Wooden elegance under sail: Betina's Regatta for Soul and Body
by Betinska Gajeta 22 Aug 13:16 UTC
In Betina, a small village on the island of Murter, tradition does not sit behind glass in a museum. It breathes, sings, and sails. Every year, on the third Sunday of August, the harbor fills with the elegant silhouettes of wooden boats under their lateen sails as the Regata za dušu i tilo, literally the "Regatta for the Soul and the Body," sets out to sea.
This annual celebration is more than a regatta. It is a living homage to the maritime soul of Betina, a town famous for its centuries-old craft of wooden shipbuilding. Here, traditional wooden boats such as the gajeta (a small, sturdy fishing boat), the kaic (a simple open dinghy once essential to everyday island life), and the leut (a larger sailing vessel historically used for transport and trade) are not relics of the past but vessels of memory and pride, each one a floating story passed from one generation to the next.
The 23rd edition gathered over forty traditional wooden beauties, their sails catching a Levant breeze between 5 and 15 knots. For two hours, they danced across the Adriatic in a scene that felt like a step back in time. At the finish line, it was gajeta Ilka, guided by the steady hand of helmsman Vice Jušic, that claimed victory, a triumph greeted with cheers echoing across the waterfront.
But the Regata za dušu i tilo is not only about who crosses the line first. Organized by the Betina Gajeta Association with the support of the Betina Tourist Board and the Municipality of Tisno, it is a gathering that honors the artistry of wooden shipbuilding and the seafaring way of life that once sustained the island. Every boat and every sail is a piece of living heritage.
Over two decades, the regatta has grown into one of the Adriatic's most cherished showcases of maritime tradition. This year, its story was enriched with the release of a book: Regata za dušu i tilo: 20 Years Under the Sails of Tradition in Honor of the Assumption of Mary. Written by Marinka Fržop, president of the Betina Gajeta Association, and published by the Public Library and Reading Room of Tisno and the Municipality of Tisno, it captures not only the history of the event but also the spirit of a community bound to the sea.
"In this book we have woven together twenty years of dedication and love for the gajeta," Fržop explains. "It is an invaluable record of our shared heritage. A museum may tell our story, but gatherings like this prove that the story still lives. They nourish both the soul and the body, returning us to a time when simplicity was the natural rhythm of island life."
Since its first edition in 2003, the Regata za dušu i tilo has been much more than a race. Born at a time when everyday lateen sailing had almost disappeared, it became a reminder of when wooden boats were lifelines, carrying men and women alike to their fields and vineyards across the water. Today, the course still follows those same routes, but now it is sailed for love rather than survival.
And perhaps that is its greatest triumph. In every sail raised by a child learning the ropes, in every weathered hand steadying a tiller, the regatta ensures that Betina's story is not only remembered but lived, heart first and under sail.