Dar Młodzieży second in The Tall Ships Races Magellan-Elcano race

The ‘Dar Młodzieży’ (Gift of Youth) finished second in The Tall Ship Races Magellan – Elcano regatta. The special edition of the regatta was held to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the first round-the-world voyage – the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian de Elcano.

The regatta route started on 19 August 2023 and was divided into two stages: Falmouth – A Coruna and Lisbon – Cadiz. The first leg, a stage of around 400 nautical miles, saw the Gdynia Maritime University sailing school ship finish in second place. After arriving in the Portuguese capital, the crew of the White Frigate participated in a three-day rally, crowned with a parade of vessels on the Tagus River. For the second and final leg of the regatta, the fleet set off from Lisbon on 3 September 2023.

The distance to Cadiz, originally planned to be 220 miles, was almost halved due to weather conditions. Approx. The racing yacht Challenge Wales covered one hundred twenty miles the fastest, which took 13 hours and 25 minutes. The ‘Gift of Youth’ finished second after just under 15 hours.

“I can only speak positively about the students, this was the first voyage of the ‘Gift of Youth’ for them and they did a great job,” says Commander Rafal Szymanski. “Even from the members of the other crews we heard that we should feel like moral winners. The Dar was the largest vessel participating in this regatta and we made the best use of the challenging conditions we faced.”

This is how 116 first-year students of the Navigation Faculty completed their first-ever internship. They were replaced in Cadiz by a year’s worth of senior faculty colleagues who will spend the next two months on board the ship.

From Portugal, the ‘Dar Młodzieży’ set course for the Cape Verde Islands and on towards the zero parallel, where the White Frigate will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the crossing of the equator by the first ship under the Polish flag – the sailing ship Lwów, a UMG school ship from 1921 to 1930.

Source: PortalMorski.pl