Lakeshore of Balaton, beaches - Balatonfüred, Hungary

Location:

GPS coordinates: Latitude 46°57'20", Longitude 17°54'3" (N46 57.33 - E17 54.05) Map

A N20 or Nacra 20 class sports catamaran racing sailboat

NACRA means "North American Catamaran Racing Association"

In 2011 the Lake Balaton and Balatonfüred town was the home of the world championship of the F18 (Formula 18) sports catamaran sailing boat class. The competition of the F18 racing is one of the most spectacular sailing sports, because the approximately 18 feet (5.5 meters) long double-hulled sailboats are quite fast and well manoeuvrable, so there is no lack in action during the races. There were 136 competitors from 26 countries in this world championship at Lake Balaton, and the Darren Bundock - Jeroen van Leeuwen Australian duo was the winner. There were two Hungarian boats in the Top50, Hungary's best was the Váradi Szabó János - Petheö Tamás duo who were placed 37th overall. Moreover, it has to be mentioned the Hungarian-born Bianka Róka, who raced in a French boat with Fréderique Pfeiffer and finished in the 23th position in the Silver Group, and in addition they were the winner among the women.

The location of the competition was also visited by the world champion French yachtsman Franck Cammas. Together with his crew of 10 teammates he won the Jules Verne Trophy (the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht) with his "Groupama 3" trimaran in 2010. It took 48 days 7 hours 44 minutes 52 seconds to them to sail around the world, but this record was broken in 2012 by the also French-born Loïck Peyron (the new record is approximately 45 day and 13 hours). In addition, Franck Cammas also won the Volvo Ocean race (another yacht race around the world) of 2011-2012.

Mute swan (Cygnus olor) on the pier

The mute swan (Cygnus olor) can be seen in many places at Lake Balaton, this is one of the largest birds that is able to fly. It has a wingspan of more than 2 meters, its weight can reach even the 14 kilograms. This waterfowl has an orange or red bill with a pronounced typical black knob atop it. It is the national bird of Danmark. Originally it became extinct in the wild in most of its native habitats, but probably thanks to its beauty it was resettled in many places just for pleasure. In Hungary it appeared first and began to nest at the Lake Fertő (or Lake Neusiedl) in 1970. The mute swans reached Lake Balaton in the 1980s, it has been proven that in 1982 the species already nestled at the lake. Since then their numbers continue to grow and more couples stay at the Balaton Lake even in winter. More people believe that this swans are strangers on the largest lake of Central Europe, and in their oppinion the relative aggressive behavior against the other bird species is also a problem. However, it is sure that the swans were native at Lake Balaton in the past, moreover they resettled here in the last couple of decades by a natural process, without any human intervention.