English
Since 2013, when the Freeport of Riga Authority built the yacht port infrastructure in Ķīpsala, the Children and Youth Maritime School has been successfully operating for 8 years under the auspices of the City Yacht Club, and more than 400 children aged 5-15 have been educated and trained.
“It is a unique opportunity for children and young people to enjoy open air sport activities several times a week, to spend their free time with purpose both sailing and participating in competitions and regattas,” emphasized coach Vita Matīse.
The opportunity to improve the work of the sailing school, as well as to develop the overall offer and quality of the yacht club service is provided by the participation of the Freeport of Riga Authority in the project “Improvement of sailing infrastructure and yacht harbours network building in Estonia and Latvia (EST-LAT Harbors)” of the Estonian-Latvian Cross-border Cooperation Program 2014-2020. Within the framework of the project, the infrastructure of the yacht club has been improved, yacht berths have been equipped, work premises for storage of inventory and a place for recreation have been established.
“The newly created infrastructure has provided opportunities to improve the work of children and youth school, now we can admit more students to the school, as well as extend the school season, - you know, without the new infrastructure, training in bad weather conditions would be very difficult, ”said the coach.
Currently, the Freeport of Riga Authority is involved in the Estonian-Latvian Cross-Border Cooperation Program project “Improvement and promotion of the East Baltic Coast harbours network”.
As part of the project activities, it is planned to equip the City Yacht Club with a yacht lift, a crane for removing yacht masts, as well as work tables and tools to ensure yacht repairs in the yacht port territory. Parallel to that, it is planned to equip the yacht port of the association “Latvian Sailing Team” with additional pontoon platforms for protection of the yacht port from waves and create additional equipped yacht berths with water and electricity supply. All works are to be completed by December 31, 2022.
“Yacht ports are recognized all over the world as popular tourist attractions, being the part and parcel of the urban environment. It is an environmentally friendly, ecologically clean form of tourism and sports, which annually brings revenue to the city and provides an input into the national economy,” emphasized Viesturs Zeps, Chairman of the Freeport of Riga Board. "Our goal is to highlight the name of Riga on the map, used by the sailors of the Baltic Sea and Scandinavian region, as well as to create good preconditions for the development of sailing sports in Riga,” added V.Zeps.
The Freeport of Riga currently boasts 5 well-equipped yacht ports on both banks of the Daugava. Yachts of any size can enter the port of Riga without restrictions on length, height and draft. For yachts and recreational craft, navigation is allowed in the entire water area of the Port of Riga. The website of the Freeport of Riga Authority contains information on sailing - https://rop.lv/en/sailors .
Information for media
- liene.ozola [at] rop.lv, +371 670 308 53
- Freeport of Riga Authority
- 12 Kalpaka blvd, Riga, Latvia, LV-1010
