Travemuende Week - Trave sailing arena packed with spectators

by Andreas Kling on 26 Jul 2010 121th Travemuende Week.

Several thousand people followed the first races on the new Trave sailing arena on the first weekend of the 121st Travemuende Week. After the official race program on the Bay of Luebeck was finished, the fast Tornado catamarans gave an exciting performance in front of a large audience.

'Sailing at its very best', was the unanimous verdict of spectators and officials. The sailing arena premiere on Saturday (24 July) and the second approach on Sunday brought a first place for German Roland Gaebler and his wife Nahid from Tinglev, Denmark. The victory was a well-deserved reward for the co-initiator of the show races and tireless fighter for sport of sailing and its attractions, ITA president Roland Gaebler (ITA = International Tornado Association).

There was much tension and excitement along the Trave promenade, where race director Walter Mielke gave the count-down for the first start. Eight multi-hulls pitched for the best start position only a few meters from the pier, which was lined with many spectators. Finding fresh wind was most important in the races. After all, the whole length of the course was only three-quarters of a nautical mile. When the horn sounded the start signal, hearts on board the boats and along the quay beat even faster. 'This is sensational, it’s unbelievably good', raved an elderly man later on in the sailors’ village, and added: 'This is something that had been definitely missing until now.'

Race director Mielke was adamant, too: 'We were truly spoiled by the circumstances – it couldn’t have been any better!' Races in the Trave sailing arena are scheduled daily at 5 p.m., with the exact start times not only depending on when the official race day end, but also the passage times of the big ferries and freighters. Following the Tornados, the Hobie Tiger and Wildcat will race on Monday (26 July), Asso 99 on Tuesday, Hobie 16 (Wednesday), Formula 18 (Thursday/Friday), and finally the A-Cats on Saturday.

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