It is organised by Rotary Club Giżycko in cooperation with International Rotarian Committee for Polish-German and German-Polish Cooperation. It is cofinanced by the Polish German Foundation and District 2231. The camp is for young people between the ages of 18 and 26, who either have no sailing experience but want to find out what sailing is about or have some experience in sailing and would like to master it.
The camp has been around for many years and is not a district initiative, but a project of RC Giżycko.
This year we have many participants from all around Europe and even one person from Taiwan. A lot of the participants are Polish and German, but this year we also have people from Czech Republic, Romania, Spain, Ireland, France, Russia and Lithuania.
We have professional skippers, who overlook crew that are a mix of all the nationalities represented. The participants take care of themselves and the boat, learn to work as part of a team and enjoy many activities: visiting the Boyen Stronghold and seeing a WWI battle reenactment, fireworks show, shanty singing and many others.
I took part in the opening of the camp this year. Among the present were German-Polish ICC Chairman Michael Kunat, Polish-German ICC Chairman Eugeniusz Gorczyca, District 2231 Governor Łukasz Grochowski, Chairman of the Polish-German Foundation Cornelius Ochmann , a representative of the German Embassy Fried Nielsen, the mayor of Giżycko and Rotary members supporting the program.
This weekend the young participant took a tour of the palace in Sztynort, that used to belong to Heinrich Count von Lehndorff, who was murdered for taking part in the attempt to kill Adolf Hitler. That way they had a chance to learn about the multicultural history of the region.
Later, there was also a discussion about the Sheakspeare-inspired question: To be or not to be European?
One of the participants was able to take part in the camp due to support of RC Sopot International is Krzysztof Leonowicz, for whom it was the last chance to take part because of the age restriction. He comes from an underprivileged family and has to work to pay for his training, which he needs to complete to take the bar exam. Because of that for several years now he could not afford any proper vacation, and so due to our support we have given him a chance for a really uniqe experience. He is very hardworking, open-minded and can greatly benefit from a chance to improve his English in conversations with participants from other countries. He already is very happy, as this is his first time on a yacht.
Best regards,
Monika Kobylińska
Dear Members of Rotary Club International Sopot.
At beginning I would like to thank you for allowing me to take part in this year’s sailing trip and for significant financial support. Thanks to the rich program, we were able to learn not only the secrets of sailing, but also to explore the history of our beautiful region. It was an unforgettable experience, combined with getting to know interesting people from Poland and abroad, customs and dishes from other countries. It was also a unique opportunity to improve my language skills, which was particularly important in my case.
The rich plan helped everyone find something for themselves: there was a time of hard work while sailing, there was a time of visiting and learning about history, but also a rest and integration of the whole group.
There is no doubt that all memories from a sailing trip will remain unforgettable, or at least some of them will be passed on to the children and grandchildren of the participants.
It was a great experience for me, for which I would like to thank once again to all who contributed to my participation in the cruise. Please accept my gratitude to International Rotary Club Sopot and Mrs. Monika Kobylińska.
With thanks and a sailing greeting,
Krzysztof Leonowicz
participant of the cruise
