“Kékszalag” (Blue Ribbon), Europe’s longest lake-circling regatta, has kicked off from the shores of Balatonfüred, a resort town on the northern side of Lake Balaton in Hungary.
The field of 540 boats, lined up on an approximately 7-kilometre stretch of the lake’s waterfront between the settlements of Balatonfüred and Zamárdi, begun the competition in a very weak southern wind, the organisers said. Around 3000 sailors have embarked upon the voyage, 155 kilometres in length as the crow flies. Weather forecasts expect a weak to medium-strength southern wind, meaning that the record of 7 hours, 13 minutes and 57 minutes, set by the boat “Fifty-fifty” last year, is probably not in danger.