December 27, 2018 - The Old Year regatta, organized by YC Delfin Tivat, is scheduled for 31 December at the Tivat Bay. This event was launched last year by the renowned Tivat sailor and skipper Dejan Farkaš. The race attracted a large number of local sailors, and the visual spectacle they made for the citizens and guests was one of the accents of last year's holiday program in Tivat. That's why they decided to include the Old Year Regatta in their calendar for this year with the intent to make this gathering traditional in the years to come.
Old Year Regatta, a small, private initiative for "going out to sea," has already shown its great sporting and tourist potential in its first edition. Its creator, Dejan Farkaš emphasized:
"Old Year Regatta was born spontaneously. While sipping coffee in the club's premises, we discussed that it would be nice to go out on sailing boats on 31 December, say goodbye to the Old Year and bring ourselves the pleasure of gathering at sea. The idea was very well accepted and spread very rapidly throughout the Boka Bay. We did not even realize what was happening, and we already had 30 announced sailing boats," explains Dejan Farkaš.
In the absence of wind, last year the accent of the regatta was put on socializing and fun. Dejan and the Delfin team wanted to succeed in making their sea story a part of the concept of a New Year's program on the Pine promenade. Namely, all the assembled ships formed a parade, and from the bay of Seljanovo, they sailed along the banks to the Kalimanj harbor. Dejan's idea was that all the boats involved, floating beside it, greet the training ship Jadran, the pride of the city. However, it was much more spectacular.
The procession attracted a broad interest of the public on the shore, and the whole city seemed to push to the first row to watch the parade of white sails. Within a few hours, the cyberspace was full of photographs and recordings of Old Year Regatta. The cube was thrown, a new story was born, and Delfin will try to transform it into tradition.
"Every event that is organized during the holidays has its own audience. Of course, our story is attractive in itself. White sails and sunny days, a large number of ships at sea and the public on the coast - that is for sure a good tourist product," says Dejan. "But the people organizing this event did not run and did not take that story. The tourist subjects of the city should look at the estimations of the tourist potentials of the Old Year Regatta. We are only guided by the love for sailing and the desire to greet the year behind us in this way, in the company of friends."
Dejan Farkaš is still very modest when talking about the Old Year Regatta, and the fact is that the organizers took care of every detail last year. Club friend and recreational Sailor, photographer Gaga Vujačić made a short video, which best presents both the regatta and Tivat as a sailing destination.
Although still with a motive of love for the sea and sailing, Delfin has made sure that this year's edition of the Old Year Regatta is closer to the citizens and guests. The regatta field will be located near the city's waterfront, which will enable direct observation of the sports competition for everyone on the banks of the center of Tivat on Monday, 31 December.
"For the first time, we will try to set the race field in a way that the competition is available to the naked eye. The audience will not be required to use binoculars or to sail to the sea to track bidding. From the Porto Montenegro marina to the Palma Hotel, wherever they are, the observers will be able to have direct contact with sailors, to see what's happening there. This will be the first time we offer such an opportunity in our country. Usually, the regattas are far from the coast. Now the audience will be able to share part of our excitement, yet it is a sports competition, a competition in tactics, skill, and strength.“
Old Year Regatta is organized into two classes - J70 and Open. J70 are sailing boats available to the Porto Montenegro Yacht Club, and all seven ships have long been reshuffled by Tivat sailors, whose bidding on the sea, both formally and informally, lasts for decades. The Open Class is open to all categories of sailboats.
The Skipper Meeting and Presentation of Sailing Guide YC Delfin is scheduled at the club's premises on Sunday, 30 December at 6 pm. In addition to the technical meeting, the management of the club also organizes the presentation of photo and video material from the first edition of Old Year Regatta. The club's cafeteria at YC Delfin is open to all those who are interested.
