Sunshine, wind, and a great atmosphere at the start of the weekend, rain in the middle, and an atmospheric finale: the 136th Travemünde Week was as up and down as the waves on the Baltic Sea. Looking ahead to the closing fireworks display on Sunday evening at 10:45 p.m., the organizers estimate that between 540,000 and 550,000 visitors were treated to a varied program with a number of new features. Although the number of sailors was smaller than in previous years, as the participating classes only fielded small fleets, almost the entire sailing program was completed, making the overall outcome very positive.
After ten exciting days, Uwe Bergmann, Managing Director of uba, Frank Schärffe, Managing Director of Travemünder Woche gGmbH, and Sports Director Jens Kath took stock. Photo: Christian Beeck/TW
“It was a peaceful celebration. That’s what we heard from the security authorities too,” said TW Managing Director Frank Schärffe, delighted with the atmosphere during the ten days, but also taking a critical look at the sailing events: “We adjusted to the lower number of participants and set up fewer courses.” To compensate, Travemünde Week expanded its range with other formats, according to Schärffe: “The keyword here is the SUP race, which brought Travemünde Week into the city. The response was very good. We will consider developing this further and possibly also holding sailing events in the city harbor as match races. However, we will have to check whether the space and wind conditions are suitable for this.”
Looking ahead to the coming years, however, Frank Schärffe already sees other major tasks ahead for the organization: “In 2026 and 2027, the number of participants will be so large that we will reach the capacity limits of the areas available for accommodating the sailors. But that’s not a problem on the water. We can use more regatta courses. We’ve proven that.”
Sports director Jens Kath is therefore looking forward to the coming years with great enthusiasm: “In 2026, we will host the RS Sailing Games here with their various classes, which will hold their world and European championships. We are expecting huge fields ranging from youth to adult categories, from dinghies to keelboats. In addition, there will be the RS Venture Connect, an inclusive class that will hold its world championship. All in all, it’s going to be an exciting story that we’re looking forward to.”
In addition, the Folkeboat Gold Cup, which was originally created in Travemünde, will return to its place of origin in 2026. And the Vaurien class will be back with its world championship, which was already held here in 2018. But that’s not all Jens Kath has to announce: “We can announce that the Joint German Youth and Junior Championships will be held here in 2027. The German Sailing Association awarded us the contract at the opening of this year’s Travemünde Week. With the Dragon Gold Cup taking place at the same time, I can already picture the visionary scene of 60 royal Dragons setting sail surrounded by 200 Optimists and other youth class boats. It’s going to be fantastic.”
Overall race director Anderl Denecke (left) and his co-director Philipp Dörges were very satisfied with how the races went. Photo: Christian Beeck / TW
The sporting organization was also completely satisfied with how the regattas went this year. 140 races, or 90 percent of the planned races, were completed. “That’s a very good result, which is rarely achieved during sailing weeks,” said overall race director Anderl Denecke. “Everything went smoothly on the courses. However, with the smaller number of entries, the fields were also easy to manage. We received very good feedback from the sailors and were able to respond spontaneously to the needs of the classes. The Seascapes enjoyed their first appearance in Travemünde and have announced that they will return in the future for major championships.“
Uwe Bergmann, managing director of the uba agency and organizer of the land program, had mixed feelings: ”There are two points to consider: How satisfied are we with this week, and how satisfied are we with the overall development? On the first point, we are highly dependent on external circumstances. They did not play along this year. The weather threw a huge spanner in the works on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. That was disastrous. And there were too many days to make up for it. But on the good days, we saw the power of Travemünde Week. From 11 a.m. to midnight, the festival mile was full of people having fun – and it was very peaceful.”
The image of Travemünde Week is that of a harmonious festival full of fun and content – for families too. “It’s varied, with different entertainment elements. We brought back the Passat staging with the laser show and the performances on the stage in the Brügmann Garden. The Ferris wheel is where it belongs: on the beach.” The new TW Forum is an innovation with a strong focus on content. “People will be interviewed on stage about topics that concern us in connection with Travemünde Week. And the forum has been well received. People sit on the steps of the König Pilsener terraces and listen. Guests don’t just want entertainment, they also want content. I’m really thrilled about how Travemünde Week has diversified despite our difficult financial circumstances. We’re all a little proud of that.”Overall race director Anderl Denecke (left) and his co-director Philipp Dörges were very satisfied with how the races went. Photo: Christian Beeck / TW
The sporting organization was also completely satisfied with how the regattas went this year. 140 races, or 90 percent of the planned races, were completed. “That’s a very good result, which is rarely achieved during sailing weeks,” said overall race director Anderl Denecke. “Everything went smoothly on the courses. However, with the smaller number of entries, the fields were also easy to manage. We received very good feedback from the sailors and were able to respond spontaneously to the needs of the classes. The Seascapes enjoyed their first appearance in Travemünde and have announced that they will return in the future for major championships.“
Uwe Bergmann, managing director of the uba agency and organizer of the land program, had mixed feelings: ”There are two points to consider: How satisfied are we with this week, and how satisfied are we with the overall development? On the first point, we are highly dependent on external circumstances. They did not play along this year. The weather threw a huge spanner in the works on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. That was disastrous. And there were too many days to make up for it. But on the good days, we saw the power of Travemünde Week. From 11 a.m. to midnight, the festival mile was full of people having fun – and it was very peaceful.”
The image of Travemünde Week is that of a harmonious festival full of fun and content – for families too. “It’s varied, with different entertainment elements. We brought back the Passat staging with the laser show and the performances on the stage in the Brügmann Garden. The Ferris wheel is where it belongs: on the beach.” The new TW Forum is an innovation with a strong focus on content. “People will be interviewed on stage about topics that concern us in connection with Travemünde Week. And the forum has been well received. People sit on the steps of the König Pilsener terraces and listen. Guests don’t just want entertainment, they also want content. I’m really thrilled about how Travemünde Week has diversified despite our difficult financial circumstances. We’re all a little proud of that.”
Although visitor numbers were around ten percent below forecasts, “the most important thing is that guests had fun here at Travemünde Week. And they certainly did,” said Uwe Bergmann.
The winner is determined without the need for additional races, setting a new record
At the end of Travemünde Week, the regatta program came to a standstill once again. With the Baltic Sea as smooth as glass, the sea sailors, Formula 18 catamaran athletes, and participants in the German Open Seascape 18 were left waiting around. But then things happened very quickly, as no more wind was expected. At 11:30 a.m., AP was raised above A on the flagpole, signaling that there would be no more races on the last day of the 136th Travemünde Week.
This meant that brothers Helge and Christian Sach celebrated a new TW record. Their success in the Formula 18 class brought their total number of victories to 23. Jan Wilkens/Tobias Rieger (Hohen Wieschendorf) won the German title in the Seascape 18 class. And on the sea course, the crews of the “Sola” skippered by Ulli Tesch (Lübeck) and the “Matchbox” skippered by Torsten Habicht (Wismar) celebrated victories in the middle distance.
The crew of the “Sola” sailed to victory in the yardstick classification of the middle distance race. Photo: Christian Beeck / TW
It was a tough weekend for the offshore sailors in the middle distance regatta. On Saturday, they had to battle their way through calm zones in Lübeck Bay in light winds. At least the two fleets in the Yardstick and ORC classifications managed to reach the finish line. On Sunday, however, there was not a breath of wind to be found on the Baltic Sea – no matter how hard race director Jens Hahlbrock looked.
The overall standings were thus determined after just one race. In the ORC yacht class, the “Matchbox” completed the approximately 25-nautical-mile course in just under four hours. Torsten Habicht’s crew calculated a lead of just 26 seconds over Ralf Drews’ “Sea Lounge” (Brunsbüttel) and another minute over Lars Schöppener’s “X-Wärts” (Wismar).
The results in the yardstick classification were particularly close: only four seconds separated Arnd-Tido Achermann’s “Masovia” (Lübeck) and Uli Tesch’s “Sola.” However, Tesch and his crew had calculated that they had gained a lead of two and a half minutes. Stefan Meining (Lübeck) finished third with his “Na und.”
Jan Wilkens and his bowman Tobias Rieger were delighted with their victory in the Seascape 18 German Open. Photo: Christian Beeck / TW
There was great satisfaction among the Seascape 18s, even though they were unable to sail any more races on the last day of Travemünde Week: “The feedback from the class was overwhelmingly positive. Many said they would like to come back to Travemünde. Everything went perfectly. It was great on the Priwall with the beer on arrival, the trade wind evening and the short distances. Communication via the app was also excellent,” said Jan Wilkens, 1st class secretary of First Seascape. The class was particularly thrilled that the race committee sent them back out on the course for the decisive races on the penultimate day after a break. “The race committee did a great job, reacting quickly, changing the course, and sending us out for two more races. That was great because it meant we got a total of six races,” said Wilkens.
The class boss was not only delighted with the successful German Open for the class, but also with his own victory. However, the decision for first place could not have been closer. Jan Wilkens and his bowman Tobias Rieger from Schwerin finished the races tied on points with the runners-up, Walter Wüllenweber and Martin Schmidt from the Hamburg Sailing Club. Both also had the same number of first, second, and third places. “It was incredibly close and ended in a tie. In that case, the last race counts, which is why we won.” Third place went to Anders Joensson and Henrik Aulin from Sweden. “Two Swedish teams and a Danish crew contributed to the open character of the championship,” said Wilkens.
When the cancellation of all further races on Sunday was announced, Helge and Christian Sach applauded on the Mövenstein-Grün. The record winners of the Travemünde Week improved their TW record to 23 victories.
Victory number 23 is now in the books for catamaran specialists Helge and Christian Sach after this week in Travemünde. Photo: Christian Beeck / TW
Seven first places, one fourth place, and one third place in nine races were enough to secure victory this time around. The brothers from Zarnekau in East Holstein once again showed their Formula 18 competitors the stern, relegating Jesse Lindstädt and his father Sven from Hamburg and Daniel Paysen and Tom Heinrich from Scharbeutz to the lower places.
Travemünde Week has set a new record with its 23rd edition. Helge Sach doesn’t think much of the number. “We don’t count, that’s what other people do. But the victory means a lot to us because the competition was stronger than it has been for a long time. And we also had a good day with wind and double trapeze.” Referring to their age – Helge is 68 and his brother is two years younger – his brother had feared “that we would only see the taillights of the others. We haven’t sailed that much this year.”
But class knows no age. The “old bags” already proved this at the F18 World Championships in the Netherlands, where they were the best Germans in 18th place. For the Sach brothers, this is a good reason to keep going. “Our ambition is to get a little faster. The F18 is the coolest boat for regatta sailing.” And with their determination to fight for victory every year at Travemünde Week, they have also become secret ambassadors for the most beautiful sailing week in the world.
Eight nations ensure order on the regatta course
The twelve-member jury at the 136th Travemünde Week is a truly international bunch. Members from Austria, Norway, Malta, Italy, Estonia, Germany, and Turkey are on hand to ensure that everything runs smoothly on the regatta courses and that the rules are observed. The jury is chaired by Luke Scott from South Africa.
The team of the International Jury, chaired by Luke Scott (right), ensures that everything runs smoothly during the Travemünde Week regattas. Photo: segel-bilder.de
There is a good reason why the jury representatives come from so many different countries. “At major events such as Travemünde Week, we always try to work with an international jury. This has the advantage that no one can appeal. Everything is decided by the jury. In addition, we need five jury members for each hearing, no more than two of whom may come from the same country,” explains the vice-chair of the jury, Manuel Hünsch. In addition to the eight international jury members, four from Germany are also involved in Travemünde Week.
The jury is not only diverse in terms of nationality. The volunteer team is also quite mixed in terms of age. “We have a good mix of young and experienced referees. We deliberately bring young people on board because training is very important at Travemünde Week. For example, two national referees from last year are now international referees. The youngest member of the team this year is 24 years old,” says Manuel Hünsch from Hamburg.
Jury chief Luke Scott, who has been a regular member of the TW jury for several years, was very satisfied with his team and the course of the regattas at the 136th Travemünde Week. “The event was relatively relaxed for us. There are usually few protests in the smaller fleets. We also had a very harmonious team,” confirms Hünsch.
