Marek Gosieniecki Memorial Regatta and Zawisza Cup

Our annual "Marek Gosieniecki Memorial Regatta" and "Zawisza Cup" take place in Oakville on the last Saturday and Sunday in September. All sailors are invited to participate in spinnaker and white sails division. Valid PHRF certificate is required.

During "Marek Gosieniecki Memorial Regatta" the donations are collected for the fight with cancer and for the support of underprivileged children. Approximately $1000 is being sent to qualified institution in Poland every year since 1999.

There will be no meetings on Tuesdays at the "Polish House" untill the end of the sailing season.

As we have mentioned our club was formed to serve the needs of Polish born sailors in Ontario, and this is where most of our activities are concentrated. That is why our Polish Section - Po Polsku has a lot more interesting material. If you do not mind the language barrier you are welcome to come there and see.

If you have any questions or comments we will be glad to answer: Webmaster

To start with, allow us to give you a hint, how we pronounce it. Zavisha Charny may be a close enough representation in English, when you pronounce the "char" as in "charm, and "y" as in ready.
Zawisza Czarny was a Polish knight who lived in the years 1375 to 1428. He was famous not only for his skills and bravoury, but mostly because he was always keeping his word - no matter what. His name became in Polish language a synonym for "trustworthy". That is one part of the name - seems like it has not much to do with sailing. Wait a minute there is something more...
Poland had a very dramatic and often tragic history. The major reason for it was our location: just between Russia from the East and Germany from the West. From the South we had either the might of the Ottoman Empire trying to invade the Christian Europe or the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As a result of this unfortunate location both World Wars have been fought on the territory of Poland. But not only this: by the end of XVIII century, Russian Empire, Prussia, and Austrian Empire signed an agreement, based on which they divided Poland into 3 pieces, invaded our country, and took it out of existence for 150 years. But Poland always lived in the hearts of Polish people. By the end of the World War I Poland was reinstated as a country on November 11, 1918, and gained the access to the Baltic Sea. Be patient - we are getting closer to the sailing. After the World War I Poland was a devastated country and the recreation of the state with it's structures was a formidable task. At this time Polish Scouting was created. One of the sections of the Polish Scouting Organization was devoted to a propagation of sailing. In 1934 Polish Scouting Organization purchased an older three masted gaff rigged, 37.5 meter OAL, schooner as a main training vessel. They named her "Zawisza Czarny". You see we are sailing now! Unfortunately "Zawisza Czarny" did not survive well German agression on Poland in 1939 and the World War II. In 1952 old "Zawisza Czarny" was replaced with a new steel three masted schooner. "Zawisza Czarny II" is now the flagship of the Polish Scouting Organization, and a largest sailing vessel in any Scout organization in the world. She carries proudly the number PZ-1 on the main sail. S/Y Zawisza Czarny took part in many international events. One of them was: The Peace Cruise which took a number of young people from various countries aboard Zawisza Czarny around the world.
For us the name "Zawisza Czarny" has a lot of meaning: the famous knight, first Polish sporting sailing vessel, and a reflection on Polish history. For a Canadian sailor it could be something like "Bluenose", but with a more meaningfull name - like Henry Hudson, John Davies or Alexander McKenzie. Now I hope, if I did not bore you to death, you know a little bit more about our tongue twister name.
You can see a picture of the schooner "Zawisza Czarny" on the left, and the heraldic symbol of the knight Zawisza Czarny on our club burgee below.

...if you make a gybe, set your course on our logbook and put there a record of your visit.

Our club is certified to provide measurement and filing services for the PHRF handicap applications for Lake Ontario. Please contact Peter Kubacki (905-659-0087) in this regard.