I Love Poland the sailing racing yacht is to visit Plymouth
Britain’s Ocean City, Plymouth is to welcome the I Love Poland race yacht on its sailing debut, ahead of an ambitious programme of racing and world record attempts.
I Love Poland is a third generationVO 70 whose LOA is 21.5 metres. Her hull is of Carbon fibre, kevlar, and titanium construction and her mast is 31 metres tall.
I Love Poland is an educational and sporting project funded by the Polish National Foundation. The project aims to support young Polish sailors who are launching an international competitive sailing career, particularly in ocean regattas and to promote Polish sailing worldwide.
Britain’s Ocean City of Plymouth sister city to Poland’s Gdynia,has been chosen as the desired destination for the sailing and cultural debut of the I Love Poland racing yacht.
The yacht and her crew set sail from Gdynia, Poland on 6thNovember and the yacht is expected to arrive at Mayflower Marina, Plymouth on the 13thor 14th November.
Plymouth has been selected as the perfect geographical ‘pit-stop’ for the crew, who are en-route to their winter training base in Lisbon, before they head across the Atlantic in February to begin a series of races in the USA and Caribbean.
The yacht was, originally built in New England in 2011-2012 for the Volvo Ocean Race and will sail to New York in May 2019 to undertake an ambitious record breaking attempt to sail from Newport to Lizard Point in under 6days, 22hr and 8 minutes.
The yacht and her crew will then return again to Plymouth in May 2019 ahead of a racing event in Sweden.
Whilst in Plymouth the crew, whose ages range from 21-52 years, will be undertaking a variety of vibrant educational visits and promotional events to promote Polish sailing and culture to a wider audience. The week-long visit will see presentations to local schools, young sailors and cadets.
Charles Bush, MD of Mayflower Marina says “We are delighted that the Polish National Foundation have chosen to berth I Love Poland at Mayflower Marina during their forthcoming visit to Plymouth.
Over recent years we have forged links with a number of Polish sailors and most notably this year, Szymon Kuczynski returned to Mayflower Marina in May following his record breaking 270 day, solo, non-stop circumnavigation in his 23ft yacht Atlantic Puffin. In September, Polish skipper Asia (Joanna) Pajkowska set sail from Mayflower Marina in her 40ft yacht Fanfan on a solo non-stop circumnavigation. If successful, Asia will be the first female Polish sailor to complete this voyage, and she’ll cover at least 21,000 nautical miles and will be at sea for around 200-220 days!
Whilst I Love Poland is berthed at Mayflower Marina there will opportunities for local school children and members of the Polish community to visit the boat and celebrate the particular relationship between Plymouth and Poland.