The participation of members of the Military Academy and the River Flotilla of the Serbian Armed Forces at the international sailing week of the Naval Military Academy of the Republic of Italy and the city of Livorno

At the invitation of the commandant of the Naval Military Academy of the Republic of Italy addressed to the commandant of the Military Academy of the University of Defence in Belgrade, our sailors participated in the international sailing week of the Naval Military Academy and the city of Livorno. As part of the programme of the international sailing week, a traditional sailing regatta was held on Tridente 16 type sailboats with a three-man crew in the period from April 26 to May 1 this year.



Thirty four crews of military academies from four continents including a total of 25 countries took part in the regatta: Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Greece, Denmark, Egypt, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Italy, Canada, China, Colombia, Morocco, Germany, Oman , Pakistan, Serbia, Tunisia, France, Holland, Croatia, Chile and Spain. The crew of our sailboat consisted of the officers of the River Flotilla of the Serbian Armed Forces, frigate lieutenant Nikola Popov and second lieutenant Filip Radonić, as well as cadet Sofija Videnović from the 146^th class of the Military Academy. The winner of this year's regatta is the crew of Greece, the second place was taken by Spain and the third place by Italy. In the great competition of maritime countries, our crew took the 17^th place in the general ranking, leaving behind the crews of: Belgium, France, Morocco, Ecuador, India, Bahrain, Oman and Bulgaria.



The Naval Military Academy and the city of Livorno give great importance and attention to this international week. The parade of all the participants of the sailing week who carried the flags of their countries was held in the central streets of the city of Livorno in front of a large number of citizens. On that occasion, a reception was organised for the leaders of the delegations at the mayor of the city of Livorno, Luca Salveti PhD, as well as an exchange of protocol gifts. Our delegation was led by Colonel Dragan Trifković, PhD who was received by the commandant of the Naval Military Academy, Rear Admiral Lorenzo di Renzo, with whom he also exchanged appropriate gifts.



Trainings and competitions in changing weather conditions, as well as the visit to the Naval Military Academy were a good opportunity to check the sailing skills of the members of our rowing-sailing club, to promote the study programme Land Army - River Units module, the Military Academy as a whole and the Serbian Armed Forces.



The host enriched the programme of the international sailing week with numerous cultural and tourist activities. Guests had the opportunity to visit the tourist attraction of the city of Pisa, the Benetti yacht shipyard, an exhibition of cars and motorcycles, the memorial room of the Naval Military Academy and musical concerts.