Popadni šanci za pačesy
78 ǀ POSITIV MAN 2026
Seize Opportunity by the Forelock
Today, people pay for dark rooms so they can be alone and think. In 1968, Richard Konkolski
built the boat Niké in a at in Bohumín, with which he became the rst Czech to sail solo
around the world three mes. What did he experience alone on the open ocean? How did a boy
from a landlocked country become a captain? Through plans upon plans, the joy of hard work,
and a return home to help others.
You were born in Bohumín, far from the ocean.
What draws a boy from inland to a journey
around the world?
A person isn’t born and immediately decides to go
out and discover the world. Such a decision comes
through a certain development. In my case, it was
an interest in the sea, seafarers and exploration, then
building model boats, and also the environment I grew
up in. In my youth, there was even a pond on the main
street in Bohumín. Where there is a school today,
there used to be four ponds, another just outside
the town, and not far away the confluence of the Odra
and the Olše rivers.
At the age of ten, I built my first kayak from newspapers
glued together with oil paint. At sixteen, I started
competitive sailing. After ten successful years, I moved
on to ocean sailing, and only after my first solo race
across the Atlantic did the time come for my first solo
voyage around the world.
When you were alone in the middle of the ocean,
what was going on inside of you?
From an early age, I had responsibilities, just like
my friends around me, and I never had to search
for myself. Every one of my voyages had a goal that
I had set long before I even began preparing for it.
| Text: Monika Ševčíková, foto: Richard Konkolski