Age just doesn’t count - The Majthényi-crew does it again

The Majthényi Szabolcs and András Domokos crew have won their fifth gold medal with the oldest boat in the fleet at the Flying Dutchman World Championships. Among other things, the two sailors allowed some insight into the "trade secrets" of the competition that ended last week at Thursday’s press conference.

As opposed to the eight-year old boat that the Majthényi-crew has, other teams entered the World Championships held on the waters of Tampa Bay, Florida with but one or two year old Flying Dutchmen. It was nevertheless the Hungarian vessel that proved to be the fastest by far, winning eight of the nine races, coming in second on just one occasion. This won them not only the World Championship Challenge trophy, but the FD Silver Sombrero Challenge Trophy as well, which was given for the absolute best overall result.

“The key to our success was the carbon mast, in whose development we took part together with last year’s Danish world champion crew” – András Domokos said. “Needles to say the others also sailed with this type of equipment, but we knew how to configure this new system – the use of which has been allowed by race rules for two years now – in a better way.”

Sailboats can usually be used for up to 8 years in this division, so the Majthényi-crew will be forced to purchase a new vessel next year.

“We are going to use our current boat – which we expect to return from the United States during May – at the European Championships to be organised on Lake Fertõ this summer,” helmsman Majthényi remarked. “We are also counting on a tough head-to-head battle with the Danes at this event, who could not make it to the event in Florida. And next year we will have to buy a new boat. The hull will cost around 26 thousand Euros, the price of the sails should come to between 7 to 8 million Forints, but fortunately we will not need to buy the complete boat at the same time, it is sufficient to do so gradually.”

The crew – which has won five World Championship gold medals, three World Championship silvers, as well as two European Championship titles to date – explained that apart from the World, and European Championships their budget usually allows them to enter one race abroad. They are, however, not complaining, because their financial situation is currently stable, thanks to amount they receive from the Hungarian Yachting Association, and their club – Spartacus –, besides MOL’s sponsorship.