Hydra Regatta 2025 - 52nd Greek Revolution Regatta

A year after my first Hydra race, I went back. Same boat, Hakuna Matata, the Comet 41S. Same skipper, Dimitris Sofitsis. Same plan: deliver the boat from Kavala to Athens, then race to Hydra and back.

This time the delivery was one way for me. Right after the race I had to fly from Athens to Sofia to become the godfather of a close friend's son. 👶 Before any of that, though, the sea had other plans. This is the story of the worst conditions I have ever sailed in. ⛈️

👥 The crew

The crew was new, but not unfamiliar. Alongside Greek fellows from previous regattas, we had four brave and skilled Romanian sailors, two couples. 🇬🇷🇷🇴🇧🇬 As in 2024, Dimitris wasn't on board for the delivery. He joined us for the race.

I was a bit out of shape for this one. I didn't yet know how much that would matter.

⛈️ The delivery: a storm between Thassos and Limnos

From the moment we left, a freezing north wind followed us from behind. 🥶 It was Siberian air, pouring down across the Black Sea, through Bulgaria and into Greece.

The forecast said 30+ knots. Manageable, or so we expected. Instead the wind kept building, and between Thassos and Limnos it caught us badly. At night we were in steady winds of 50+ knots, with a fierce, stormy sea: waves piling on top of each other and breaking over themselves. A sea worth seeing once, and never again. Probably some of the worst conditions the Mediterranean can produce.

The boat didn't just roll from side to side, as it usually does in heavy weather. It moved in a spiral, drifting and heeling in all three dimensions at once. That was the moment I realised that if anyone went overboard, there would be no way for the crew to get them back. 🌊

Everyone on board was seasick, me included.

I had prepared much better than the year before. I had excellent Orca Bay sailing boots, salopettes, a proper jacket rated to 30,000 mm of waterproofing, and real offshore winter gloves with a separate thumb. None of it was enough. With rain and wave after wave crashing over the boat, no clothing in the world can keep that cold water out. In the middle of the night we were soaked through.

⚓ Limnos, 1 a.m.

We reached Limnos around 1 a.m., all of us with some degree of hypothermia. Even inside the protected marina, every boat was shaking in the swell. On the quay we could barely stand: for every step forward, the wind pushed us two steps back. Metal trash cans looked ready to take off, and anything not tied down was about to fly, from closed heavy umbrellas to street signs. 💨

The coast guard officer on duty came over and asked what on earth we were doing there, first in Greek, then in English. He was clearly frustrated: the sea was closed to everything, he said. Boats, yachts, ferries, cargo ships, nothing was allowed out.

In the end we ate well and found rooms in a nearby hotel with proper heating. 🔥 After that night, a warm room felt like a second life.

🧭 The race

The 52nd Greek Revolution Race, organised by the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club (HORC), ran from 21 to 23 March 2025: Faliro to Hydra, a day off on the island, then Hydra back to Faliro. The Performance fleet had 31 boats, and we raced in division P2 with 10 boats, again alongside our sister Comet 41S, Aristofani.

Race 1 started at 4 p.m., so we raced into the night and crossed the line at Hydra just before midnight, after 7 hours 50 minutes. The way back took 7 hours 22 minutes. By then the crew was well drilled, the wind was a solid, steady 16–20 knots and more, with occasional drops, and the boat felt fast and predictable. 💨 Then, a couple of miles from the finish, we made a mistake. Avoiding a big cargo ship, we ended up inside the shipping lane. While recovering our course we broached again: the mainsheet jammed on release during the gybe, then jammed a second time when I had to sheet the main back in for close-hauled sailing. It cost us valuable time right at the end.

🌊 The challenges

• The storm before the start. 50+ knots and a confused sea at night, between Thassos and Limnos. Nothing in the race came close.
• The cold. A Siberian north wind from the first hour, rain and breaking waves. Even proper winter gear couldn't keep us dry, and we all reached Limnos with some degree of hypothermia. 🥶
• Seasickness. Everyone on board, with no exceptions.
• My own shape. I came into this one less fit than I should have been, and offshore conditions find every weakness.
• Safety. Knowing that a crew member overboard could not have been recovered changes how you see the sea, and how seriously you take every move on deck.
• The race itself. Approaching Hydra at night, we got stuck in a no-wind zone again. This time, with last year's lesson learned, we stayed much closer to the rest of the fleet instead of sailing into the island's shadow alone. 🌙

Our result: 6th of 10 in division P2 and 16th of 31 in the Performance fleet, with a 4th in our division on the way to Hydra. A big step up from 2024, when we finished 26th of 32. Better sails and equipment made a real difference, and our Romanian heroes performed really well. 💪

🏝️ Off the boat

Hydra was just as surreal the second time, but now it felt familiar. On the rest day the weather was warm and sunny, so we took long walks across the island again. ☀️ This time I came home with real photos of Hydra's spirit: the animals and the views, cats, horses, dogs and more. 🐈🐴🐕

Like last year, I rented a nice big place ashore to escape the crowded boat. The Romanian crew did the same, so in the end Hakuna Matata was almost empty, with only three Greek crew members sleeping on board. 🏠

🎬 Closing

There is no full video from this one, but I did capture a short: Hydra Regatta 2025 on YouTube. 🎥

Right after the finish in Faliro, I headed to the airport and flew home to Sofia to become a godfather. ✈️ It was a strange contrast: from a storm at sea and a race to Hydra, to a christening back home.

The flight surprised me. The plane followed roughly the same route as our delivery, and from my window seat I tracked our path on my phone's GPS. 📱 In under an hour of comfortable, dry, warm flying, we covered the same distance that had cost us long, exhausting hours at sea: cold, wet, and with a storm on top of it all. Looking down at that stretch of water from above was truly humbling.

Hydra 2025 taught me respect for the sea that no course can teach. I prepared better than the year before, and the sea still showed me where the limits are. I'll be back, with even better gear, better fitness, and the same crew spirit. ⛵

Fair winds!

Race results: https://horc.gr/52nd-greek-revolutionary-race-hydra-march-23-25-2025/?lang=en