'Fifty-Fifty' Wins Blue Ribbon Balaton Sailing Race

The MLS Raiffeisen Fifty-Fifty, driven by Márton Józsa, beat its own previous record – according to the official results list – with a time of 5:03:56 to win the 55th Kékszalag [‘Blue Ribbon’] Raiffeisen Grand Prix on Lake Balaton on Thursday.

Fifty-Fifty, a Hungarian-designed twin-masted catamaran, broke the course record of 7 hours 13 minutes 21 seconds set by the Fifty-Fifty last year, winning the Kékszalag for the fourth time.

The winning crew included helmsman Márton Józsa as well as Marcell Goszleth, Áron Németh, Csaba Adorján, Attila Józsa-Kovács, János Loránd Erőss and Áron Bagyó.

After the race in Balatonfüred, Márton Józsa highlighted that "the wind was good this year and the whole team enjoyed the race.” They had expected a similar time of around five hours, but with a slightly stronger wind and fewer stops, they could have another half an hour in the boat, he added.

Second place went to RSM (5:30:16), skippered by Róbert Vándor, while third place went to Prospex-Delta Sailing Team (5:31:46), skippered by Kristóf Kaiser.

According to the organizers, this year's race attracted 2,532 sailors and 515 boats. As a sign of the good winds, the entire field of the Blue Ribbon, which started at 11am and was postponed by two hours from the traditional 9am start, passed the Balatonkenese buoy before 15.00 hours, and left the Siófok course after 17.00 hours due to stormy weather in the morning.

    The Kékszalag is Europe's longest cross-country sailing race, first held in 1934. The sailors have to sail 155 kilometers as the crow flies during the 48-hour level time.