Kiel Week

Tall Ships Parade at Kiel Week, the world's biggest regatta and sailing event (2009)
International 420 Class Dinghy regatta, 2005
Regatta of cruising yachts in front of Laboe, 2003
Amphitrite, Ubena von Bremen, and Roald Amundsen in 2007, forming part of the annual tall ship fleet at Kiel Week
Tall ships attracting visitors in port during Kiel Week 2006
Fairs and events as part of festival at shore, 2005

The Kiel Week (German: Kieler Woche) or Kiel Regatta is an annual sailing event in Kiel, Germany. It is the largest sailing event in the world, and also one of the largest Volksfeste in Germany.[1]

Events

Kiel Week is held annually in the last complete week in June, and opens officially on the preceding Saturday with the official Glasen, followed by the Holstenbummel. The "Soundcheck" is on the Friday before the official opening; it is a music festival across all the stages within the city. Kiel Week ends with a large fireworks display at 11 p.m. on Sunday, fired from pontoons or the quays at the Howaldtswerke, visible all across the Bay of Kiel.

Most ship races begin at the Olympic harbor of Schilksee, also the center of most sporting activities during Kiel Week. As Schilksee is located outside of the inner city and most sailing competitions take place yet further out, only some races - mainly of smaller boat types - can be viewed from shore, namely from along the Kiellinie at the west coast of the Bay of Kiel.

Kiel Week usually gathers around 5,000 sailors, 2,000 ships, and about three million visitors each year. The event is organized in joint effort by the Yacht Club of Kiel, the Norddeutscher Regattaverein, the Hamburger Sailing Club, and the Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee.

While Kiel Week started out as a ship racing championship, it has long since become a large festival with many popular bands playing on public stages. They often play for free, although the corporate sponsors (many from the Schleswig-Holstein media and telecommunications industry) usually display their involvement prominently. Most of the stages can be found at the Kiellinie (the western side of the Kieler Förde from the Düsternbrook yacht harbor past the Schleswig-Holstein parliament building to the big inner city ferry harbor), and as of late, across the Hoernbridge to the Germania harbor and the Hörn. Another area of rich cultural activity is the city center (Rathausplatz, Holstenbrücke) and the area connecting the city center with the ferry harbor (Alter Markt, Dänische Straße, Schloßpark). Between the public stages and especially on the International Market on the Rathausplatz, food specialties from different countries can be eaten. Small street performances and street comedy are performed in many places. A special children's program is available at the Spiellinie.

Kiel Week is also one of the largest tall ship conventions in Germany, attracting many German and international traditional ships, mainly sailing ships. Many of them spend the week doing day tours out of Kiel, thus berthing much more in view of the festival visitors than the racing boats at Kiel-Schilksee. More than 100 traditional ships and hundreds of yachts usually participate in the Tall Ships Parade (Windjammerparade) on the day before the closing day of the Kiel Week, i.e. usually on the second Saturday of Kiel Week. The Parade was first held in 1972, under the name of Operation Sail, and was organized in celebration of the Olympic Summer Games in Germany that year, whose sailing competitions took place in Kiel. It was the first large gathering of tall ships since the time of the windjammers, and its success led to the annual Parade and to the foundation of the first sail training organization in Germany (Clipper DJS). Today, the Parade is often headed by the Gorch Fock, a sister ship to the German-built USCGC Eagle (WIX-327).

History

Kiel Week, probably in 1895 (Fritz Stoltenberg)

Classes

Olympic classes

2.4 Metre
Open		 470
M W		 49er
M		 49erFX
W		 Finn
M
Laser
M		 Laser Radial
W		 Nacra 17
Mix		 Sonar
Open

International classes

29er 420 505 Bavaria B/One Contender
Europe Flying Dutchman Formula 18 Hobie 16 J/24
Laser 4.7 Laser Radial
M		 Musto Performance Skiff Nordic Folkboat OK

Offshore classes

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Navigating Your Way Around the World's Largest Sailing Event: Germany's Kiel Week". (TIME Magazine)
    Kiel Travel Guide (About.com)
    The world’s largest sailing event: Kiel Week (deutschland.de)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kiel Week.

External links