Eleven years of trying and metres at the finish. Witold Karałow's Scamp 4 wins the 75th Blue Ribbon
The 75th Blue Ribbon of the Bay of Gdańsk, the jubilee edition of one of Poland's oldest regattas, ended in victory for the yacht Scamp 4, helmed by Witold Karałow. The crew, which had been trying to win the ribbon for eleven years, crossed the line first after a contest decided literally in the final metres. The Red Lantern, the prize for the last yacht to finish, went to the crew of Atari.
In brief
The yacht Scamp 4, helmed by Witold Karałow, won the 75th Błękitna Wstęga Zatoki Gdańskiej (Blue Ribbon of the Gulf of Gdańsk) after eleven years of trying. The regatta, organised by Yacht Klub Stal from Gdynia, drew 89 entries, of which 81 started. Because of a calm, the race was sailed on a shortened Gdynia, Sopot, Gdynia course, and the final metres decided the Scamp 4 victory. The Red Lantern for the last yacht to finish went to the crew of Atari.
The forecasts promised wind, and a calm arrived instead. The organiser, Yacht Klub Stal of Gdynia, had hoped for more than 120 yachts for the jubilee; 89 entered and 81 started. Even so, the club writes, the anniversary gathering once again brought sailors together on the bay, and once again showed how much in this sport depends on the weather and on decisions taken on the water.
The finish was going to be in Sopot
There was so little wind that the race officer initially considered ending the race in Sopot. In the end the organisers returned to the shortened course from Gdynia to Sopot and back, which gave the competitors a complete race, if shorter than the traditional ribbon.
On that course Scamp 4 had an excellent start and led almost to Sopot. There a spell of calm closed the leading group up again, and the result, as Witold Karałow stresses, came down to the right tactical and sailing decisions in a finish that brought enormous excitement. After eleven years of attempts the Blue Ribbon passed into the hands of Scamp 4's crew.
The Red Lantern for Atari
The Blue Ribbon has two prizes that count more than the others. The first goes to the yacht that crosses the finish line first, regardless of class or size, and that is the ribbon. The second, the Red Lantern, goes to the yacht that finishes last but finishes all the same; in a regatta where light wind leads some crews to retire, reaching the line is a result in itself. This year it went to the crew of Atari.
Yacht Klub Stal thanked the competitors, organisers and partners and invited everyone to the next edition. The jubilee fell in a season in which the Bay of Gdańsk hosted the five-part Polish sailing championships, the iQFOiL U23 World Championships in Puck and, this weekend, the classic yacht rally in Gdynia. In that calendar the Blue Ribbon remains the regatta anyone with a yacht and the will can enter, and that is its strength, even when 81 boats start instead of 120.
Source: Gazeta Morska · Compiled by: Kamil Kusier
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