From Sweden to Poland: Mission Baltic Sea crossing - three questions for Maciek Rutkowski

From Sandhamn in Sweden, 200 kilometres across the Baltic Sea to the Polish "surf capital" of Wladyslawowo at the beginning of the Hel Peninsula - Maciek Rutkowski wants to cover this distance in under seven hours. The 2022 PWA World Champion is motivated not only by personal success, but also by a good cause: the "Mission: Baltic" aims to raise awareness of Rett syndrome and collect money for the daughter of Polish powerboat pilot Bartek Marszałek, who suffers from the syndrome. The time window for the crossing runs from 9 to 23 September, after which Maciek will head to Sylt for the World Cup.

Livestream of the Baltic Sea crossing with data and original audio

The entire mission will be livestreamed, therefore Maciek's technology partner Samsung equipping the team with its devices. "Galaxy smartphones equipped with advanced cameras will be mounted directly on the athlete’s gear, while the entire route will be streamed live on his YouTube channel. Galaxy smartwatches will track parameters such as distance, speed, heart rate, calories burned, and time remaining to the finish line in real time. This way, the extreme effort will be translated into numbers!", the organisers promise.

"This will be the toughest, most dangerous race I’ve ever sailed," emphasises Maciek. "Extreme effort, fatigue and pain. For the first time, the world will see something like this live! The equipment I’ll be using – the sail, the board – will have smartphones with top-quality cameras attached. Never before has anyone been this close during an attempt at such a record! Alongside me will be a 700-horsepower boat providing support and carrying the film crew. We want everyone to feel the effort and emotions. I’ll have an earpiece and a microphone on my helmet, so if my condition allows, I’ll stay in touch with viewers."

"Mission: Baltic" - Maciek Rutkowski in surf interview

How did the idea come about and how did you choose the route?

I guess the idea is not too creative/innovative to cross the sea you grew up windsurfing on, specially if it’s relatively doable like the Baltic is with the dominating W-WSW winds. It’s more HOW to do it that’s been growing for the last 4-5 years since I first sketched out the project. How to make it fast and safe, where to get a boat that can do 30 knots in very rough water, how to engage with people while doing it, how to make it attractive enough for sponsors, how to do the finish line so it’s spectacular, is it possible to livestream it and most importantly how to do it so its not just a record for my CV and ego, how to benefit other people from this challenge. So yes, more than 200 kilometres on one tack will be super challenging, but the organizational, logistical and media challenge is probably even bigger!

More than 200 kilometres on one tack will be super challenging, but the organizational, logistical and media challenge is probably even bigger!"

How do you prepare yourself, whats the setup in equipment and support?

Honestly a lot of the preparation is in those organizational challenges. We did a trial day, but on the last minute the forecast changed and we ended up having no wind, so the crew could test out all the live-streaming devices, but we didn’t really do many kilometers. The setup is as good as it gets, we have a 9-meter-RIB with two engines of 350 horsepower each, so it goes 60 knots in flat water. The crew is as slim as can be, we think the more people the more potential problems so we have the skipper, a physio/medical person, two camera operators and one technical person that will help me in case something breaks and also helps the streaming guys in case they need an extra hand. I’m taking a bunch of spare gear on board, loads of snacks and supplements. Apart from planning everything out I added some more resistence stuff into my training and am trying to windsurf as much as I can, but it’s been pretty dead the last week or so - summer has been awesome in North Europe but just as I got back from the tour it’s been pretty quiet!

What are the conditions you are looking for to give the green light?

Anything in the 12- 25 knot range is fine. I’m gonna foil, so I’m not too bothered as long as it’s windy. The Baltic Sea has really short period swells, so for the boat and streaming sake it would be best if it’s more like 15 knots but if there’s a forecast with anything from W, WSW or SW, we go! The poor guys on the boat gonna have to eat a bunch of anti-sea sickness meds and suck it up! I reckon I have the easy job here, haha!

Thank you very much and good luck!

As soon as Maciek Rutkowski has started his Baltic Sea crossing, you can follow the livestream here on surf-magazin.de!