The 56th Kékszalag Raiffeisen Grand Prix field of hundreds of boats started at 9am on 18 July.
Hundreds of high-tech, speeding catamarans, classic cruisers reminiscent of the first half of the last century and the sporty and family sailing boats typical of Lake Balaton covered the surface of the lake from 9am on Thursday morning, the moment of the start. The race runs until 9am on Saturday 20 July, when the 48-hour limit expires.
Do not dock during the race! The majority of the Kékszalag field spends at least once, but many of them twice, the night out on the water, trying to reach the finish line in Balatonfüred as fast as possible. While the leading catamarans and single-hull super sailboats can circumnavigate Lake Balaton in half a day in good winds, the majority of the field needs at least one, more likely one and a half or two days.
The Kékszalag on the beach started on 17 July, with the official opening of the competition, attended by members of the competing teams, journalists, leaders of the Hungarian Sailing Federation and supporters of the Blue Ribbon.
Dr. István Drotár, Director of the Digital Development Centre of Széchenyi István University: “It is not everyday that a university is featured at the press conference, but Széchenyi István University has always stood out among higher education institutions in the field of international corporate cooperation and as a know-how-based innovation service provider. We have implemented a cooperation between higher education and the small sector, where the innovation pilot project of the Hungarian Sailing Federation, Telekom and Széchenyi István University will debut in a real-life application at Europe’s most challenging cross-country sailing race – the 56th Raiffeisen Kékszalag Grand Prix.”
Continuous live coverage from shore, water and air: kekszalaglive.hu
Official website with up-to-the-minute news: kekszalag.hu
TRACKING: track.hunsail.hu.
