This morning at 9 a.m., – 58th Kékszalag Raiffeisen Grand Prix officially ended with the expiration of the 48-hour time limit.
Despite the persistent calm and the heat, exactly 250 units out of 458 starters completed the distance. The last boat to finish was the Nauszikaa, which crossed the finish line in Balatonfüred just 8 seconds before the deadline. True to tradition, the absolute winner RSM team welcomed them at the finish line, paying tribute to their endurance with a sporting gesture.
András Holczhauser – Secretary General of the Hungarian Sailing Association, assessed the performance of the field as follows: “We are incredibly proud of the sailors starting on the Blue Ribbon, as more than half of the field reached the finish line, which, given the circumstances, in this heat and calm wind, is a huge sporting achievement and proves the kind of perseverance and determination needed to succeed in this otherwise beautiful sport.”
The successful completion of the Blue Ribbon in this technical, challenging competition represents an outstanding sporting value in itself, and perfectly reflects the preparedness of the Hungarian large-boat community.
On Saturday, the Blue Ribbon Festival, the Blue Ribbon Week, will reach its peak. íThe solemn awards gala will begin at 6 p.m. on Balatonfüred’s Gyógy Square and the week-long sailing festival will conclude with an authentic Balaton street ball from 8:30 p.m.
There was huge interest in this year’s Blue Ribbon. “Nearly 200,000 people watched the live online broadcast of the Telekom Live studio, which is a huge step forward, almost double the number of viewers last year. This is thanks to the level and excitement of the competition, as well as the professional, television-quality broadcast, in which showed the most exciting moments and spectacular images of the Blue Ribbon to the viewers with 34 cameras, including 5 drones, 3 broadcasting motorbikes, 16 onboard cameras and 7 party cameras,” overall said by Csaba Fegyver – Telekom’s Director of Strategic and Key Projects.
Videos from the 58th Kékszalag Raiffeisen Grand Prix are available on the Telekom Live YouTube channel.
Update by Aggie Reiter
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