The yacht owned by the Polish National Foundation is one of the 50 vessels taking part in the race and one of the three starting in the Volvo Open 70 category.
The head of the Polish national Foundation, Marcin Zarzecki, said that the main goal of the ‘I love Poland’ programme is the promotion of Poland around the world, but also training young sailors , who by taking part in cruises and regattas become Poland’s ambassadors.
The start and finish is the Grand Harbour in Malta, to sail round Sicily the yachts have to cross the Strait of Messina, the narrow strait between Sicily and Calbria, which is always a challenge for the crews and navigators . They then take a tour round the island of Stromboli , north of Sicily, and upon the return route to Valetta,the capital of Malta ,the yachts have to sail round smaller islands of Pantellera and Lampedusa.
The start in the Rolex Middle Sea Race is the first race following the lockdown for the ‘I love Poland’ crew. Before the pandemic the yacht took the second place in the Caribbean 600 regatta in February this year and the first, in its class ,during the St.Maarten Regatta in March .
Source PAP