In the summer of 1938, the famous pilot Valery Pavlovich Chkalov was invited as a referee of the traditional Volga Regatta sailing race, which took place in the city of Gorky (now known as Nizhny Novgorod) at the Dynamo water station.
That was not the first sporting event of the year that was judged by the test pilot. In competitions of any rank, he established himself as an objective and fair referee.
A photograph from the museum’s collection shows Chkalov congratulating another winner and presenting him with a prize. This time the championship was won by Rostislav Yevgenievich Alekseyev. In this picture, Chkalov firmly shakes his hand and wishes to always be the best in everything.
Alekseyev was a shipbuilder, Doctor of Engineering, honored inventor, head of the industry’s leading research and production association, winner of the Lenin Prize and the National Prize, deputy of the Supreme Soviet, and designer of hydrofoil ships such as Raketa, Meteor, Kometa, and others. Alekseyev was also a talented racer; at the Gorky regatta, he took the undisputed first place on a yacht of his own design with a wide margin from competitors.
Rostislav Yevgenievich Alekseyev was born just before the revolution in the Bryansk region into the family of a teacher and an agronomist. In the early 1930s, his family moved to the city of Gorky, where the young man went to study at the evening workers’ faculty, at the same time working as a draftsman and artist in various institutions. Later, he went to the shipbuilding department of the Zhdanov Industrial Institute.
After receiving his diploma, the engineer was sent to the Krasnoye Sormovo factory, where in the first years of the war he worked as a control foreman for the manufacture of tanks.
In 1942, it was decided to allocate him space and staff to work on the creation of hydrofoil combat boats. Thus, with an old barn and three assistants, the creation of the Central Design Bureau for Hydrofoil Ships began.
As Alekseyev’s pet project grew, the work of the team gained fame and recognition. In 1951, Rostislav Alekseyev and his assistants were awarded a National Prize for the development and creation of hydrofoil ships.
After that, the bureau began to work on a hitherto unknown passenger hydrofoil, which received the symbolic name Raketa (Rocket). In the summer of 1957, Alekseyev presented the vessel to the world community, bringing it to Moscow during the International Festival of Youth and Students. That was the beginning of the world’s first ever high-speed shipbuilding.
That was not the first sporting event of the year that was judged by the test pilot. In competitions of any rank, he established himself as an objective and fair referee.
A photograph from the museum’s collection shows Chkalov congratulating another winner and presenting him with a prize. This time the championship was won by Rostislav Yevgenievich Alekseyev. In this picture, Chkalov firmly shakes his hand and wishes to always be the best in everything.
Alekseyev was a shipbuilder, Doctor of Engineering, honored inventor, head of the industry’s leading research and production association, winner of the Lenin Prize and the National Prize, deputy of the Supreme Soviet, and designer of hydrofoil ships such as Raketa, Meteor, Kometa, and others. Alekseyev was also a talented racer; at the Gorky regatta, he took the undisputed first place on a yacht of his own design with a wide margin from competitors.
Rostislav Yevgenievich Alekseyev was born just before the revolution in the Bryansk region into the family of a teacher and an agronomist. In the early 1930s, his family moved to the city of Gorky, where the young man went to study at the evening workers’ faculty, at the same time working as a draftsman and artist in various institutions. Later, he went to the shipbuilding department of the Zhdanov Industrial Institute.
After receiving his diploma, the engineer was sent to the Krasnoye Sormovo factory, where in the first years of the war he worked as a control foreman for the manufacture of tanks.
In 1942, it was decided to allocate him space and staff to work on the creation of hydrofoil combat boats. Thus, with an old barn and three assistants, the creation of the Central Design Bureau for Hydrofoil Ships began.
As Alekseyev’s pet project grew, the work of the team gained fame and recognition. In 1951, Rostislav Alekseyev and his assistants were awarded a National Prize for the development and creation of hydrofoil ships.
After that, the bureau began to work on a hitherto unknown passenger hydrofoil, which received the symbolic name Raketa (Rocket). In the summer of 1957, Alekseyev presented the vessel to the world community, bringing it to Moscow during the International Festival of Youth and Students. That was the beginning of the world’s first ever high-speed shipbuilding.
