A century-old Inga Lisa and Czarny Diament after 32 years at sea. Over 30 classic yachts in Gdynia

For years the rally has been a reminder that the finest chapters of Polish sailing were written by boats that, in the age of laminate hulls, are an increasingly rare sight. This year's guests include vessels older than many of the people who will come to see them.

A schooner from 1918 and a yacht that sailed round the world for 32 years

The oldest sailing ship at the rally will be Kapitan Borchardt, a three-masted gaff schooner of 108 years, still actively sailing under the Polish flag; in season she takes crews on Baltic and North Sea voyages for people who want to set sail the way it was done a century ago.

Alongside her will moor Czarny Diament, a massive steel yacht that sailed around the world for 32 years, the longest voyage in the history of Polish sailing. There will be Stomil, a wooden racing yacht that this year reached the coast of Greenland; the hull is 49 years old and the average age of the crew is well over seventy, which the organisers cite as proof that neither matters. For the first time the flotilla will include Inga Lisa, a mahogany motor yacht of 102 years that recently passed into Polish hands. Descriptions of all the boats are collected in the rally's yacht encyclopaedia on its website.

A parade from the shore and open decks

You do not have to be a sailor to enjoy it, the organisers write, and the programme is built that way. On Saturday between 12:30 and 16:00 a parade of yachts will sail the Bay of Gdańsk from Gdynia past the Orłowo pier to Sopot and back; it is best watched on a walk along the Seaside Boulevard, from the Orłowo cliff or from the Sopot pier. Between 16:00 and 18:00 the crews will open their decks and tell the stories of their boats.

For lovers of sailing music there are two concerts: on Friday at 19:00 Bogdan Balcerzak and his band, and on Saturday at 18:00 the shanty group Trzy Majtki on the rally stage.

The yachts come to Gdynia at the invitation of the city's mayor, Aleksandra Kosiorek, who has taken the rally under her honorary patronage; the city of Gdynia is the strategic partner. The organisers are Captain Maciej Sodkiewicz and the Sekstant sailing school.

A rally that has become an institution

Eighteen editions mean that Próchno i Rdza is older than some of the yachts sailing in it for the first time. The rally began as a meeting of a few crews who did not want their wooden and steel hulls to end up on the seabed or in a bonfire, and has become Poland's only recurring event devoted solely to classic yachts, with its own encyclopaedia and a fixed place in Gdynia's calendar. For a city that in the same season hosted the Polish sailing championships and is opening a debate on the future of Dar Młodzieży, three days of century-old hulls at the breakwater are a reminder that the history of Polish sailing is not shut away in museums but still floats, and still welcomes visitors.