It is said that the Travemünde Week originated as a race for a bottle of Lübeck Rotspon. And what was the starting signal for the regatta week in 1889 was revived in 2003 by Lübeck’s mayor at the time, Bernd Saxe. For the 19th time now, Lübeck’s head of administration competes against a political colleague for a magnum bottle of Lübeck Rotspon on the Wednesday (24 July, from 12 noon) of Travemünde Week.
Jan Lindenau has taken over this tradition from his predecessor and should now have started his fifth Volksbank Rotspon Cup. The preparations were complete, the team was lined up and Reinhard Meyer, Minister of Economic Affairs of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, was ready as an opponent. However, Jan Lindenau had to cancel his participation due to illness. He places the responsibility of upholding Lübeck’s sailing tradition on the shoulders of experienced sailors. City President Henning Schumann, a passionate sailor, will stand in for him at the helm.
As in previous years, the two historic twelve-man yachts “Sphinx” and “Trivia” will be ready for the “best of three” match race. The first starting signal for the duel between the two yachts will be given at 12 noon. The crew with the first two victories wins the bottle of Rotspon.
Reinhard Meyer is full of anticipation for the event: “The sporting competition at the Rotspon Regatta will be a great challenge that I’m really looking forward to. No matter who wins, I’m sure we’ll open the bottle of Rotspon together.”
There is no lack of sailing expertise on board the MV Minister of Economic Affairs. He has been joined by Birte Winkel. The Schwerin native was one of the world’s top sailors in the 470 until the 2021 Olympic Games, but narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Games in Tokyo.
But Henning Schumann is also being actively supported. Lutz Kleinfeldt, Chairman of the Lübeck YC, will be on hand to give him tactical tips. The Lübeck team will do everything in its power to keep the magnum bottle in the Hanseatic city. This is because the visitors have won ten times so far, with one draw and seven wins for Lübeck. Christian Mehrens, board member of Volksbank Lübeck, is entering the race with confidence, emphasising Lübeck’s good chances of victory. He himself will be on board the “Sphinx”, the dark blue yacht that will be steered by city president Henning Schumann.
The historic twelve-wheelers will once again be the duelling yachts of the Volksbank Rotspon Cup. Photo: segel-bilder.de