Meeting with the crew of the yacht “Icarus” in Nikolaev

Popularization of Mykolaiv region and the future of the region

The civil organization “Center for Adult Training and Education “YUG””, with the support of the US Agency for International Development USAID, launched the project “Identity of the Mykolaiv region: past, present and future.” As is clear from the name, the goal of the project is to popularize the history of Mykolaiv region. 

Ruslana Sikalenko, the organizer of the project, says: “Our project was created with the goal of telling people about the beauty and features of the region, to show that we have something to be proud of. I would like people who have traveled abroad or to other regions to want to return here. The project is designed for three months and is expected to hold 20 events at which we will talk about people, interesting places in the region, and business. But we start with the past, because it is very diverse.”

One of the main partners of the project was the Nikolaev Museum of Shipbuilding and Fleet. It was here that one of the first events of the project was organized - a meeting with the legendary crew of the yacht “Icarus”.

“Icarus” and the first Soviet circumnavigation

Sailing yacht “Ikar” is the pride of Nikolaevo. It was designed by local engineers and shipbuilders on the basis of the Nikolaev Shipbuilding Institute. In September 1987, a team of nine sailors set off on a trip around the world, becoming the first in the history of the USSR to complete such a trip.

The team was formed mainly from employees of the institute. The team included:

• Boris Nemirov, captain
• Anatoly Kuznetsov, chief mate;
• Alexander Kuznetsov, assistant captain;
• Stanislav Cherkes, assistant captain;
• Andrey Markov, radio operator, mechanic, electromechanic;
• Alexander Plyakin, engineer-oceanologist, sailor;
• Vladimir Ternyak, boatswain, sailmaker;
• Sergei Prusov, doctor and Boris Yakovlev, navigator, who left the team in the Canary Islands at the very beginning of the voyage.

The remaining team members completed the circumnavigation. It took 325 days. 

Memoirs of crew members

Stanislav Cherkes, assistant captain, shared unforgettable moments of the expedition. One of the most vivid memories was passing Cape Horn - famous for its capricious weather. However, that day the weather was favorable to the crew, allowing them to fully see the famous cape. 

Another moment that the team remembered was the encounter with a rogue wave. Then “Icarus” passed near Antarctica. A giant 20-meter wave went perpendicular to other waves. “Icarus” soared up to the very crest of the wave. “When we reached the ridge, it felt like we were looking down from the height of a seven-story building. Then we rolled down and water poured onto the deck. But we were lucky – we managed to surface,” recalls Stanislav.

The achievements of “Icarus” were not limited to a trip around the world. In 1992, the team took part in the Columbus 92 regatta, which was dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America. Then the Icarus covered a distance of 15 thousand nautical miles. In 2000, “Icarus” was the only yacht under the flag of Ukraine that took part in the “Third Millennium under Sail” regatta. The team completed the Italy-USA-Canada-Germany route. 

The further fate of “Icarus”

What will you name the yacht... After significant successes and victories, “Icarus” began to go to sea less and less often. In 2013, captain Boris Nemirov passed away. The yacht gradually fell into disrepair, and talk began to circulate about laying up the Icarus and turning it into a monument. 

However, fate decreed otherwise. National University of Shipbuilding named after. Admiral Makarov, being the owner of the yacht, invested in its restoration and restoration. In June 2020, Icarus returned to service. Then the yacht took part in the ecological regatta “Kinburn Spit Cup”.

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19.03.2024