The world began to "open up" a little after a year of being on stop in the travel industry, and it is a joy for yachtsmen and racers, because this year large yacht clubs have already begun to hold their regattas, and it has become a little easier to participate in them.

On July 18-23, the most popular regatta in Greece, the Rhodes Cup, was successfully held along the route of the most beautiful islands of the Dodecanese archipelago: Kos - Tilos - Nisyros - Symi - Rhodes, organized by the Rhodes Sailing Club for a quarter of a century already. The islands are all close to each other, but nevertheless, they are very different from each other both in nature and way of life, so traveling around them does not get boring. On one of the days of the regatta, the organizers give the participants a day off, and the teams have the opportunity to see the islands and relax, for example, rent ATVs, scooters and ride to the ancient volcano and villages.

About 100 crews take part in the regatta annually. This year, 28 crews from the CIS countries, Greece and Russia took part in the regatta. The number of participants was limited due to the fact that the direct water connection between Greece and Turkey was not restored, and many Turkish racers, who used to be the backbone of the regatta participants, were unable to participate and, of course, they were lacking. Only a few with sailors' passports were able to come.


The organizer managed to hold three races out of four. One race was canceled due to a bad forecast: strong winds of 35-45 knots and big waves. Weather conditions, as always on Rhodes Cup, were either with strong winds with gusts of up to 30 knots, or turned into complete calm. The divisions were very mixed this time. In one group, there could be very fast boats and very slow ones. This turned out to be unfavorable for fast yachts and good for slow ones. Fast yachts, coming into calm weather, could immediately go to the marina, because the whole fleet sailed up to them. It was easy enough for the Greeks, because this is their water area.

Two crews from the Cyprus International Sailing Club participated in the regatta: one on the Hanse 400, the other on the Fareast 28R. It should be noted that the Fareast 28r is a small sports light yacht that starts gliding after 10-12 knots, and it is not suitable for long crossings. But the guys proved the opposite - they sailed the yacht from Cyprus to Kos, having covered 350 miles. They had stops in Paphos, the Greek Kastelorizo and Rhodes. They sailed back in 60 hours, already thinking about the next crossed and updates on the boat for a more comfortable cruising.

The team went through all the races very quickly, but only in the last one they managed to show the result and the boat's abilities - 1st place, ahead of such sports yachts as the Farr 45 with Maxim Nemchenko on the rudder and the Hanse 400 with a carbon mast and sails. We arrived 7 minutes ahead of the whole fleet. In general, the boat proved to be quite confident, fast, reliable and fun.

The team went through all the races very quickly, but only in the last one they managed to show the result and the boat's abilities - 1st place, ahead of such sports yachts as the Farr 45 with Maxim Nemchenko on the rudder and the Hanse 400 with a carbon mast and sails. We arrived 7 minutes ahead of the whole fleet. In general, the boat proved to be quite confident, fast, reliable and fun.

The canceled race would also have brought first place in the standings for the Fareast 28R team: the entire route passed with a strong tailwind of 20-25 knots, which is ideal conditions for gliding. In fact, the team decided to go this 60 mile distance in racing mode, of which it could go more than 30 miles gliding. The rest of the crews could only be amazed, watch the Fareast 28R and shoot videos on their phones with comments like: "If we are sailing at a speed of 9 knots, then what speed do they have if they bypass us as if we are standing?!" It turned out that the speed of the Fareast 28R at these moments reached 16.5 knots.

The crew would like to thank the partners who were able to help prepare the yacht for the crossing and participating in the regatta: Advanced hosting company, INsailing event search platform and Cyprus International Sailing Club.

The opening and closing ceremony was rather modest, but all the winners received their prizes. The cost of participation has dropped by half due to the cancellation of the coastal entertainment program.

Congratulations to all the winners and participants. See you at the next regattas!