Karol & Bartek Milewski win Polish Nationals 2016

The 10th jubilee Polish Nationals were organized by the Polish 505 Class Association and took place in Krynica Morska on Zalew Wislany waters. The spot is well-known to the 505 sailors, also because it hosted one of the last year's Polish Cup regattas. As many as twenty boats signed up for the regatta.  Since the regatta has an open formula guest crew from Germany also took part in the racing.

During the 3-day event the weather was very challenging for both the regatta committee and the competitors. It was sunny and warm. However the wind conditions turned out to be very difficult. The wind was very light and enabled only 3 races to be held (2 on the first day, 1 on the last). Light winds of 3-5 knots are quite unusual for this time of the year.  

The on water conditions required perfect start and boat handling. Moreover, all sailors had to cope with numerous wind shifts to make best possible tactical decisions.

The finish line of first two races was the same: 1. Milewski/Milewski, 2. Pawluk/Józefowski, 3. Skrzypulec/Kominek, which gave the overall leadership to Milewski/Milewski, only two points ahead of the second crew and four ahead of the third.

The third day of the regatta was to decide who will eventually win the title. However, in the morning the wind was not strong enough to allow racing. All competitors looked at the water hoping for some stronger gusts of wind to come. The wind came just before 2 p.m. and it became clear that there will be only one race.

After the start, most crews took the left side of the first course looking for a favorable wind shift. At the windward mark, the leading boats we quite close to each other (Pawluk/Józefowski 2nd, Milewski/Milewski 4th). The spinnaker course resulted in Pawluk/Józefowski taking the lead and Milewski/Milewski being in the 3rd place. Both crews decided to take the right side of the next course, whether the rest of the fleet chose the left one. Such tactics proved to be better for Milewski/Milewski who crossed the windward mark on 4th place, just one place after Pawluk/Józefowski. As the wind was dropping to nearly 0, it became obvious that the last course will be quite exciting, with all outcomes possible.

Pawluk/Józefowski crew, after catching a light gust of wind, took the 2nd place. In the meaintime, after some problems with the spinnaker, Milewski/Milewski crew was under pressure by 2 other crews from behind. After a very stressful finish POL-9170 managed to keep the 4th place, just 2 meters ahead of Panek/Walczak. It meant that the gold medal went to Karol Milewski and Bartosz Milewski and the silver to Kuba Pawluk and Marcin Józefowski.

The race proved to be unfortunate for the Ostrowski/Siekierzyński crew, who crossed the finish line in the first place (and would have finished the whole regatta in the 3rd place), as it turned out they were given the UFD penalty in this race. Finally, the bronze medal went to Agnieszka Skrzypulec and Adam Kominek.

Congratulations to the regatta organizers who made the best out of the wind conditions. Many thanks also to the sponsors, i.e. the Mayor of Krynica Morska, Narwal Sails, Wingman and Code Zero.