Why is she called Regina Laska?

The history behind the name

When I bought Regina Laska in 2012 she already had a name, namely Laska. It is said to be bad luck to change a boat’s name. I didn’t mind the name since it sounded nice and means “Love” in Czech.

At the same time I feel very connected to the name Regina after my grandmother and, therefore, our previous two Hallberg-Rassy boats have also been called Regina. We wish to continue to honour my grandma’, my monther’s mother, with whom I had a very special relationship. After she died in 1996, 95 years of age, I still feel her being around and somehow I believe her being the godmother of our boats.

When registering a vessel in a commercial ship registry, it needs a unequivocal name, meaning that only one vessel has this specific name.

In order to solve all these three issues, we have given her the double name Regina Laska. Regina meaning Queen and Laska meaning Love. A loving Queen or the Queen I love?

Since boats, in order to increase their luck even further, preferably should have a name ending with an “A”, what could be better to have both names ending with an “A”?  

Some time later, during my first years of charter, one of my guests onboard was from Poland, called Artur Kawa (Mr. “Coffee”). And my second guests were also from Poland: Peter and Anna Sliwa (Mr. and Mrs. “Plum”). They all asked me why I, for God’s sake, chose a name meaning a walking stick for an old man!

Then, Arturs 18 year old son, Alex, who was present as well, laughed out loud, thinking his father was an old man himself soon needing a walking stick, for sure! Alex explained that “Laska” was something completely different for a guy his age! For him, Laska means a girl that could easily be convinced to get into a pleasant close relationship with – albeit possibly for a short while only.

Whereby his father answered: Well, my dear son, a nice young girl is also a sort of a support for an old man, isn’t it?