Sailing is not the type of sport you would expect to be popular in the landlocked Czech Republic. However, with boats that have sailed the Vltava since time immemorial, the love of wind and water is deep-seated in the Czech soul.

As evidence to the vitality of the sport in this country, there are around 100 sailing venues, approximatel 200 sailing clubs totaling over 5,000 members and 300 regattas including 10 ocean regattas organized by Czechs every season. The Czech sailing craze actually gained momentum in 2000, when many people started visiting Croatia on sailing vacations. This year, it is estimated that 80,000 Czechs will again go sailing in Croatia. Also, many boat-builders are located in the Czech Republic, such as Avaryacht, Combatra, Derek, Jonas, Kikanavata and Aqua Marine.

The earliest known sports sailing event in Prague was the Open Yacht Race between Barvířský and Střelecký islands on 25th September, 1870. It should come as no surprise that the Czech nation loves sailing when one learns that about one-third of the sailors in the Austro-Hungarian Empire were from Bohemia and Moravia. During the last century, many Czechs had contact with the sea as travelers, explorers and for emigration purposes.

The Czech Yacht Club (Český Yacht Klub), established in 1893, is one of the oldest sailing clubs in Central Europe. Members of the ČYK founded the Czechoslovak Olympic Committee and, thanks to Josef Rössler-Ořovský, the Club’s founder, the Czechs competed in the Olympics as a recognized State, even before independence was declared in 1918. As early as 1896, the ČYK encouraged sea yachting, with an affiliated center in Trieste where three seagoing yachts were made available to members. In 1935, work was completed on a 10-meter yacht, the “Vltava”, which won the first interstate regatta and the Lord Mayor’s Cup in the same year.

Podolí, famous for rafting activity, is the birthplace of Czech yachting. Opposite the 14th-century rafters’ church is the Czech Yacht Club, a unique three-storey wooden boathouse built in 1912 on the breakwater at Podolí below the rocks of Vyšehrad. This boathouse is now a historical monument.

After the end of World War I, Rössler-Ořovský instigated the establishment of the Czechoslovak Yachting Association. After World War II, only one yacht club remained, the ČYK, but new clubs soon emerged. Czech yachting became part of the International Yacht Racing Association, today the ISAF (International Sailing Federation).

The Czech Yachting Association has brought together 120 yacht clubs and sections, including the Czech Windsurfing Association, Czech Association of Sea Yachting and the Association of Match and Team Racing. The Czech Yacht Club has over 200 members with approximately 90 boats. Juniors sail in Optimist, Cadet, Europa and Fireball category boats. Adults sail in Pirát and Fireball boats or in cruisers.

Most Czechs who sail do so as a hobby, but organized races do take place. The river is more suitable for recreational yachting and training, although one important river event is staged annually. The Lord Mayor’s Shield has been held every autumn since 1946 below Vyšehrad, in memory of the first Lord Mayor of Prague, a member of the ČYK in 1918.

Club members also sail on the North Sea, the Baltic, Mediterranean and Aegean seas. Several members’ boats are moored all year round in German and Italian marinas. The ČYK has constructed its own marina for the summer season in the Sladovařská inlet at Slapy reservoir.

Josef Rössler, grandson of the ČYK’s founder, annually sails his steel-hull yacht from Podoli via Hamburg to the Baltic and North Seas. Younger ČYK members are also active in ocean yachting.

The ČYK also runs cadet training programs, which has as one of it priorities the promotion of sailing and interaction among young people from different countries. Workshops are organized at the Club and adults are encouraged to become crew members if they do not have their own boats.

The ČYK suffered damages of 1,000,000 CZK in the 2002 floods, but dedicated club members ensured that repairs were completed in time for the 2003 season. After World War I, a well-known Czech racing sailor was Eduard Bürgermeister, who competed in the Olympic Regatta in 1924. After World War II, Miroslav Vejvoda emerged as a new talent, competing in both the Tokyo 1964 and Kiev 1972 Olympics and later becoming trainer for the Czechoslovak team.

Another renowned Czech yachtsman was the painter, Jaroslav Čermák, the first Czech to graduate from the French School of Yachting. U.S. Admiral George Dufek, Commanding Officer in the construction of the 7th U.S. base in Antarctica, was also of Czech origin. Successful 21st-century Czech yachtsmen include David Křížek, solo yachtsman and multiple Czech champion in ocean yachting, Milan Hájek, Veronika Fenclová, a Czech Olympic representative, and Daniel Vodička another solo yachtsman. David Křížek coached Lenka Šmídová, winner of the Silver medal for Sailing in the 2004 Athens Olympics, giving her the honor of being the Czech Republic’s first ever Olympic medal-winner in a sailing event.

There are many expanses of water suitable for sailing in the Czech Republic, most popular of all being South Bohemian Lake Lipno on the Vltava with its length of 42km, maximum width of 8km and surface area of 4,870 hectares. Lipno, as the country’s top sailing venue, hosts various major regattas. The lake shores are dotted with recreational centers, hotels, guesthouses, chalets and campsites, as well as many businesses catering for the rental of boats and water sports equipment.

Orlík is a trough-shaped reservoir enclosed by steep cliffs. This dam is an excellent yachting venue and is equipped with a lift for sports boats. Slapy is a valley reservoir on the Vltava River, 18 km. west of Benešov, with perfect sailing conditions and facilities.

Other popular spots for sailing are Jesenice, 7km. from Cheb on the Odra River; Hracholusky on the Mže River, near Plzeň; Skalka, a valley reservoir west of Cheb; Nechranice, on the Ohře River and Máchovo Jezero, a natural lake in North Bohemia with several yacht clubs, situated in beautiful natural surroundings. In South Moravia, popular yachting venues are Vranov, in a deep narrow valley of the Dyje River, 15km. north-west of Znojmo and Nové Mlýny, also on the Dyje.

Numerous companies cater to the Czech love of sailing, such as Sailing Europe, which offers both skippered and bareboat yacht charters in Croatia, Italy, Slovenia and Montenegro. Ice Sailing, which originated in the Netherlands as a commercial means of winter transport in the 18th century, has developed into an exhilarating winter sport in over 20 countries, including the Czech Republic.

The essentials for ice sailing are access to a lake or sea bay, an expanse of safe ice, wind and minimal snow. Winter conditions in this country are ideal, with all these basic requirements adequately being met. Brno hosts the annual International Boat Brno show, the 2007 event being scheduled for 8-11 November. As boats have increased in size and comfort, so has the Czech market, therefore this prestigious exhibition is a major showcase for the increasingly enthusiastic sailing fraternity.

Boat Brno is the most important event of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe, organized in co-operation with the team of the Boot Düsseldorf exhibition.

Today, the horizons are boundless for sailors in the landlocked Czech Republic.