"... My yacht was very beautiful. Clean, lacquered to such an extent that it was shining. I have just moved it to Sevastopol from Leningrad after a major overhaul. After each training, I had to pull the yacht ashore and clean it - to wash the oil off from it .
Prozumenschikova [Galina Prozumenshchikova, Soviet breaststroke swimmer, 5 times Olympic medalist] revolved around all the time: her hair was disheveled and burned out. She was about 12 years old then. And she constantly asked: "Uncle Igor, can I wash your yacht myself?"
Sometimes I was even a bit embarrassed that she helps me to wash a yacht. And in 1964, when Galya won the Olympic Games, I became even proud of my acquaintance with her. The fate is a funny thing sometimes.
People on sailing are generally interesting and unusual. Sailing itself is a constant struggle with the elements. Perhaps that is why those who take part in it relate to each other on equal terms. People around me were very noble people. There were, of course, rogue ones - on the level of rules, but no one had ever done any vile things to each other. This is not like figure skating, where you can put your opponent's skates near the radiator - and that’s it.
I remember there was a competition held in Helsinki dedicated to the centenary of the Newland Yacht Club. And they sent me there. There was a long pier , where the yachts of all participants stood side by side. It so happened that the place for our yacht was reserved next to the yacht of King Olav V of Norway. And we were there on our own - you come from the race, open an old stove immediately, start preparing food: cabbage soup [shchi] is boiled, meat ... Everything is natural, not from some cubes. When we cooked, the smell went throughout the whole yacht club.
Some day I was messing around on the deck in the evening - I was cleaning something. I saw the king coming. And he asked me: “Sir, could you ask the captain’s permission to come on the board?”
I remember asking if he speaks German. Olav answered with humor that he was not just speaking German, but he believed that he was doing it pretty well. Then he got on our yacht. Naturally, we set the table for this occasion, I acted as a translator.
All the time that the Norwegian king was staying with us, his two guards with rifles were standing on the pier near our yacht. He visited out yacht several times - just to talk about life.
On one of the days, they decided to cancel the race because the wind was not strong enough - almost calm. And Olav's boat went out to tow him to the shore. We also tried to row oars to the shore somehow. It turned out that we had only two or three oars on the yacht.
When the royal yacht passed us, Olav suddenly waved to our captain: throw the end. And then slowed down. I threw the end, he caught it with his own hand, secured it - so we got to the shore in a royal tugboat. The next day, one newspaper even wrote: "Olav the Fifth extended a helping hand to the Communists." The head of our delegation was very happy with that publication.
The following year, the "Golden Cup" race was held in Norway and Olav the Fifth awarded all participants himself. When I got on stage, he did not carefully look at me and did not even ask, but rather affirmatively said: "We have already met - last year."
By the way, the Greek king, Constantine II, also went to those competitions in our class. I also remember an American who was almost an Olympic champion in the class of large yachts, and in ordinary life was a rather famous professor at one of the largest American universities. Therefore, it was very interesting for me to communicate with such people. And then, not everyone can say that he treated the king with his cabbage soup? .. "
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