Breaking Its Own Record, Fifty-Fifty Wins the Blue Ribbon Regatta

Breaking its own previous record, the MLS Raiffeisen Fifty-Fifty, helmed by Márton Józsa, was the first to cross the finish line in the 57th Kékszalag (Blue Ribbon) Raiffeisen Grand Prix sailing race on Thursday in Balatonfüred (northern shore of Lake Balaton), with a time of 4:25 hours.

The Fifty-Fifty, a twin-masted catamaran developed in Hungary, broke its own record of 5 hours, 3 minutes and 56 seconds set in 2023. The crew members of the winning boat were: helmsman Márton Józsa, Marcell Goszleth, Áron Németh, Csaba Adorján, Áron Bagyó, Attila Józsa-Kovács, Loránd János Erőss, Márton Illésy, and Márk Kaszó.

Second place went to Sailing Team RSM Hungary, helmed by Róbert Vándor, with a time of 4 hours, 34 minutes, while third place went to Team Kaáli, led by Flóra Virág, which finished in 4 hours, 46 minutes.

All three podium finishers beat the previous record.

The race was still exciting in the western basin of Lake Balaton, but after Tihany, Fifty-Fifty took off. The winner practically won from start to finish, completing the 57th Blue Ribbon as the first to pass every mark.

After crossing the finish line, the helmsman of the winning boat, Márton Józsa, said in Balatonfüred that they enjoyed every minute of the race, even though there were some exciting moments. “We pushed as hard as we could,” he said.

There is still a little room for improvement,” noted Márton Józsa, indicating that the result could be improved by ten minutes, and then congratulated the other two podium finishers.

Róbert Vándor, captain of the second-place boat, said that they tried to rewrite the laws of physics, but even that was not enough against the two-masted boat.

The Blue Ribbon is physically demanding and requires constant concentration,”

he added.

The helmswoman of the third-place catamaran, Flóra Virág, admitted that they had never sailed in such windy conditions with this boat before. They had the hardest time near Siófok and Szigliget, where the boat was caught in a downpour, she noted.

A total of 479 boats competed in this year’s Kékszalag, but due to the stormy weather, several of them – including Farkas Litkey with Process Solutions, Zoltán Petrányi with Audax Django, János Váradi Szabó with Team Suzuki, and Zsolt Király with Sponsor Wanted – were forced to abandon the race due to technical problems.

The organizers said that strong winds continue to blow on Lake Balaton, with a line of showers arriving from the northwest, which could also bring stormy gusts. Therefore the entire field was moving quickly.

The Blue Ribbon Regatta is Europe’s longest lake sailing race, with sailors covering 155 kilometers as the crow flies in 48 hours.

After the start in Balatonfüred, they pass through Balatonkenese, Siófok, and the Tihany Strait, then turn at Keszthely and return to Balatonfüred. Farkas Litkey has won the race the most times, thirteen in total.

Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Vasvári Tamás