I am talking about the islands – allegedly there are over thousand islands, islets and rocks in the
Croatian Adriatic. I have never counted all of them but I started to believe in that data when I first saw the title of the brand new regatta in this region.
It is called the
Thousand Islands Race and took place for the first time in
September last year. As the first edition went successfully, the organizers announced its second edition which will take place between
September 18th and 28th 2014. The racecourse spreads on the
277 Nm long route from
Rijeka, Croatia to marina Porto Montenegro in Tivat, Montenegro.
What makes this race special is the
route which has to be chosen by each tactician, with just only one condition: islands Unije, Susak, Premuda, Dugi Otok, Kornat, Vis, Lastovo, and Sveti Andrija have to
be left to starboard side in the first leg; and to port side in the second leg. Everything else regarding the route is up to
experience and skills of tacticians, as long as they keep their vessels in Croatian and Montenegrin territorial waters.
The regatta is open for
monohulls longer than 9 m and
multihulls longer than 8 m of LOA. The special category would be boats with a crew of two. The limited time for each leg will be
72 hours after start. The crews can compete in a single leg each direction or in both legs. The competitors’ list includes teams from Austria, Slovenia, Germany, Russia, Switzerland, Great Britain and Croatia while those from Czech Republic, Italy, Ireland, Hungary, Slovakia and Hungary are announced.
Those who, for some reason cannot take part in the regatta could
follow it online (
www.thousandislandsrace.com) in real-time. However, sailing lovers could enjoy the grace of sailing boats and their crews during promotional races in waters in front of Rijeka and Tivat prior to both starts.
If this is not enough to wake you up, I’ll tell you that the famous
30 m long Esimit Europa 2 announced its appearance and intention to take over the record of the race which was set by
Hungarian Wild Joe last year. It amounts to 28 hours, 41 minutes and 6 seconds in the first leg and 46 hours, 2 minutes and 37 seconds in the second leg.
The winner of this race is not going to be one who finds the shortest route; it will be the one who finds
the fastest way to sail between a thousand Adriatic islands!
I wish you a calm sea, a fine wind and a strong mast!
