Traditional sailors: 31st Hanse Sail in Rostock with the best prospects

Creaking planks, mighty heavy sails and ropes as thick as an arm are also part and parcel of traditional seamanship for many cruising sailors. At the Hanse Sail in Rostock next weekend, they can be marvelled at up close, from cogs to tall ships. At 108 metres, the longest of the more than 100 traditional ships expected is the Polish full-rigged ship "Dar Młodzieży". It was designed by naval engineer Zygmunt Choreń, who also designed the "Alexander von Humboldt", among others. The training sailing ship "Gorch Fock" has also set course for Rostock and invites you to visit it on Friday and Sunday during the "Open Ship". Both are moored at the passenger quay in Warnemünde.

Some of the proud ships have already moored at the quay walls between the city harbour and Warnemünde, others are still on their way. Today, Wednesday, the participants in the shark cutter regatta are expected, which is now in its 13th year of heading south from Nysted in Denmark to Rostock.

According to the current wind and weather forecast, there will be the opportunity to watch sails filled with moderate winds against a bright blue sky or to sail along on one of the traditional ships. Some sailing places are still available: Sailing along to the Hanse Sail Rostock

But even if you can't get hold of one of the popular sailing places on one of the proud ships, you can learn all kinds of things about seamanship in addition to a colourful culinary and musical programme. The historic boatyard in the IGA Park is open all day from Friday to Sunday. At 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day, visitors can try their hand at the Reeperbahn or learn how wooden planks are steamed and bent for hull construction. There are also trips on the Warnemünde dinghy, an Arabian dhow or a typical local Zeesboot.

Norway is the partner country of the Hanse Sail this year. To mark the occasion, two German ships bearing the names of famous Norwegians will be competing in a special kind of race: on Sunday from 11 a.m., the topsail schooner "Thor Heyerdahl" and the brig "Roald Amundsen" will be competing in a match race in the sea area off Warnemünde.

After the Hanse Sail had to be cancelled completely in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and was only able to admit a limited number of visitors last year, it is now open to all sailors and seafarers again. More than 3,000 P+R car parks are available for visitors and special public transport timetables apply.

The full programme of the traditional sailing event can be downloaded here: Sail-Compass-2022-A5_FINAL_web.pdf (hansesail.com)