea, brought from Georgia, lying around as a gift from relatives.

In 1988-90 Viktor Arkadyevich takes a break to participate in the construction of the yacht “Phasisi” and in

The construction of the yacht began in 2003 and lasted almost four years.

And then came a significant moment - the descent of the yacht.

May 26 was not chosen by chance. This is a favorable day according to the horoscope for the birth of the Yacht. The day before there was a squall, lightning. The shipyard staff and Yazykov himself worked until late at night to prepare the yacht for launch. There were doubts about the success of this event until the last moment. But surprisingly, on the morning of May 26, the weather was fine and calm. To launch the yacht, we managed to snatch the best crane operator of the Krasnodar Territory from the contractor - a fan of yachts. The driver drove the crane as much as three (!) Meters into the sea!

As the sun rises, the final preparations begin. Here is the yacht on the pier, here is the mast, keel, and other equipment.

More and more people are coming to the beach. I would say - surprisingly many people for the beginning of May. People with a single impulse watch how the grandiose Beauty is very slowly launched into the water. It's hard not to believe in the energy of this Project when you see how people are attracted to the yacht and can't take their eyes off what seems to be ordinary lifting work.

The mast is set, the keel is fixed and the yacht slowly "floats" to the water surface. Here she touched the edge of the water with a keel, and now she is afloat! The Commander delivers a speech, no, a prayer to the One, naming the yacht the “Daughter of the Wind” and breaking a bottle of champagne on the anchor rod!

In the evening, we go out to sea. There are 12 people on board, but the yacht does not notice them and easily picks up speed. It is simply impossible to convey the delight. In a light wind, the yacht develops a decent speed, about 5 knots. I have never seen a yacht sail so harmoniously. The nose is narrow, enters the water without creating resistance. There is an extraordinary lightness on the move - I have never had such sensations on any sports boat.

The design of the yacht contains such ideas that allow her to go straight without losing her course. There is no autopilot installed on the yacht, Viktor Arkadyevich sets off without any thruster.

This yacht is unique and one of a kind. Some ideas, of course, have been used by Yazykovyy before, some are used by other designers, although not too often.

The most important and interesting thing is the revolutionary ability of the yacht to go independently in any course relative to the wind, without the use of any wind thrusters. devices or electric autopilots.

Considering that no one in the world does anything like this in series or on an individual project, this seems discouraging, and even impossible.

And yet, is it really nobody? Yes, in the modern world of electronics, yacht designers and constructors do not even care about such a problem - there are electric rudders that do an excellent job of keeping the yacht on course ... But let's remember, even sir at one of the stages of the Velux 5 Oceans single round-the-world race was forced to return due to autopilot problems. And this famous sailor more than 30 years ago without any electrical devices there, the only one who managed to navigate his yacht “Sukhalini” around the world without stopping! Oh, how he swore at modern technologies, and that he knew little about it ... But just the same, these modern “prostheses” do not allow either the yacht or the skipper to solve problems on their own. A modern yacht, like a modern person, is used to autopilots, like most of us are used to goggles. And move them, we choose which ones look prettier ... but how pleasant and reliable it is to have just good eyesight! So the “Daughter of the Wind” has a flair for keeping the right course.

And yet there are yachts that can sail on their own. The first case described in history is this. And although sometimes Slocum had to adjust some of the sails not to the wind, but so that they worked like a weather vane and returned the yacht to the desired course, it was Joshua's book “Sailing Alone” that inspired Viktor Yazykov to create such a yacht as a child.

Time passed. Victor grew up a long time ago, but his childhood dream is not forgotten. He starts walking towards her. Preparing to participate in the race, Victor builds a yacht that has already become famous - “Wind of Change”. And here, in the construction of the yacht, he is already beginning to implement the most interesting ideas that justify themselves after themselves. Many difficulties befell Yazykov in this race, but he was able to cope largely thanks to his yacht, and during the operation on the elbow, when the “Wind of Changes” with a hastily tied steering wheel made the best daily transition, and during the last stage - after the breakdown of the autopilot devices - the racers are leaving the race, but Victor and the yacht were able to continue and successfully complete this stage as well.

For the excitement of the race, much is lost. success is intoxicating and Victor is preparing for new projects. But fate does not let him in. The official reason is that the money for the construction of the City of Sochi yacht has run out. But few people know why the money ran out. Victor was promised to meet the agreed budget and began building a yacht at a shipyard in Italy. Naturally, Viktor Arkadyevich could not but participate in the construction of his yacht. This is where the problems started. The yacht was built as usual - like any mainstream, as it is customary to build now. They made minor flaws, did not bring them to perfection - they saved on working time and the total cost of the Project. Victor didn't like that. Constantly getting into the construction process, and demanding impeccable quality, Victor squandered the budget without completing the construction. It was then that Victor began to realize that now he was doing something completely different ...

The yacht has only three hatches: entrance, skylight and fore-hatch, no portholes. The design of the hull was carefully developed, they worked not only with the hydrodynamics of the bottom, creating a fast yacht. The deckhouse is designed so that in the event of an overkeel, the yacht does not linger upside down. As practice has shown, the “Daughter of the Wind” goes by itself, even without fine tuning! And on it, in principle, an autopilot is not needed. The staysail boom allows you to make tack turns without twitching the staysail sheet from side to side.

The weight of the yacht is 1400 kg, with a keel 2600. The main materials used in the construction of the hull are chestnut: lath, veneer; coal, epoxy resin, finishing materials of the Italian company Boero. The hull is made using sandwich technology - the balsa is sheathed with three layers of chestnut veneer and covered with carbon fiber on the outside. The combination of light balsa, the elasticity of chestnut, the durability of carbon fiber achieves overall elasticity and strength of the structure with a small mass. The new yacht maximally absorbed the experience of Yazykov's previous boats, all their best qualities. The yacht was built with excellent speed potential, but at the same time, all components, the hull as a whole, were made with a good margin of safety. The body is made of symmetrical halves, connected along the diametrical plane. For maneuvering in marinas, an oarlock is installed on the stern, and on board the yacht “Daughter of the Wind” there is a long wooden oar. The mast is swivel, free-standing, designed to withstand all loads without rigging, including impact on water. Since the boom is attached to the mast at deck level, the rigid boom guy looks original. From the mast above the boom, on the right and left sides, there are coal rods that rest against the boom and with the help of a system of hoists, the force of the rods against the boom is regulated.

Interesting is the unique system of hull hydrodynamics, which allows the yacht to be centered on any course relative to the wind. In this case, the yacht will go on its own, as practice shows, better than if it is controlled (“interfered”) by a person. The principle of this system is simple. Usually the keel is set almost directly under the mast, compensating for the forces of the wind. Here it is shifted aft by two meters. But an additional centerboard is installed, which will regulate the center of lateral resistance. It also creates a balance between the center of windage and the center of lateral resistance. When the yacht bears away, the center of sail is shifted to the stern, the balance is disturbed. But if we raise the centerboard, then the center of lateral resistance will shift to the stern, and the yacht will again be centered. In the event of capsizing, the yacht must return to its normal position on its own. The mast is also somewhat unusual - in the form of a wing with a round base. During the first day of testing, I was struck by the ease with which the yacht cut the wave, and Viktor Arkadievich took the target on the tack, and was amazed - the yacht has no drift!

The main foundations of safety are not in the quantity and importance of life-saving equipment (although there is a raft on board), but in the very idea of building a hull. More than twenty sealed hatches, a collision bulkhead, a sealed bulkhead in the middle of the hull. Up to the waterline, the hull is made of lath, glued with coal.

What fascinates me most of all is the entrance to the wheelhouse. The perfect place for a solo getaway. Covered with a transparent awning, right and left very comfortable seats. Under them are lockers for storing food and tools. In the same place, Viktor Arkadyevich plans to build a gas burner. You are on deck and the whole situation on the water is under control, but at the same time you are sheltered from the elements, you can calmly relax, make tea, have a snack, and even sleep.

Very interesting internal structure. In addition to the longitudinal rigidity created by the keel, two additional stringers go along the sides. The cabin has two berths glued directly into the stringer, which gives a little more rigidity to the hull. Under each bunk there is a small airtight compartment. The cockpit has a fairly large canopy, under which all the sail control lines are concentrated - halyards, reefs, staysail sheets - and from here you can steer the yacht without leaving the deck. I must say, in circumnavigation this is a big plus.

Ocean

At one fine moment, I just realized that the Earth is the mother who gave birth to us, and, of course, she is simply higher than us in her organization. A sailing yacht combines these two higher substances - the world ocean and the ocean of air, connecting them in a natural way. It turns out that the yacht is a perpetual motion machine in some sense, because the wind energy is inexhaustible. That is, you push off from the firmament, from the body, and begin a journey in the space of the soul with the help of the strength of the spirit ...

There are, of course, a lot of nuances when we talk about a person in the ocean. We all originally came out of the ocean - this is our progenitor. But people say this, sometimes they do not understand what they are talking about. Because our parent, the ocean, cannot harm us. And the dangers that lie in wait for us, as it seems to us, in the ocean - this is what was born in our sick mind. First you need to completely exclude such a thing as danger, because danger does not exist, except for the one that we create for ourselves in our heads. If we consider what people call danger, then these are simply more or less difficult situations in which one must act correctly and, of course, be prepared for them.

I would call a yacht an ideal tool for learning. I think this is the most correct definition. An instrument that is created, of course, by every person, you cannot buy it, you cannot receive it as a gift from someone - this is what you invest yourself in. There is a terrific phrase, the likes of which I have never seen again, by Joseph Conrad: "Everything can be found at sea, according to the spirit of your quest." One word - "everything", although a person cannot understand this. Many have heard this phrase. But the main thing is to understand... For a person, the concept of "everything" is missing. I have known this phrase for a long time, and it delighted me, but this time I realized how much a person can get in the ocean.

How do people generally perceive the ocean? They don't see him. The reflection of the sun's rays from the surface of the water they consider the ocean. When you walk across the ocean, you eventually begin to understand something... Sasha Podvodny explained a lot to me. When I asked him why Underwater, he said: “Well, still under water ...” There are fish, including reefs, and everything else. You look, quiet and smooth, you slide on it, and suddenly - bang! - hit a reef or spotted a swordfish. Or you decide to swim, dive - let's not talk about sharks, the same jellyfish "Portuguese boat" can create a very unpleasant situation. Therefore, look carefully around.

The yacht sometimes goes at a decent speed, up to ten knots. First you need to try to swim at a speed of two, three, four knots. A good end should be tied securely, you need to pull this rope, then put it on your hand - there is a loop. For example, I used to just put my hand into the loop, and now I make a loop out of this loop, tighten it on my wrist and already hold on, that is, I get double insurance. Before you go down, of course you need to look around. George Ivanovich (Gurdjieff. - Note. ed.), but he correctly explained everything: “You need to see yourself from the outside, remember yourself.”

Safety

When you do something, think about what you are doing. This rule is the basis of safety in general, and in the ocean too. What's the point? When you do the same thing every day, at first there is a feeling of danger, fear, and you do everything carefully, but gradually you get used to it and start thinking about God knows what at the time when you are doing some serious thing.

Practicing mindfulness in what you are doing is a constant practice. Whatever you do, you can practice. For example, I have a knife, very sharp, and I wipe it with my hand all the time. If you hold them a little differently, then I will cut myself. In the same way, the more often you go overboard on this rope, the more chances there seem to be that someday some kind of trouble will happen to you. This is not how it should be. It is not right.

There is no danger, as I said. As soon as a person pronounces the word "danger", he automatically turns on the self-destruct program. The only thing to be afraid of is the feeling of fear. If you're not afraid, then it's okay. And if there is fear, then it must be feared. I have for 44 days and 6 thousand miles (during a solo voyage across the Atlantic. - Note. ed.) there was no feeling of fear, danger, and even anxiety and restlessness. This is, of course, one of the most important achievements of swimming. This was my first time.

Fourth dimension

Of course, this state was formed earlier. The situation has been building up for a long time. This is how your world is created, I called it the fourth dimension. Of course, you are laying in your own world of the fourth dimension everything that you dream about. That is, it is a world in which there is no fear, no danger, nothing unpleasant. You have created your own space in which nothing terrible can happen. If you are able to maintain this state, it can last indefinitely.

The process of creating a yacht was very difficult, but only when the voyage was coming to an end, I realized that my finish line coincided with the date to within a few hours with the finish at, which was 12 years ago. I realized that I had a 12-year cycle. It turned out exactly 12 years and 12 hours. It all started from the moment when the round-the-world race ended. During this time, a lot has happened. Construction of the yacht began in the summer of 2003. And all that was done was preparation for the voyage. Swimming lasted 44 days, preparation - 12 years. There was such a huge number of events, people who selflessly took part in this project. Otherwise, things like this don't happen. Of course, I do not take this result as my own.

I went out into some new space, gained new knowledge. The knowledge that people - each person - lives in his own world. In any situation, he lives in his own world, which he creates with his own efforts, and there can be no other. No more, no less. And it depends only on him how his world looks. If, say, you don’t like some person, then it’s no one’s fault that you are such a worthless artist. As you draw it, so it appears to you. Draw again.

To get everything, you have to give everything. In principle, no person can give everything, but he can come close to it. Invest yourself for a long time to the maximum, without thinking about anything, despite all fears, fears, efforts ... Even a small business is associated with risk. With the risk that nothing will come of it. And is it worth the investment? If you are able to invest fully, you will get much more than you gave. You get qualitatively different states. Man has only his state.

Where did it come from, the fourth dimension, the whole situation in general? This is a long forgotten past ... Since childhood, I had the desire to create such a yacht. It all started with oars at the age of 10-12, corns were in all the places where they should be. When I was 16 years old, I read a book about a Canadian captain, about a man who built a yacht and went around the world alone on it. His yacht could go with a fixed rudder. In the entire history - and more than a hundred years have passed - not a single similar yacht has been created, with the exception of our Winds of Change and. When you go sailing - it's such a miracle! It turns out that you can move on the surface of the ocean or the sea and not rest with all your might, leaning on the oars, stuffing calluses. Just great! I've been incredibly lucky in this regard. And, of course, the ability not to steer is very important. For me it has become a reality. Almost no effort is required to manage the yacht.

It is interesting to look at the water behind the stern - an incomparable sight, it relaxes. Let's say, if there is something bad, then it is all carried away. And when you want to get something, you have to look at the oncoming wave. When the breeze is still oncoming, you feel at the same time, as it were, water that runs over you. Here are some interesting things.

What is the meaning of the fourth dimension? How to feel it? The main thing is a situation in which you are minimally busy with anything. This happens because the yacht goes by itself, nothing needs to be done. In advance, you need to think everything over very seriously so that there is nothing to worry about at all. That is, you create a situation in advance.

A person always lives in the world that he created himself, there is no other way. When a person is in trouble, he blames anyone and does not understand that he himself has modeled the situation. But in this case, you consciously and purposefully create a world of a certain quality. That is, there is finally the possibility of creating a world in which you will not meet with troubles.

The parameters are as follows: it should not be cold, there should not be a strong wind, there should not be a lot of work, and so on. That is, in this voyage, specific parameters were set for the fourth dimension. Of course, the concept of the "fourth dimension" appears only when you find yourself in it. Already being in it, you begin to understand what it is. It is very important to stay there and not fall out.

You are being given some signs. There was one sign - the ship appeared. Before that, there was nothing. Then an even more severe sign - a dove flew in. It was not far from the Cape Verde Islands, there is such a sport - carrier pigeons are launched. I thought he would fly away. But no, I was on the yacht for 11 days. It was a serious warning: he really disturbed my situation, because I had to feed him and do something with him. In the end, I thought that he would be with me until the end, and I took it for granted. It was also an interesting practice. When the breeze intensified, splashes began to fly from the side, then the wave began to overwhelm the dove. He got up, flew, flew back, again a wave on him. Eventually the bird flew away. The shore is far away, but it seems that the pigeon met some ship and stayed on it. You can talk a lot about this, because nothing happens by chance.

Yacht

Most people create a certain world, but it exists rather in the space of consciousness. A yacht is a situation of a materialized created world. The quality of the created space, of course, is of great importance. Since we are talking about a yacht, this yacht was consciously created with certain characteristics so that it would go by itself.

We have created the technology to gain strength in the ocean. And, probably, there are people who can take advantage of this case, use it for their own benefit. On the other hand, we used all the experience accumulated by mankind in the field of creating yachts, designing, materials science, technologies, including the experience of this person ... Well, plus, of course, Gurdjieff, his "Fourth Way", Tao Te Ching, I Ching and everything else that I managed to learn from the wisdom. They, too, are part of a great work, a lifetime.

Awareness appeared when I first began to talk with the waves ... The wind is not scary: I removed the sails, and that's it. And waves often create very serious situations. Well, that was also the beginning of a new practice. A thought that sounds very simple: this time it will be different. Sergei Resin once told me the key phrase: "Try not to do anything that you can not do." He didn't explain anything, but I understood. This practice first began to work. In the wake of previous experience, you realize two main things: the first is the attitude that this time everything will be different, everything is fine, and the second is that you should try to be as busy as possible, then you are free to perceive. Otherwise, you perceive a very small amount of information or do not perceive it at all. It was the first voyage in a new capacity.

Back to waves. I started talking to them. When you perceive the waves as something dear and close, then they will not harm you. I mentioned once that the waves are like huge wild beasts. So you begin to persuade them, promise something, stroked somewhere behind the ear, like a big dog.

There is an idea of the spirits of the elements, the spirits of the area. They certainly are. When there is an understanding of this, then everything starts to happen correctly. For example, there is a tradition to open a bottle of wine before dinner and first pour some wine overboard - to greet. We have our own toast that works. It is important to understand that there are things that you are practically not aware of, but they exist, and they must always be taken into account and treated favorably. In the same way, when you hang out behind a yacht on a rope, before you go down into the water, you must make some wishes and requests so that everything ends well. That is, it is necessary to create a ritual. The ritual you follow is much more about your safety than a life raft. For some reason I did not attach importance to this very important point before. The creation of the fourth dimension is, to a large extent, an affinity with a yacht. If we consider the yacht as a living being, then why take a raft with you? In the hope that if something happened to the yacht, you will survive? It's not decent, it's not ethical. The yacht also feels it, understands it. Most people don’t do anything: insurance, and life jackets, and rafts, completely unaware that they often do more harm than good with these things. The main thing to remember is that a yacht is a living being, and caring for it, thinking about it is the basis for ensuring safety. And not only security, but, more importantly, the creation of the fourth dimension, the creation of your space, your world.

In contact with

So far, only Viktor Yazykov has managed to glorify the Russian flag in single extreme yachting. The first half of the life path of Viktor Yazykov is quite consistent with the image of the average Russian yachtsman. Born (in 1948) in the small town of Lazarevskoye, which soon became one of the districts of Sochi. Service in the landing troops - Nautical School in Nakhodka - work on the seiners of the Far Eastern flotilla. However, childhood dreams soon develop into a life's work - yachting. So he left the fishing fleet ashore: he got a job on a full-time position in the yacht club of the port of Nakhodka. Here it was already possible to build yachts and sail them at sea, sometimes as far as Japan. He started a family, and was drawn to his native land. From that moment on, his journey into extreme yachting begins. Unlike all other participants in such regattas, he is the only one who performs on homemade yachts. But this is not from a good life, but all from the same Russian poverty. The yachts of its competitors for such competitions are designed by the best designers and built by the world's leading shipyards, taking into account the latest achievements of science and technology. They cost more than one million dollars. Despite this, not all of them reach the finish line. The very idea of fighting such rivals is a daring adventure. Imagine an astronaut going into space in a homemade spaceship. However, let's look at the achievements of Viktor Yazykov.

Achievements of Viktor Yazykov.

Speaking on self-made yachts, Viktor Yazykov shows consistently high results. No, he did not take the first places in extreme regattas. But it is important that he always came to the finish line (and far from being the last one).

Yachting experts quickly appreciated his extraordinary composure and supernatural vitality. His yacht moves along the distance at maximum speed, regardless of any circumstances. His homemade products, for reasons of forced economy, have the minimum size allowed for such regattas, which initially nullifies Viktor Yazykov's chances of winning. Every now and then some technical troubles occur with his yachts, but this is just understandable - even branded boats in such extreme conditions cannot withstand loads and fly apart. It is not clear how he always manages to reach the finish line.

Viktor Yazykov in the single race "Around Alone".

And yet, Viktor Yazykov every time surprises yachting enthusiasts with his behavior in extreme situations. His most outstanding feat, which cannot be forgotten to this day, was an operation on his elbow, which he himself performed in 1998 during the first stage of the round-the-world solo race “Around Alone”. This time, from the very beginning, everything went awry for him. Viktor Yazykov was five days late for the start, and his "Wind of Change" rushed to catch up with the leaders, who at that time had gone ahead by more than 800 miles. On the very first night after the start, he was scalded with boiling water, the next day he broke his tooth. For five days he struggled with the oncoming storm, more and more lagging behind the leaders. At the same time, the guy burst, and I had to climb the mast in a storm. And when the weather improved, he finally undertook to cook himself a hot soup, but it did not do him any good. In a hurry, Viktor Yazykov mixed up the bags and seasoned the soup with antioxidant powder instead of spices, which completely incapacitated himself for two days. However, this was only the beginning of strength testing.

The organizers of the race installed a video camera on each yacht, and thanks to this, the whole world was able to see a unique phenomenon: a yachtsman, in the race without reducing the speed of his yacht, looking in the mirror, opens an abscess on his elbow with a scalpel from the ship's first-aid kit, after which he begins to literally bleed. This horror documentary is now available at any decent yacht shop as a survival guide at sea. And then all of America watched it live.

During these "operational" days, "Wind of Change" set a race record: 239 miles. Viktor Yazykov became the hero of the world's media outlets. This story was given the best time of the leading TV channels and newspapers. In the United States, for several days, the Russian skipper pushed even Monica Lewinsky herself out of press mentions. In Russia, apart from the Ekho Moskvy radio station, no one even noticed this incident. But to create a positive image of Russia, Viktor Yazykov did more in a month than all our politicians put together.

Viktor Yazykov in a solo race across the Atlantic.

Six years earlier (June 7, 1992), thanks to Viktor Yazykov, for the first time in the history of yachting, the Russian flag appeared at the start of a solo race across the Atlantic. The wooden "Laguna" - the boat of Viktor Yazykov, built in six years in the Sochi garden, was the smallest of the 87 yachts participating in this extreme race. The walkie-talkie of our homemade model went out of order literally the next day, and therefore Viktor Yazykov did not know that he had been ahead of everyone for 25 days. However, shortly before the finish, Viktor Yazykov was hit on the head by a boom and for some time lost his orientation in space. Yet he finished fourth on July 4, the great American holiday, Independence Day. There was an exhilarating finish with crowds of fans, reporters and interviews. On this occasion, the national flag was removed from the Capitol and handed over to Viktor Yazykov, and the people of Newport awarded him the title of honorary citizen of the city. It was a triumph! The magazine "YachtingMonthly" in June 1992 noted on this occasion:

“In the racing fleet that crossed the Atlantic, the most remarkable yacht was probably not some “princess” from the world of Western super-technology, but a small wooden “Lagoon”, built by the hands of Russian skipper Viktor Yazykov.”

The next day, American immigration authorities arrested the Russian hero for violating his visa regime. It took the intervention of the President of the United States to get the "honorary citizen" out of prison. It is useful to remember that in those days Russia was still an "evil empire" and, it would seem, the breakthrough of the Russian yachtsman in his homeland should not have gone unnoticed, but alas. And so our hero remained with the only title he earned back in the USSR: "participant in the liquidation of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant."

Viktor Yazykov in a solo race around the world.

Returning to his highest achievement - third place in the eight-month solo race around the world in 1998-1999, it should be noted that there were not so many who wanted to torture themselves at such a distance. Only 16 participants started, but only nine managed to reach the finish line. Even the best 60-foot boats have been wrecked. Sometimes the nerves of individual skippers could not stand it, and they refused to continue the fight. Therefore, in order to appreciate the achievements of Viktor Yazykov, it is necessary to recall once again that he built the “Wind of Changes” in artisanal conditions and with his own hands, with a complete lack of money. Moreover, even the equipment that foreign yachtsmen sent him to Sochi was stolen at customs. This is probably a domestic invention - extreme yachting on the coast, otherwise it cannot be explained why Viktor Yazykov, who passed through all five oceans around the world alone, answered the question "which stage of the race seemed to him the most difficult" in all seriousness answered: "Before the start ...".

But at sea he had to go through more than one dramatic moment. For example, the “Wind of Change” had to go the last 4,500 miles without an autopilot. In singles races with such a breakdown, many leave the race, but not Viktor Yazykov. The American press noted the main feature of his character:

“...Russians know how to deal with difficulties and do it with grace. The secret of the graceful methods of Russians in the fight against adversity lies in the strength of their character. Victor demonstrated this national quality to the fullest."

When Viktor Yazykov claims that: “death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person,” he does not flaunt, because he has repeatedly convinced himself that the only insurmountable obstacle in his life is despicable metal, or rather its chronic absence. Here are his words, uttered at the time of the finish in New Zealand (he always combines himself and the boat with the pronoun “we”):
“I am not indifferent to the fact that we are carrying the Russian flag. Of course, it is very important for me that we look decent at this level. And so far, it’s not so bad, it’s true, it worked out, but I still want to work to the maximum. And so it is very important for us to get some money somewhere else to sew this sail.”

Viktor Yazykov believes in fate, the sea and the yachting fraternity. He has every reason for such a belief. Such a yachtsman as he is always ready to come to the aid of brothers in yachting of all countries. For example, in New Zealand, during a short stay, an international support group that spontaneously arose managed to sew a new mainsail for the Wind of Change, with which the yacht ran faster. Viktor Yazykov's hand was cured by a Russian female doctor, and local Russian yachtsmen helped to put his yacht in order. The Russians of the “country of sails” were proud of their brave countryman, and Viktor Yazykov did not know how to thank his disinterested assistants. In the end, he did something original and wrote their names on the board of his yacht:

“Of course, this time the boat is much better prepared than before the second stage. We got great support in Auckland, mostly from the Russians. I am grateful to them from the bottom of my heart. After all, here, all of us Russians are judged by you.”

Viktor Yazykov continues to strive for his native element and masters a new kind of extreme yachting - the construction of yachts without funds. In any case, he knows for sure what he needs:
“The main thing that I find there is not only an absolutely incomparable feeling of an ideal element, an ideal place where I feel best of all, truly incomparable sensations that cannot be expressed in ordinary words. This is the element that I learned, which is exactly my element, which I found, found myself ... There, in one year, we live or learn something that people usually learn within 10 years, or maybe never. It seems to me that, after all, the main goal of mankind is knowledge, and here this knowledge comes much faster. This is one of the main, in general, things.

In the United States, at the start of "Around Alone" in 1998, the Russian flag for the first time proudly waved between the flags of other maritime powers (Australia, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, USA, France, South Africa and Japan). By the next start, Viktor Yazykov did not find an opportunity to complete his new boat, and there were no others willing to risk their lives. The Russian flag at the start of "Around Alone" in 2002 in the United States was no longer there, but the flags of such maritime powers as the Czech Republic and Switzerland appeared.