FRYDERYK CHOPIN

The two-masted sailing ship was built in the Dora shipyard in Gdynia. She is the largest brig in the world and the only Polish square-rigged ship with six spars.

The idea to build FRYDERYK CHOPIN was coined on board of POGORIA, during an International Class Afloat voyage (1988-89). The originator of the idea was Krzysztof Baranowski, a famous Polish sailor, who planned to organize cruises on board of the barquentine. Since his enthusiasm for making long and distant voyages did not win the support of the then POGORIA’s owners, he thought of building a new ship. He talked into collaboration Dorota and Eryk Jacobson who funded the building of the hull. They managed to attract other sponsors and continue the project until its successful completion. The ship was launched in November 1990 and commissioned on 29th February 1992. The designer for the ship was naval architect Zygmunt Choreń, who already had experience of designing over 10 large sailing ships. His experience and observations helped him to develop his first brig with a rare six-spar rigging. This produced a very fast crew-friendly tall ship.

Her first homeport was Gdańsk, and the first owner was the International Class Afloat established by Krzysztof Baranowski. In her maiden voyage, the ship crossed the Atlantic to participate in the Columbus regatta commemorating the 500th anniversary of America’s discovery. The crew consisted of young people who, apart from their sailing duties, followed a regular middle school education programme.

Three years into her service, dark clouds gathered over FRYDERYK CHOPIN. She was kept on a mooring rope for a year and a half, detained due to financial troubles of the owner. She started sailing again in 1998 when a subsidiary of the Kredyt Bank became her new owner. In the meantime, her homeport changed to Szczecin.

29th October 2010 marked the most dramatic moment in the history of the brig. FRYDERYK CHOPIN lost both masts in a storm of 11 in the Beaufort wind scale. Fortunately, no crew member was injured, but events which followed could make a plot of a thriller. She was detained in the English port of Falmouth, fell into troubles with the insurance company which refused to pay damages, and a court case was filed by English fishermen who demanded a handsome compensation for towing the ship to the harbour. Fortunately, when in need, FRYDERYK CHOPIN could count on her friends. In 2011, 3Oceans became the operator of the tall ship. The president of the company and the new owner was Piotr Kulczycki, who was a Szczecin-born great enthusiast of sailing. Since then the tables have turned for the ship.

The brig was repaired and set out to sea again to celebrate her regatta success soon after. In 2012, under the command of Captain Tomasz Ostrowski, she won both legs of The Tall Ships Races on the route from Saint Malo to Lisbon and La Coruna to Dublin. It was the first success of the A class Polish sailing ship in the past 23 years. Further successful achievements came very soon. In 2015 and 2019, the Szczecin-based brig again outperformed her rivals. In both instances, she raced under the command of Captain Bartłomiej Skwara.