Tradition continues…
Next week, the 22nd Easter Regatta will take place. It is the competition that traditionally opens the regatta sailing season in Croatia. From 21 to 24 March, about 40 best Croatian crews will compete in the sea off the town of Hvar. The competition will also include strong teams from Slovenia and Italy.
More than 40 crews are expected to take part, with 17 already submitting their applications, including some of the favourites – Nikola Dešković with Polet Furioso (TP 52), Karlo Kuret with One (Salona 34) and Tonko Rameša with X-Cite (X 41). The most important change from previous years is the re-introduction of a playoff, i.e. finals with crews using identical sailboats, great new racing X 4.3 boats, thanks to the cooperation between PBZ Leasing and Nautika Centar Nava.
The final races for the overall winner will be held on the new boats produced by a Danish shipyard on the last day of sailing in front of Hvar, and four X-sailboats will also participate in the first part of the regatta, with sailing done according to the handicap system. Two sailboats will be equipped with special regatta sails.
Karlo Kuret, a four-star Olympian in the Finn class and a multiple winner of the Easter Regatta, will compete on a sailing boat equipped with his ‘One Sails’ sails. The main competitor, on the same type of boat but with ‘North Sails’ sails, will be young Danish sailor Felix Jacobsen, with his experienced match race crew. He is an employee of X-Yachts. We can expect a clash between experience and youth. On the one hand, Kuret knows the local seas very well, while Jacobsen knows the sailboat better, so we look forward to a race with an outcome uncertain until the very end.
An equally exciting competition with X-boats is expected in the Open Nauta group. One sailboat has been reserved by last year’s winner, Sebastian Levstik from Slovenia, while his main competitors will be Olympic sailors from Split, led by Tonči Stipanović, an Olympic silver medal winner.
The Easter Regatta will again offer a lot of excitement, including those on the X-type sailboats.
