I received an information and blessing from the owner of the yacht called Wanda (already well known), for less than a few days before the start of SailBook Cup 2014. If you have no idea who’s Wanda, you can check it here: http://classicyachtwega.com.

Almost 9 tons of mahogany, oak and teak on the deck, almost 12 meters and less than 10 of watermark is ringing everyone’s attention. If you add the 1967 as a year of the production, you’ll get a nice treat for the enthusiast of the vintage stuff.

Usually the regatta has only one goal – to win or gain the best place. And so it was. Almost all participants, and there were 94 of them on 18 units!, felt the competition in their hearts and souls, blood, sweat and tears.  I wrote „almost” intentionally, because I took a part in the race from different reason – I had a different purpose, thought the character was the same.

After a lot of months of contemplation, excitement, reading about Remiszewska, Puchalski, Linski and Tabarly my little dream could come truth. I could feel the taste of the single sailing in the sea regatta. As if it was not enough, in the boat made of wood, just like the one I used to read about in my favourite books –  that might spice things up.

It’s like a lovage in chicken soup or fresh bread with butter and grandmother’s jam, or apple pie with ice creams and whipped cream. Wanda was like the cream and the icing on the cake, and a goal was to sail the race. The result was not so important.

However, I had to prepare the boat for such a voyage. Wanda is not suitable for sailing in single. So I started to form autopilot. Although the boat has a classic construction based on keelson, which gives an amazing stability that is uncommon in those modern one’s, I had to had such an device anyway. Krystian Szypka helped me by lending his ST2000.

The new sail was another issue. I begged Mr. Stanisław Sawko from Ocean Sails to come, measure and sew new sails. The things were not looking very optimistic, because he had only 8 days. Have you ever heard, that you can pick up your sails after 5 days after taking measurements? No? Mr. Sawko called me after 5 days and said that I can pick them up. So I picked them 2 days before the race, right before midnight, quickly visited sailmaker and after 2 hours they were hung on Wanda’s mast. I will talk about it later.

While I was waiting for the sails, I got from one of my schoolmates handheld GPS and maps – general classification of the Baltic Sea, Gothland, the Central Baltic scouts that I used to know (one of them was from Generał Zaruski!). Mr. Piotr Myśliwiec gave me a few gadgets: the huge gennaker, a beautiful pair of binoculars and a life jacket. All I had to do is install a huge radar reflector from commandor of the regatta (I didn’t have AIS, unfortunately), prepare the rigging and get rid of all unnecessary stuff from the yacht. I managed to do it during the last day. I was at the Sopot’s marina in the evening. Maciej Makuła of Marineworks gave me block to support the gennaker and he obligated himself to get some food for me, in another way I will have to eat only bread. Ah, and I made 2 training cruises at night.

I had a mood swings during the preparations – I will do it or not? Will I be enough prepared to start without feeling guilty? I cannot retire! Whatever! Yeah, maybe I will finish only the first leg and then I will say that I have some technical problems and I will go back home and keep my face. During the last night, we had some feast in Sopot’s SKŻ. Because I had a lot to do on the boat, I came when everyone already had their strategy for the race, a boar was already gone, other participants and immortal sea-shanty band… Well, life is life…

The atmosphere in SKŻ was very, very pleasant, and again, I sat at the table with one friend, and after one second I was calling everyone using their names – this is the part of a charm of this regatta.

The next day everything went very quickly. The official beginning of the race, accompanied with the sounds of the orchestra and food promised by Maciej. Photo shoot with the crews, a few words from the commodore, we got the Yellowbricks tracker – thanks to that yellow device, my mom and my brother could follow the regatta by clicking F5 in their browser.

It was 12.00 finally and we started. All different feeling that you experience is unbearable – there’s an excitement because of start of next cruise, regatta on the one hand on another you have a lonely race, you don’t know if you have everything what you need, or if you can make it. After a tacking right from the start you could see that the participants are going to split. GoodSpeed had to retire from the first leg after some damage, Blagodarnost II had to return just after passing Hel, because of some problems with electronic. It was a big surprise, and so it begins.

I finally ate my breakfast after passing Hel and set a course for the southern tip of Gothland. I trimmed my new sails and I did more than 6.5 knots in close hauled, 3-4 B – great speed for a yacht with such a weight and design. I didn’t expect that Wanda will fly so fast, despite of the new sails. Soon I realized that it’s not the end – it’s just the beginning.

We made almost 8 knots from the most of the time and max. 8.2 knots. EXCELLENT! Maersk Line, a container ship, passed me at sunset and proposed that he will change the course – it was a miracle! This is probably the first time when a more than 300 meters long container is changing course for a small boat.

It was getting dark when I made some dinner and then I could check if my system of a snooze will pass. I decided to go for a 19 minutes of snooze between 2.00 a.m. and 5.00 a.m., depends of the fatigue, then I spend an hour or two on board, ate some meal, and another 2-3 hours of 19 minutes of snooze. Generally, I had to say, that that kind of system passed the test, more or less – depends from the conditions, when I could leave the boat unattended.

The alarm clock from Andrzej of Resume, made of gas sensor, pestered me after each 19 minutes. I wrote down every snooze and very board control not to miss any of it. I have to admit that the system worked very well. The first night I fell asleep amazingly well, perhaps the best time ever at the sea. I slept well during the first leg. In the second leg, I felt a little bit anxious so I could rest well. In addition, I took a shower every day in the evening. Oh, and at the beginning of the race I decided not to sleep in the cockpit unless I meet German… Hmmm, well, nowadays I should rather say a Russian ;) Anyway, I decided to sleep in the mess.

The wind was constant for most of the time, but from the right tack for all the time. When the boat was making a good speed and hold the course, I realized that the result of the race, which was a secondary goal, is as imporant as making the whole route of the race. Realizing that helped me in my work on the board, my motivation increased just like enjoying the sailing and taking a part in the regatta, which is probably most important. I had to walk on and on from the cockpit to the starboard, because you cannot see the genoa from the cockpit. You can add beautiful views and scenes directed by nature, sunsets and sunrises which I always tried to watch and be a part of them;  the coast of the Gothland with high cliffs and sharp rocks were the icing on the cake. It’s beautiful, I thought.

After 30 hours, as I started to reach the Gothland’s shore I figured out, that I made a lot more miles than I thought. FM turned red because of the number of conversations between the participants and additional competitions organized by the commando Jack Norris, but also because of the information and complains about decreasing wind and stuff like that, maybe it’s a drop off forms or something. Despite the fighting spirit, we all asked each other about their positions, morale, is everything ok and so on. Kind of a friendly support.

I wanted to go near to the shore, hoping to find a night breeze and it succeeded  in some way, but, just like the other participants, I had to wait before the breeze finally came.

I was fourth in the general classification for a while, which was a nice surprise for me.

Those who were further in at the sea, stuck with no wind, but not for long, because the fresh  breeze came at night.

I have overdone a little bit in the halfway of Gothalnd. I wanted to go between the mainland and the first island, hoping for a little drift, and so it was, the wind, however, was quickly changing its direction but DTF hasn’t decreased so fast. Adding to this late hour, fatigue and being close to the mainland – I wasn’t well. After three or four uncontrolled turns I decided to let go and go more safely, calmly, a little bit faster to fall asleep for 2-3 hours. It was a heavy fight with Bystrze, Endorphine, Four Winds, who passed each other tacking at every half a mile. Amazing finish of the first leg, so many miles and hours behind, early morning, with increasing wind, passing by ferries, we dind’t let go even for a minute, none of us. We could feel the taste of rivarly, oh yes! My engine/battery/rather the power or lack of it surprised me after I entered to the port. I couldn’t turn the engine on, because there was no electricity.

Once I’ve read a few pages about sail maneuvers so I made a recognition to find the boats of other participants, I threw a wheel, dropped genoa and I managed not to damage Endorphine while docking to her ans as you can see, my attempt went very well :)

As soon as I moored, Jacek is appearing with a hugh bottle of champagne and congratulations. It was very flattering. I didn’t open the champagne, I decided to wait to the end of the race. I ate a quick breakfast with Szymon Kuczyński, who visited me and Wanda. We talked about our first impressions from the first leg and what we experienced (or not) and then we agreed to go out in the city. I went to sleep and I woke up in the evening just at the Polish Day. I wondered what is all about and how would it be. And I felt it before I could see  it – the atmosphere was amazing. Great fun at the end of the quay, next to Generał Zaruski – well stocked with famous Jacek’s beverages. Everyone had enough of chuck, sausages and vegetables served by Aleksandra, named Ola W. (she’s the aide of Jacek).

The feast lasted till the late night, while other yachts came to join us. After a Polish Day, or rather Polish Night, we went to explore the city – as we planned with Szymon Kuczyński and the crew.

What’s so interesting out there? Perhaps the most striking is architecture and the citizens. Architecture because the houses are small, neat, cozy and it’s suited to the landscape, and people are nice, friendly, they’re smiling and saying „good morning” or whatever it means in their language. Even a lady on the street, who collected the money, was smiling while asking for a donation. Quick reconnaissance after Mak, which has wifi, several e-mails, weather check, and yes, yes, Facebook too – and we rounded the ramparts to explore another part of the city. What strikes me is the cleanliness, despite a lack of garbage cans – there’s no rubbish at all. But there’s some animals made of roadblocks – they represent the animals from Gothland – a sheep and a ram. Oh, what’s more surprising it a number of Porshe, Ferrari and Lamborgini on the streets.

The same day, we had a briefing with all skippers – it was a great opportunity for the crews to rest a little bit of their captains, and for captains to rest from their crews. We’ve established that the start of the second leg will be at 12.00 on Wednesday, July 23. Some of us were afraid that we return to Poland belatedly – you know, scheduled holidays, datings, work, children, wives and lovers… However, Commandor didn’t change his mind. At the end of the evening, we greeted Łukasz from GoodSpeed – after the start of first leg he had to go back to the harbour to fix the problem and then he came to Visby to start in the second leg with us. And so it was the end of a day. The next day I went to pay for the marina – 100 zł per day! – and buy some bread for the rest of the race. I checked my reserves and I gave the overplus to Rysiek from Konsal. I filled with a fresh water to have a shower and the race has begun at noon. Bliski i Piorun 4 retired from second leg and Barnaba tore his mainsail and he returned to Poland.

The weather conditions were great at the beginning, though the wind could blow from a different direction, but most important was that it was blowing. The first hour decided about the whole race. Those who were lucky to catch some wind went north like stink and the rest was deal with wind direction and speed.

I managed to take a lap around Gotska Sandön after circa two days from the start, though I had some problems with electricity, I was tired and the sun was taking its toll – all of it started to lower my morale. There was nothing I could do. The breeze was too light to go forward and wrong direction, so I couldn’t use the gennaker, I had no appetite and no willing to do something. Lack of the wind, monotony and knowledge, that the wind is blowing beyond the island and those, who were there, are moving fast – it was killing me. I had a radio contact only with Kristi. So far, I wasn’t keen on talking with the radio, but in this case it was good to talk to someone. Later we turned out that Kristi was a repeater station between all participants over nearly 100 miles.

After we took a lap around the island we headed to the finish line. Kristi was flying on the spinnaker and I was using gennaker and genoa alternately – depend from the conditions. I had a lot of free time, so I could think about life, old Poles and stuff. I made up for writing letters and so it was. The electrical installation was making a lot of surprises to me. I wrote down how long and the capacity that the engine and autopilot were working on,  so I could figure out the charge/discharge of batteries. I turned off unnecessary equipment, a fridge wasn’t working long time ago.

I haven’t seen anyone, sunny day and my crew was light-hearted and didn’t want to follow the instructions and eat breakfast or lunch – not to mention to prepare anything.

Kristi drop me a line in the evening and we have begun the famous conversation about children ;)

Afternoons, the wind was getting weak, to let go completely for 3-4 hours. The yacht revolted, so I couldn’t do anything. I dropped off the sails, I didn’t need them now and I didn’t want them to get burned in the sun. I gave a little bit of Żubrówka to Neptun, for a better conditions ans I guess it helped, because we moved at night. The wind became stronger so I had to exchange my genoa for jib and reef the mainsail to a second reef. I was too much for that kind of wind but I wanted to sleep through the night, not to dent the autopilot. I forgot about the race long time ago, because I had no chance to catch up.

Last day at 5.00 a.m. I was sitting next to the helm. I turned off the autopilot, lay down in the cockpit and corrected the course of Wanda in every 10 minutes. About 1.00 p.m. I passed Hel and entered the Gulf, when half-way to Sopot eastern wind blown with 25-30 knots to decrease to 5 knots shortly after. Something amazing, I was greeted by two IMOCA’s Open 60 – Energa and Hugo Boss, but what I enjoy the most was the visit of Four Winds just before entering Sopots marina, the finish line of the race.

I entered marina using sails, as we agreed, I docked and I heard from the young boatswain from marina, that there’s no place here and I have to sail away. But, fortunately, Jacek has an eye on everything and the problem was solved. Jacek, Ola and Szymon Kuczyński awaited me on the quay, we shake our hands and I have to say that I was flattered by sincere congratulations from such a contender, Michał from Piorun and Ela from Barnaba came to us and then my brother with his family.

We opened the champagne and started to celebrate. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to shake a hand with other participants, who parted to their home ports few hours later.

The ending is most important, just like now, because I would like to thank a several people who give me motivation to do something. First of all, I would like to thank the most expressive single sailor on this side of Motława for being my patron during the race. I called him no matter whether it was day or night and he always helped me. Huge A for the help! I don’t know if I could make it without your help and motivation. I could feel that someone’s care about us troughout each and every mile of the race, provide the information on VHF and asking, if I’m ok. What’s most incredible is that I’ve never met Mr. Zygmunt – owner of the boat – who trusted me lend me the boat for the race. I prepared the boat for the race with my brother Piotr, who worked very hard with me all the time. Huge thanks, guys! You are awesome!

July 23, at 12.15 p.m. our participants began their journey in the second leg of the longest long-distance sea regatta in Poland. The boats were heading north – according to the sailing instruction, all had to take a lap around Gothland and Gotska Sandön by starboard and go back to Sopot. The route is approximately 400 miles.

15 units were ready to cross the start line, but not everyone was able to do it. Barnaba had a problem with the mainsail – it tore up during the starting procedure, so the crew decided to retire from the race and go back straight to the Poland. Bliski was dealing with some break during the first leg and he’s still in a harbour. He’ll join us as soon as all damages will be fixed.

Today in the morning GoodSpeed came to Visby after retiring from the first leg because of the engine failure. The crew, according to the plan, started today with the others.

Piorun 4 is not taking part in the second leg because of losing the rudder while sailing to Visby after a collision with an unknown object located under the water. A damage of the rudder makes it impossible to Piorun 4 to stay in the game.

The weather conditions were very good at the beginning – it was sunny and the wind was blowing 20 knots from the north, so the boats are going to tacking slowly to Gotska Sandön. After taking  a lap of the island, they will fly under the spinnaker straight to Sopot – we expect them to arrive on Sunday. You can follow the participants on TRACKING tab, thanks to the Yellowbrick.

The results of the first stage of the race (Sopot – Visby):

 

KWR:

Facil Łukasz Politański (Elbląg)

Atlantic Puffin Szymon Kuczyński (Dziwnów)

Konsal Ryszard Drzymalski (Puck)

Resumee Andrzej Kruszczyński (Gdynia)

Endorphine Robert Niewiński (Gdańsk)

Kristi Sławomir Frajkopf (Tolkmicko)

GoodSpeed Łukasz Trzciński (Gdańsk)

Manjana Adam Walczukiewicz (Gdańsk)

 

ORC:

Polled 2 Jacek Chabowski (Gdańsk)

Quick Livener Jacek Zieliński (Gdańsk)

Four Winds Wiesław Krupski (Gdańsk)

Blagodarnost II (Russia)

 

Open:

Barnaba Eugeniusz Jadczuk (Gdańsk)

Bystrze Artur Sykson (Gdańsk)

Wanda Michał Weselak (Gdańsk)

Generał Zaruski Jerzy Jaszczuk (Gdańsk)

Bliski Michał Orzoł (Elbląg)

Piorun 4 Michał Skierka (Jastarnia)

 

This year edition of the regatta SailBook Cup is a tribute to the pioneers of Polish sea sailing  and it celebrates the first Polish sea regatta from 1934 (Route Gdynia – Visby).

The ambassador of the race is Zygfryd “Zyga” Perlicki, one of the most famous Polish sailors and Olympian from Kiel, skipper of the  “Copernicus”, which took a part in the Whitbread, is multiple Polish champion of the sea and Olympic classes and great referee.

 

Organizers: SailBook.pl, Pomorski Związek Żeglarski

Partners: Gmina Miasto Sopot, Urząd Morski w Gdyni i Liga Morska i Rzeczna, Urząd Marszałkowski Województwa Warmińsko-Mazurskiego, Sopocki Klub Żeglarski Ergo Hestia Sopot, Fundacja Helios, Jachtklub Stoczni Gdańskiej, Polski Klub Morski, Puchar Bałtyku Południowego, Navinord

Sponsors: Naftoport, Voith, Work Service, Navcomm, Seldén, ICOM, Aero-Vaerft, 3 Sails, Ocean Sails, Henri Lloyd, AlmaPress Księgarnia Morska

Media patronage: SSI Jerzy Kuliński, Radio Gdańsk, Tawerna Skipperów, Magazyn Prestiż, Magazyn W Ślizgu, Młody Elbląg, Nowyj Kaliningrad, Solovela, Batsaans

Thanks to their advantage and by using the strong gusts of wind, Polled 2 and GoodSpeed were first to reach the finish line in Sopot.

Other boats  get stuck in calm, flat waves and have had to struggle with lack of wind from Gotska Sandön up to the headland Hel Peninsula.

The change of the wind gave a chance to the Endorphine, Quick Livener and Atlantic Puffin to reach the finish line today.

We have to give our appreciation for the skipper of Four Winds, who decided to stay in the game despite losing the mainsail and now he’s sailing by using third reef.

The real dark horse of the Open class is our single sailor, Michał Weselak (it’s because only he had left) and SailBook Cup is his test before the Battle of Gothland.

Konsal, Resumee, Facil, Four Winds, Kristi and Wanda – each skipper began to fulfil his strategy to search some more favorable wind conditions. The weather forecasts are missed, so the participants have to change their sails on and on, trying to aim straight to the Sopot.

Perhaps, the final fight will be in the Gulf of Gdańsk.

The boats, which were forced to retire from the second leg, are slowly coming back. Piorun 4 is resting in Jastarnia for almost a day, Generał Zaruski recently sailed into the port of Gdańsk, since the morning Bystrze is waiting for the crew exchange, while Bliski is located near a peninsula next to the Quick Livener.

All participants have a constant radio contact during the race, but not always with everyone, so they have to repeat the messages to the other yachts. The last boat, Kristi, is the absolute leader of the radio comunication. Thanks to the incredibly efficient antenna crew have contact with everyone through the entire route.

Left to the finish:

s/y Quick Livener – 15,9 NM

s/y Endorphine – 19,1 NM

s/y Atlantic Puffin – 32,1 NM

s/y Konsal – 55,7 NM

s/y Facil – 67,2 NM

s/y Resumee – 72,9 NM

s/y Wanda – 84 NM

s/y Kristi – 92,1 NM

The starting shot, fired from the Gdynia Maritime Office boat, officially began the 4^th edition of the longest  long-distance sea regatta – SailBook Cup. 18 units crossed the start line, including the legendary sailing ship: Generał Zaruski.

The opening ceremony of the SailBook Cup 2014 took place at 11.00 am in the Sopot’s marina. Jacek Karnowski – President of Sopot, Bogusław Witkowski – Chairman of the Pomeranian Sailing Association, Andrzej Królikowski – Director of Maritime Office in Gdynia and Chairman of Maritime and River League and Jacek Zieliński – the main Organizer of the regatta, wished good luck to all participants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBMsasPys50

Zygfryd “Zyga” Perlicki, one of the most famous Polish sailors and the ambassador of the race, also said a few words. He arrived, specially for the ceremony, on “Copernicus”, which took a part in Whitbread – the round-the-world race – forty years ago!

And there were more of the historical aspects. Aleksander Gosk, who hosted the ceremony, reminded about it. This edition of SailBook Cup regatta takes place on the 80^th anniversary of the first such a sailing race ever. That’s why we could admire a silver cup from the thirties of the 20^th century, which was exposed to public view and which is the main trophy in the competition.

The race has started at noon, accompanied by the sounds of a brass band and the minimal wind. One of two accompanying boats of the Maritime Office in Gdynia gave a signal to begin the competition.

18 yachts crossed the start line, including Generał Zaruski, and they took a course to Visby, Gothland, which is the place where the second leg begins. The participant will have to take a lap around Gothland and Gotska Sandön by starboard and return to Sopot. You can expect the first boats for about a week. The entire route  is about 600 nm.

You can keep an eye on the yachts thanks to Yellowbrick, just check the TRACKING tab. You may also check the position during the regatta at the Tourist Information in Sopot at Plac Zdrojowy. And, of course, you can see there the famous silver cup, mentioned above.

 

Organizers: SailBook.pl, Pomorski Związek Żeglarski

Partners: Gmina Miasto Sopot, Urząd Morski w Gdyni i Liga Morska i Rzeczna, Urząd Marszałkowski Województwa Warmińsko-Mazurskiego, Sopocki Klub Żeglarski Ergo Hestia Sopot, Fundacja Helios, Jachtklub Stoczni Gdańskiej, Polski Klub Morski, Puchar Bałtyku Południowego, Navinord

Sponsors: Naftoport, Voith, Work Service, Navcomm, Seldén, ICOM, Aero-Vaerft, 3 Sails, Ocean Sails, Henri Lloyd, AlmaPress Księgarnia Morska

Media patronage: SSI Jerzy Kuliński, Radio Gdańsk, Tawerna Skipperów, Magazyn Prestiż, Magazyn W Ślizgu, Młody Elbląg, Nowyj Kaliningrad, Solovela, Batsaans

 

Saturday, July 26 at 0.30 Polled 2 was first to cross the SailBook Cup 2014 finish line in Sopot. Fans were waiting for the winners with champagne.
„The result of the race was clear during the first four hours from the start. Some yachts were lucky to catch some wind and were able to go further, but most of us were behind, unfortunately, with lack of wind.” said Jacek Chabowski, helmsman of the winning boat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69nxCXVeDas

Łukasz Trzciński at GoodSpeed crossed the finish line at night, and Quick Livener and Endorphine should finish on Saturday evening.

This leg of SailBook Cup 2014 started from Visby on Wednesday, July 23, at 12.15. Boats had to sail around Gotland and Gotska Sandön by starboard and head to Sopot. The route is about 400 miles.

 

 

At the beginning, the participants chose different strategies and the result was that they split. Some decided to go more east while others headed straight, literally trying to cut Hel. As the wind has changed, the second choice proved to be more favorable.

Blagodarnost is leading constantly, followed by Polled 2 and Barnaba. Now, we still have the eye  and radio contact with the most of the participants.

Captain of the GoodSpeed reported some technical problem and he was forced to do pit-stop in Gdynia to deal with it. However, the crew announced their return to the route. Generał Zaruski had a small problem with the tracker, but now you should be able to see yacht on the Yellowbricks page.

The organizer’s yacht is slowly losing coverage, so you will get the further news from Gothland. In the meantime, we invite you to follow the progress of all yachts at TRACKING tab.

First leg of SailBook Cup, the longest long-distance sea regatta in Poland, is almost at the finish – we’re waiting in Visby for the final yachts. The 4^th edition of the SailBook Cup has started in Sopot at 12.00 on Saturday, July 19. 18 yachts crossed the start line heading to Visby, Gothland. During the day first of the regatta, several boats had to return to the Tricity. Goodspeed had some problems with the engine and sailed to Gdynia, where the crew was going to fix it and from there, they were going to go to Visby and take a part in the second leg. Blagodarnost II had to retire from the race because of the major problem with the electronics.

The wind conditions between Sopot and Visby were difficult – very light breeze and a lot of holes without wind at all. Jacek Zieliński on Quick Livener became a leader after Blagodarnost II retired. However, at night from Saturday to Sunday, he was overtook by Jacek Chabowski on Polled 2 and than by Eugeniusz Jadczuk on Barnaba in the morning.

These three boats were leading in the race, the rest of the participants were far behind and they split all over the route. But as they came near to the Gothland, they were within sight almost to the finish line in Visby, where the wind  has decided who’s going to be first at the finish line.

„There was no place for strategy than – it was a long shot. It was a bit of luck – if you are at right place where the wind is blowing, you will go forward.” – says Jacek Zieliński, skipper of Quick Livener.

The winner of the first leg was skipper Jacek Chabowiski with his Polled 2. The unofficial classification in particular classes after the first leg you can see below:

Class KWR – “Facil” Lukasz Politanski (JK Elblag)

Class ORC – “Polled 2 ” Jacek Chabowski (JSG Gorki Zachodnie)

Class Open -” Barnaba” Eugeniusz Jadczuk

The beginning of second leg of SailBook Cup is scheduled for Wednesday, July 23 at. 7.00 p.m. The boats will have to take a lap around the Gothland and Gotska Sandön by starboard and return to Sopot. The entire route is about 600 nautical miles. Thanks to Yellowbricks, you can follow the position of the participants – just check the TRACKING tab.

Tracking will also be available during the race at the Tourist Information at Plac Zdrojowy in Sopot.

This year edition of the regatta SailBook Cup is a tribute to the pioneers of Polish sea sailing, it celebrates the first Polish sea regatta from 1934 (Route Gdynia – Visby).

The ambassador of the race is Zygfryd “Zyga” Perlicki, one of the most famous Polish sailors and Olympian from Kiel, skipper of the  “Copernicus”, which took a part in the Whitbread, is multiple Polish champion of the sea and Olympic classes and great referee.

Organizers: SailBook.pl, Pomorski Związek Żeglarski

Partners: Gmina Miasto Sopot, Urząd Morski w Gdyni i Liga Morska i Rzeczna, Urząd Marszałkowski Województwa Warmińsko-Mazurskiego, Sopocki Klub Żeglarski Ergo Hestia Sopot, Fundacja Helios, Jachtklub Stoczni Gdańskiej, Polski Klub Morski, Puchar Bałtyku Południowego, Navinord

Sponsors: Naftoport, Voith, Work Service, Navcomm, Seldén, ICOM, Aero-Vaerft, 3 Sails, Ocean Sails, Henri Lloyd, AlmaPress Księgarnia Morska

Media patronage: SSI Jerzy Kuliński, Radio Gdańsk, Tawerna Skipperów, Magazyn Prestiż, Magazyn W Ślizgu, Młody Elbląg, Nowyj Kaliningrad, Solovela, Batsaans

While in Visby almost all boats managed to reach the port the same day in the morning, in Sopot they came in very different time:
Polled 2 – 26.07 / 00.29:00

GoodSpeed – 26.07/ 05.48:00

Quick Livener – 26.07/ 23.11:00

Endorphine – 26.07/  23.32:00

Konsal – 27.07/ 07.46:00

Facil – 27.07/ 10.24:00

Atlantic Puffin – 27.07/ 08.28:00

Resumee – 27.07/ 10.09:00

Four Winds – 27.07/  11.07:00

Wanda – 27.07/ 15.40:00

Kristi – 27.07/ 18.25:00

 

The skippers plans were spoiled thanks to the variable winds near Hel and the Bay of Gdańsk. Because of the south wind, and above all, decreasing to 2 knots, we had to wait up to 10 hours for other participants.

Fortunately, everyone crossed the finish line successfully, both those who had decided to start in the second leg, and the crews that, from different reasons, headed south by using the engine, without taking a lap of the island by starboard.

At the finish line all boats were greeted with applause and the congratulation and talks about adventures ended in the late evening. The results of the different legs and the general classification will be published tomorrow morning.

 

The choice was not easy, each received relationship was original and indulged both climate part of the race, as well as the mood of the participant. But winner can be only one..

Unanimous decision of the jury Alexandra Warecka and Jacek Zielinski the winner of the competition for the best race committee was Michal Weselak ! The prize in our competition is limited series oilskin Ostar for Dydek ‘s by Henri Lloyd.

I thank the other writers, another chance next year!

p.s The same oilskin will be available on drawing among the crews who have completed the race, at Closing Ceremony on the occasion of the Southern Baltic Cup.

Take a look at a very nice hot movie of our July’s event. Fond memories come back again :)