Baltic Star

The gaff cutter Baltic Star is one of the oldest wooden ships in Poland, alongside Antica, Ark, Bonawentura, Bryza H, Generał Zaruski, and Zjawa IV. Built in 1947 in Darłowo from oak wood, it was originally intended for fishing. It underwent a major refit in 1997 and now cruises the Baltic and North Seas, participating in sailing events and oldtimer rallies.

Baltic Star was constructed in 1947 in Darłowo as a sailing fishing boat of the KD-153 type. The Darłowo Fishery Shipyard built a total of 10 such vessels, initially designated as Mayerform 15 m, later reclassified as KD-153. The design was based on German vessels, with some partially built hulls still remaining at the former Franz Goetz Bootswerft shipyard in Rügenwalde (now Darłowo).

After Baltic Star was launched, she served Darłowo’s fishermen for many years, and in the 1950s was taken over by the Border Protection Forces. In the late 1960s, after being demobilized, she returned to fishing, operating successively from the ports of Łeba, Władysławowo, Górki Wschodnie, and Jastarnia. In the late 1970s, she was withdrawn from fishing and ended up in private hands, transformed into a recreational vessel under the name Makler. Before undergoing a major refit in 1997 — carried out by Wojciech Dubois of Kołobrzeg — the vessel changed ownership several times, including being owned by banks and private individuals from Scotland and Ireland.

In the years that followed, Baltic Star participated in cod fishing expeditions out of Kołobrzeg and took part in numerous sailing rallies, from Flensburg to Karlskrona.

The new owners decided to repaint the ship’s hull from black to white and renamed her from KD-153 to her current name. They also perform regular maintenance, and in 2019 added a decorative galloon under the bowsprit. In 2016, the vessel received a Sea Letter from the Mayor of Gdańsk, Paweł Adamowicz, granting her the honor of representing the city to sailors around the world.