Volvo Gdynia Sailing Days: over a dozen formats, one print shop, one regatta date

01 Context and challenge

A regatta is an event split between water and land. On the water there are boats that need graphics able to withstand wind, water and contact with the rigging. On land a regatta village is built, with stage platforms, guest zones and a place for ceremonies. Posters and citylights appear in the city, and guests receive invitations and wristbands.

For Volvo Gdynia Sailing Days, all of these needs came to us within one preparation period. Orders arrived in parallel, often from different people on the organising side. According to our management, the orders were linked to the Polish Sailing Association and the City of Gdynia. Each item had different material requirements, and there was one deadline: the first day of the regatta. On top of that came the seaside logistics: delivery from Wieluń to the other end of Poland, to a waterfront venue.

02 Our role and solution

Our task was to produce the printed branding for the event. Instead of several suppliers, each making one type of display item, the organiser had one production base for the complete set.

What we did:
- branding of the village and regatta zone: banners, backdrops and displays for sponsor zones and guest zones,
- mesh banners for larger areas, where the wind off the sea rules out a solid banner,
- materials for stage platforms,
- boat decals made from self-adhesive vinyl, such as our cast vinyl for vehicle wraps,
- citylights and information posters,
- wristbands for participants and guests,
- invitation printing,
- other printed items for the event.

What we did not do: we were not the regatta organiser, nor a supplier to the title sponsor.

03 How we worked

The key was splitting one event into several parallel production paths. Boat vinyl requires a different material, laminate and cutting from a fence banner. Mesh goes on a different machine from an invitation, and wristbands have yet another finishing process. We planned each path separately, but counted all of them back from the same start day.

When choosing materials, we considered the conditions by the water. On surfaces exposed to wind we used mesh instead of solid banner material. On the boats, self-adhesive vinyl was needed that would stay on the hull in contact with water. Not every element had to be made with the same technology, and we did not try to force uniformity.

We assembled the finished items into sets by zone and purpose, so that they could be quickly distributed on site. We chose the delivery channel to Gdynia to suit the size and deadline of the order: courier, dedicated transport or our own vehicles.

04 Results

The operational result was easy to verify: a complete set of printed branding for each regatta edition we served, from boat graphics to invitations, prepared by one plant. The organiser did not have to coordinate several print shops or check whether the posters and boat vinyl would arrive at the same time. According to our management, the cooperation lasted 2–3 years, which means repeat orders for subsequent editions. We do not give print runs or square metres, as we do not have them confirmed in the documentation.

05 What set us apart

What counted in this project was a variety of technologies in one place. At the plant in Wieluń we have large-format printing, including UV printing up to 3.2 m wide, textile printing, vinyl cutting and small-format print. As a result, the waterfront banner, the hull vinyl and the guest invitation were produced on one schedule rather than at three different companies. The same team kept the colours consistent across items made from different materials, which matters for an event with a single identity.

Volvo Gdynia Sailing Days is one of two large Gdynia projects described separately. We show the broader, long-term support for city sports events in the Gdyńskie Centrum Sportu case study.