Brave trainee, hooked

Denitsa Pencheva, the 20-year-old trainee aboard the Bulgarian ship Kaliakra (pictured above) has never sailed before but according to Captain Stanislav Kaludov she’ one of the most enthusiastic.

He said he was amazed when she volunteered to be the first one to climb the mast. äóìMost trainees are reluctant to do this because they are often worried about what might happen but she has little fear of heights and is always ready for action.äó

Bubbling with enthusiasm this morning just before the ship undocked for the Parade of Sail, Pencheva told us about how she got involved with sail training and how she instantly took to life on the ocean waves: äóìI saw this beautiful ship moored in the port in Varna and thought about how wonderful it would be to sail on her. I’d never sailed before but I have some good friends who went on as trainees last year and recommended I should sign up for this race.äó

Pencheva joined the ship on her passage from Varna to the start at Volos, Greece and will now continue with the rest of the Historical Seas Regatta. She continued: äóìThis is a great chance for me to learn new things and so far I am really enjoying it. I was surprised at how I really took to sailing. I haven’t experienced any stormy conditions yet though but I think that will be an interesting experience when it happens.äó

To track the Historical Seas Tall Ships Regatta fleet as they race click here. 

To view the current placings of the race click here. 

To view the combined race results of Leg 1 and 2 of Race 1 click here.

The Historical Seas Tall Ships Regatta is organised by Sail Training International.