Over 600 participating boats and a four-kilometre starting line promise an interesting event. When Liberas, 41-foot M1 and 28-foot M2 multihulls meet, excitement is guaranteed.
In fact, the first-placed Roland Gäbler/Rolf Hufnagel on their M2-Multi "Natur Aqua" and the fifth-placed Libera "Raffica", a monohull, were separated by just 15 minutes after 17 hours of sailing. For the first time, boats with more than one hull were allowed to take part in the regatta, which has been held since 1932. They promptly dominated the light wind battle, which was characterised by periods of complete calm in the evening hours.
The local mosquitoes took advantage of the balmy breeze and attacked the defenceless sailors in droves. Some crews even gave up the race because of the attacks, while others fled into the water to wait for the wind. When the wind returned in the form of a thermal during the night, the eventual winner Roland Gäbler on his 28-footer seized the opportunity and overtook the boats ahead of him, which had parked in the middle of the lake. The sailors were greeted at the finish line off Balatonfüred at around 2 a.m. and duly celebrated.
Throughout the race, spectators on the shore were able to follow the positions of the individual teams via a live tracker, which made the event very attractive.
Although the multis dominated on paper, it was always very close between the giant Liberas and the multihulls during the race, so the expansion of the field of participants proved to be an enrichment. The results at a glance:
1st Ventilo M2 "Natur Aqua", Sui 28, 16:49:29
2nd Extreme 40 "Audi Ramada", Hun 2, 16:52:16
3rd Extreme 40 "Kica", Slo 1, 16:52:56
4. 41-Foot One Off Cat "Budapest Bank-Sagem", Hun 9, 16:56:28
5th Libera A "Raffica", Hun 66, 17:07:57
