Sailing club Reful was founded in 1993 with the aim of improving sports and recreational sailing in the area of the City of Cres and promoting, encouraging and developing sailing. The club brings together young people and other people interested in attending a sailing school, or for recreational sailing. He prepares his members to participate in domestic and international competitions, which he organizes himself. The greatest pride of the club is certainly Igor Marenić, Olympic, world and European champion who acquired his first skills just sailing the Cres Bay.
In recent years, the club has been intensively promoting the idea, almost philosophy, that sailing in the island milieu is not just a sport but is primarily a component of the maritime identity of the islanders, part of their tradition and way of life. Following this idea, JD Reful, in cooperation with the Frane Petrić Elementary School in Cres, was the first in Croatia to introduce sailing as an extracurricular subject. In the same vein, in recent years the club has focused a significant part of its activities on the preservation and valorization of Cres’ maritime and fishing heritage. The biggest project so far was the organization of a seven-day event called Creski kaić – Days of Cres maritime heritage and tradition, which was held in June 2019 and aroused great interest and enthusiasm of the local population and guest satisfaction.
In order to make the event traditional and to increase the number of events and spread over several months, JD Reful has established a partnership with the Island Development Agency and the City of Cres, with which a three-year project entitled “Creski kaić – preservation and valorization of fishing and maritime heritage of the island Cres “.
The main goal of the project is to preserve and valorize intangible cultural heritage in terms of the traditional way of life of the island of Cres associated with maritime and fisheries and to raise general awareness of the importance of maritime and fishing heritage in preserving the island’s identity. At the heart of the project are local residents of all ages who will be the main actors or participants in many activities. In this way, islanders, especially the younger generations, will be encouraged to actively contribute to the preservation and promotion of local maritime and fishing heritage. By joining the project, the island’s population will remember and pay tribute to all shipbuilders who throughout history have included Cres and its shipyard on the map of the best wooden shipyards on the Adriatic. One of the target groups of the project are guests (tourists) who, by participating in activities or following the events, will be able to experience the authentic elements of island life and local identity.
