Regatta News

After a year of forced break due to the Corona pandemic, it's starting again: The 132nd Travemünde Week has opened. SH Prime Minister Daniel Günther as patron of the regatta and festival week and Lübeck's mayor Jan Lindenau opened the event today, Friday, in front of invited guests. At 6 p.m., Jan Lindenau gave the starting signal for a Travemünde Week that will still be under special conditions in 2021 with the traditional "Raise the flag!"

For Antonia Tschakert and Maximilian Rüdebusch, it is the first time they are taking part in the Travemünder Woche. The two students from Lübecker Yacht-Club want to get involved in the competitions in the ILCA 4 and Formula 18 and are accordingly excited about what lies ahead for them. The LYC duo also took on other tasks at the same time and, on behalf of the 1,350 sailors from more than 30 nations, spoke the sporting oath that is traditionally taken at the start of the Travemünder Woche. For Corona's sake, this year the oath was not taken in person at the opening ceremony, but by video message.

After the cancellation of the TW last year, the Corona pandemic is still leaving its mark on the regatta programme in 2021. The originally planned workload of 27 decisions at global, continental and national level will not quite happen, but with 23 regattas - including two World and two European Championships - the programme is very high-class. By the closing date for entries, around 850 entries had been received with a total of around 1350 competitors from 37 nations.

There will be no Travemünde Week as usual in 2021. The pandemic is still leaving its mark this summer. But the signs are that there will be steps back to normality for the sailing week from 23 July to 1 August. In addition to challenging regattas, there will also be a small but fine range of cultural and culinary events.

After the cancellation of the 131st Travemünder Woche, the planning for the event in its 132nd year is in full swing. For good reason: Because the Corona pandemic will not be over this year either, and so many conditions are to be expected that will have to be fulfilled for the sailing and festival week from 23 July to 1 August. But one thing is certain: the TW should not be cancelled a second time. The sailors and class associations value this highly. The interest in the TW is unbroken. In this interview, Frank Schärffe, Managing Director of the Travemünder Woche gGmbH, and Jens Kath as Sporting Director provide information about the status of the TW.

 

Nine days of sailing in a class of its own in sunny and rainy weather, wind for all weight and performance classes from light to solid, a compact programme in the 22 competitions, satisfied sailors and atmospheric honours for the winners: The final discussion with the Sports Director of the Travemünde Week, Jens Kath, and the Chief Race Director Anderl Denecke was marked by a ray of sunshine on the faces of the regatta officials, who, however, did not lose their critical view of what was happening.

 

There is no sailing event, where the sailing sport is more integrated into the festival program than at the Travemünde Week. The show races at the river Trave in the afternoon are bringing the sailing sport directly to the visitors of the Trave promenade, the program of Sail United invites to take part, the Volksbank Rotspon Cup challenges the politicians in a sports competition, and of course there will be also high-class sport in the bay of Lübeck. Its about trophies, titles and important points in the ranking lists for the best German sailors and international world-class sailors participating in the ranking list regattas, league competitions and championships. One European Championship and seven national title fights are in the focus of the interest. Athletes from all of Europe, but also from the USA have announced to come.

The Travemuende Week has been a central event for years, if it is about testing new formats of the sailing sport, opening new ways of medialization and demonstrating how to handle wind and waves to a broad public. The tracking of yachts and dinghies, the TV medialization, the show races on the Trave and the sailing league format, which is a fixed part of the Travemuende Week since the beginning of the National Sailing League, are just some examples.  And the Travemuende Week remains innovative in its 129. year. Two premieres are being celebrated, the hosting of World, European and German Championships - and of course the classics like the offshore races, the show races and the duel of the mayors against their competitors from politics are a set part of the sailing event from 20. until 29. July.