Aleksandr Chumakov

Aleksandr Chumakov was the son of the artist Aleksandr Chumakov, who was the main artist of the VDNKh (Vystavka Dostizheniy Narodnogo Khozyaystva), an amusement park and trade show in Moskva. The son started sailing in the later 1930s. During World War II, he led a group of young people in Moskva who put out fire-bombs at night and, during the day. dug anti-tank ditches.

After the war, he returned to sailing and competed in a new yacht class “Olympic“, in which he twice won the USSR Championship, in 1946 and 1948. He competed in the Star Class at the 1952 Olympics alongside Konstantin Melgunov, aboard Hurricane. In 1956 Chumakov was a crew member in the Sharpie Class for Boris Ilyin, aboard Kon-Tiki. During one of the races, the boat turned over and Chumakov broke a rib, but still continued to compete, their boat eventually placing seventh.

In the early 1960s, Chumakov switched to coaching, notably leading Viktor Potapov to a bronze medal at the 1972 Olympics in the Finn class, and to two World titles in the Tornado. As a coach, Chumakov was part of the official USSR delegation at the 1972 (Kiel) and 1980 Olympics (Tallinn). In 1981 Chumakov wrote the book Sailing School. At the beginning of the 1980s, Chumakov, while serving as a judge at the Baltic Regatta, suffered a head injury during an unsuccessful jump from a referee ship to the pier. This injury later led to his early retirement.