The regatta has kicked off parallel to the White Ribbon GeneralCom Grand Prix in the eastern basin of Lake Balaton on Saturday.Continue reading
The MLS Raiffeisen Fifty-Fifty, driven by Márton Józsa, beat its own previous record – according to the official results list – with a time of 5:03:56 to win the 55th Blue Ribbon Raiffeisen Grand Prix at Lake Balaton on Thursday.
The Fifty-Fifty, a Hungarian-designed twin-masted catamaran, broke the previous course record of 7 hours, 13 minutes, and 21 seconds they set last year, winning the Blue Ribbon regatta for the fourth time. The crew of the winning boat included helmsman Márton Józsa, Marcell Goszleth, Áron Németh, Csaba Adorján, Attila Józsa-Kovács, Loránd János Erőss, and Áron Bagyó.
Photo: MTI/Varga György
After finishing the race in Balatonfüred, Márton Józsa said:
The wind was good this year and the whole team enjoyed the race.”
They had expected a similar time of around five hours, but with a slightly stronger wind and fewer stops, they could have another half an hour in the boat, he added.
Second place went to RSM (5:30:16), skippered by Róbert Vándor, while third place went to Prospex-Delta Sailing Team (5:31:46), skippered by Kristóf Kaiser.
Photo: MTI/Vasvári Tamás
According to the organizers,
this year’s race attracted 2,532 sailors and 515 boats.
As a sign of the good winds, the entire field of the Blue Ribbon passed the Balatonkenese buoy before 15:00, and left the Siófok course after 17:00 due to stormy weather in the morning. The race was postponed by two hours and eventually started at 11 am due to strong winds.
Photo: MTI/Varga György
There was also an accident at the Balatonkenese buoy at noon, when Zsolt Király’s boat Raffica capsized, and although the crew was not injured, they were unable to continue the race.
The Blue Ribbon is Europe’s longest cross-lake sailing race, first held in 1934.
The participants have to sail 155 kilometers during the 48-hour level time, and after the start in Balatonfüred, they pass through Balatonkenese, Siófok, and Tihany, then turn back to Balatonfüred at Keszthely in the western corner of the lake. Due to the two-hour postponement of the start, this year the competitors have until 11 am on Saturday morning to complete the race.
Photo: MTI/Varga György
The record time for the Blue Ribbon is currently held by Fifty-Fifty, led by Márton Józsa, with Farkas Litkey winning the most times, thirteen.
Featured photo via MTI/Vasvári Tamás