Another Sunday, another lovely regatta while the late summer weather is still on our side!
Prvić Šepurine, a village on the tiny islet of Prvić, will host their traditional Burtiž regatta today, September 3.
Starting from 15:00, dozens of sailing enthusiasts will hop into their traditional wooden boats and set off in a regatta that can be observed from the waterfront almost in its entirety. It gets its name burtiž from a local term for lateen-rigged sailing, a tradition that’s been revived on multiple Croatian islands in recent years. As most traditional boat types on the Adriatic are equipped with a lateen sail, celebratory regattas promoting our maritime heritage have been popping up from Istria, via Krk island on Kvarner to locations all over the northern Dalmatia, featuring well-preserved boats such as leut, batana, gajeta…
Manifestations dedicated to the lateen sail first reappeared on Murter island about 10 years ago. After participating in the Murter regatta, residents of Šepurina decided they liked the idea and devised their own event with a lot of enthusiasm. Burtiž is now a popular regatta that draws a lot of participants and spectators to Prvić island, each year on last Sunday in August.
If you’ve been following our site for some time now, you’ve surely learned that no island manifestation, be it a festival or a regatta, can come to a close without a proper fešta. Šepurina will thus host a bash on the main square; once the boats are back bobbing along the waterfront, it’s time to eat, drink and dance late into the night.
For more lovely photos of past regattas, take a look at Burtiž or check out their Facebook page.
In the meantime, here’s a map of the coast with all the places paying tribute to the lateen sail marked in red:
Image courtesy of Burtiz.
