Mrduja Regatta is the largest and oldest regatta held on this side of the Adriatic.
The 86th edition of the traditional Mrduja regatta, the oldest sailboat race in Croatia, will be held today, October 7, 2017, at 11 am in Split’s waters, reports Morski.hr. More than two hundred boats will participate in the race.
The start will be, as usual, announced by the mayor of Split, Andro Krstulović Opara, by firing from a starting pistol, while at the Split Port Authority Boat “Pojišan” together with deputy mayor Nina Vela, harbourmaster Davor Vidan and regatta director Mario Stipinović. “The weather forecast is favourable; no rain in forecast, only sun and strong bora wind,” says Stipinović, while standing in front of the Sailing Club Labud, which is the host of this festival of “sails, sea and wind”.
The route is also the same – the race starts at Sustipan, moves on towards the islet of Mrduja between Brač and Šolta, which is a distance of 11 nautical miles, and then back to the finish line in Split.
“The big ones will win!”, says Ante Antunović, predicting the outcome of the race. He will be competing with his ‘Full Pelt’ boat, a fast sailboat which is adapted to low wind and small waves. Antunović, member of Sailing Club Split (JK Split) triumphed at the Mrdujska regatta in 2012 while sailing his previous ship “Angello Rosso”, but this time, unfortunately, the wind conditions aren’t doing him a favour.
According to the sporting forecasts, the larger boats are serious contenders for the first place, among which is the ultimate record-holder of the Mrduja regatta – ‘Marina Kaštela’ boat led by captain Joško Berket, who set the new record time of 2 hours and 9 minutes back in 2013.
Today, we will find out whether he will succeed and remain on the throne or will one of the underdogs surprise everyone and kick him off that throne. The competition is fierce, with many sailors and sailboats racing for victory, including Nikola Dešković from Split’s JK Labud in his “Polet Furioso” sailboat, Rajko Kujundžić from Rijeka’s Galeb sailing club in his “Molo Longo Tutta Trieste” boat, Miloš Radonjić from Kotor’s Lahor sailing club in his “Tutta Trieste 2”, Saša Keković from Herceg Novi in his “Jgola Grakalić”, Robert Sandalić from Zadar’s Uskok sailing club in his “Gringo 2”, Tonči Kordić from Dubrovnik’s Orsan in his “Dubrovnik” boat, Filip Zorčić in “Barba Branko” etc.
There are a lot of favourites, but there will be only one winner with the fastest sailing time. However, there are 15 categories each bringing its own award; from the maxi cruisers category to category of smaller boats no longer than 5.5 metres, as well as the old-timer category… JK Labud has even prepared loyalty awards, for sailors who have been participating in the Mrduja regatta for years. All prizes and medals will be presented at the award ceremony at 8.30 pm on the platform in front of the sailing club (Uvala Baluni 9). The ceremony will be followed by an entertaining programme with the performance of the duo Sandra and Tino.
Translated from Morski.hr
Photos: Mrdujska Regata Facebook
