The competitions of the Raceboard European Championships have started in Balatonfüred
The Raceboard & DII European Championships is held between the 4th and 9th of September in Balatonfüred. The opening ceremony of the event was held on Monday so that the international field could start competing today.
The lovers of water sports can try several sporting activities at Lake Balaton, so the “Hungarian Sea” also offers excellent circumstances for surfers. Thanks to the world organisation and the Hungarian Windsurfing Association, Hungary is now the organiser of a world event after 20 years.
Balatonfüred has been the home of several events this year, for instance, it welcomed open water swimmers during the 2017 FINA World Championships. In this case it is the home of the Raceboard European Championships, because it seemed to be an excellent and easily accessible choice.
The opening ceremony was held at a stage close to the famous Tagore Promenade and the pier. The competitors were first welcomed by István Bóka, the Mayor of Balatonfüred, who also thanked the organisers for choosing his city. He emphasized that Balatonfüred would love to welcome further surfing events after the championships and he hopes that the guests would return to the holiday resort later.
Péter Sárfalvi, Deputy State Secretary for Second Line Sport, emphasized that Hungary is the great supporter of sports, the country has organised many competitions, and the number of world events will further grow in the next years, according to the plans of the government.
Dr Lajos Kollár, the president of the Hungarian Yachting Association, and Mihály Varga, the president of the Hungarian Windsurfing Association, welcomed the competitors and audience together. With the joint speech they wanted to express that the two associations consider each other siblings. Mihály Varga highlighted that the organising of the European Championships is a great sport-diplomatic success, while Dr Lajos Kollár attracted attention to the Finn dinghy world championship in Balatonföldvár.
Representing the International Windsurfing Association, Pjotr Oleksiak said that Lake Balaton is a beautiful location and went on by officially opening the championships.
The almost 100 contestants come from 22 countries. The curiosity of the European Championships is that several countries outside of the Old Continent also entered the competition. All in all the participating countries include Spain, Argentina, Lithuania, Moldova, Latvia, France, Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Israel, Canada, Belgium, Australia, Algeria, Slovenia, Poland, Greece and Switzerland.
The closing ceremony, which will also include the last events, the medal ceremonies and the gala dinner, will be held on Saturday.
The official media partner of the Raceboard European Championships is Daily News Hungary.
Photo: Daily News Hungary
Ce: bm
Source: Daily News Hungary