The sails are set
Exciting sailing action on the water and a varied program on land: that's what it stands for Warnemünder Woche also this year – albeit in a different form. Nevertheless, the makers would like to take a first small step back towards normality and make what the current conditions allow. This year the focus is on the sailing competitions and the summer festival, the concepts of which have been newly developed to ensure safe implementation.
Matthias Fromm, Tourism Director Rostock & Warnemünde, is optimistic: “We want to show that events are possible even in these times if clearly defined rules are adhered to. The positive experiences from the summer months of last year, the increasing pace of vaccinations and the good testing infrastructure encourage us in our plan to achieve a safe one Warnemünder Woche to be able to carry out, albeit on a smaller scale.”
Sailing at the top level
Ralf Bergel, Chairman of the Warnemünder Woche: “These are crazy times we are currently living in. We are now in the second year in which the virus still seems to be the focus instead of the sailors. But we are fighting to make this happen Warnemünder Woche looks different. We are doing everything we can to ensure that the event can take place this year and that the sailors can have a nice and safe time with us.”
From a sporting perspective, there is a lot in the boat class program: The Contenders crown their world champions in Warnemünde, the First 18 their European champions and the Pirates, the 505s and the J / 70 their German champions. The Laser Europa Cup is also part of the again Warnemünder Woche. Another highlight is the long-distance classic “Rund Bornholm”, which, as part of the International German Offshore Championship, takes you around the Danish island of the same name and back to Warnemünde. Up&Downs on the Seebahn, ranking regattas for the H-Boats and the Solinge as well as the middle distance “Bäderregatta” round off the program. You can report via the website manage2sail.
The organizing Warnemünde Sailing Club has already gained experience in conducting regattas under Corona conditions. Last year the Laser European Cup took place with a sophisticated hygiene concept and was very well received by the participants.
Warnemünde summer festival in a different form
The summer festival, which is popular with locals and guests, will also take place with a different concept. The stage program will move from the lighthouse forecourt to the Kurhausgarten. This allows for compliance with visitor number limits and registrations should this be necessary. The promenade and the Alte Strom are transformed into Warnemünder Woche back to a colorful shopping mile. The number of stands will be reduced to ensure the required distances, but the offering will remain colorful and diverse as usual.
Here too, the makers can rely on successfully tested hygiene concepts that were already used last year during the summer promenade and at the “Warnemünder Fridays”.
However, guests will have to forego the traditional “Niege Ümgang” and the traditional costume parade, as compliance with the distance and hygiene rules cannot be guaranteed among participants and spectators.
The organizer of the summer festival, the Warnemünde Association, has mixed feelings about July. “Of course it is a shame that we have to miss out on the real classics of our program, but the safety and health of everyone involved is also our focus. And so this year we are concentrating on the parts of the event that can be implemented under Corona conditions. Everything will be a little different and smaller, but we are happy if we can at least go a little bit back towards normality,” says Ingeborg Regenthal, office manager of the Warnemünde Association.
Dragon boat racing and SportBeachArena pause
On the second weekend of Warnemünder Woche the southern Old Stream usually becomes a “cauldron”. The Dragon Boat Festival, which usually attracts hundreds of athletes and thousands of spectators, has to be canceled this year. “The current situation does not give us the framework to hold a colorful dragon boat festival,” says Tom Reiser, board member of SV Breitling, but still looks confidently into the future: “On the 9th/10th. July 2022 it will be ARE YOU READY – ATTENTION – GO! We're looking forward to it!"
Also the beach handball tournament, which is scheduled for the 3rd/4th. The event that was planned for July cannot take place this year. The uncertainties in planning and the lack of opportunities for sporting preparations due to the current ban on all training operations were the decisive criteria.
The Warnemünder Woche will therefore also be significantly influenced by Corona this year. However, the experience gained after more than a year of pandemic should be used to hold a safe event and to enable people to have sporting and cultural experiences again after long weeks of lockdown.
