Thousand Islands Race is like
any sailboat race, small or big: preparation, challenge, adventure,
respect for nature and concern for the safety of the boat and the
crew. All this was demonstrated by this year's jubilee 10th edition
of the regatta, which passes between more than 1,000 islands in the
Croatian part of the Adriatic, and which brings something new every
year, attracting 77 sailboats from 17 countries in the past 10
editions.
This year, there were 7 boats at the start in Rijeka, both legs will
be talked about for a long time as completely opposite, summarizing
the essence of navigational sailing. After the slowest first leg in
the 10 years so far, which required a lot of patience and fighting
with strong winds, the weather forecast before the second leg from
Tivat to Rijeka announced completely opposite conditions with a
strong southerly (jugo) in the southern Adriatic and a transition to
northerly (bura) in the central and northern Adriatic.
The start in front of the Porto Montenegro marina in the entire Boka
Kotor Bay reminded of the first stage while the boats’ speed did not
exceed 3 knots. By going around the southernmost point of Croatian
coast from the exit to the open sea towards the islet of St. Andrija
weather forecast proved to be accurate. A strong southerly even
caused technical problems on the boat "Emilia", which had to give up
first and diverged from its course to Dubrovnik.
The Austrian "Istros" went through a storm near the Paklin Islands
where she had to start the engine for safety and everything went
well. However, after puffs reached more than 30 knots, the helmsman
and crew, not willing to stress the boat that was rented only for
this regatta, decided to give up for safety reasons and took refuge
in Šibenik.
The winner of the first leg, the Slovenian "Karpo" with a two-member
crew consisting of father and son Maks and Matic Vrečko, remained
the only one still racing with a strong desire and will to reach the
finish line in Rijeka. After fighting first with the south and then
with hard wind and sea with only two crew members throughout the
night, at 05:41 "Karpo" sent a message to the race committee: "We
tried to pass through the Vir Sea while there was a 25-35 knot gale,
now it increased to 35 – 44 knots and continue sailing in such
conditions, unfortunately, is no longer possible. The waves are up
to 2 meters and the sailboat experienced several strong hits. With
the forecast we have that the wind will not weaken soon, the
decision to retire from the second leg is the only prudent one. We
are going back towards Zadar."
Thus, the second leg of this year's race will be recorded as the
first that no one finished. The safety of sailboats and crews comes
first, and all decisions to retire are made based on the correct
assessments of the helmsman and crews. The results of the first leg
thus became the final ones, where the leaderboard of the Thousand
Islands Race is:
1. Karpo, Elan 450, Max Vrečko, Slovenia
2. Emilia, X4.6, Alfred Vorderegger, Austria
3. Talanta, Pogo 40 S2, Micheal Puehse, Austria
Regardless of all the adversities and difficult conditions,
organisers are keen to welcome all the crews to participate in the
regatta next year announced for 14-23 September 2024, and we hope
that the soon opening of the ACI Gitone marina in Rijeka will create
attractive environment and conditions for larger fleets in the years
to come.
Results ...
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