Tam yol ileri: 20. Hanse Sail Rostock

A stunning maritime festival on the Baltic coast: in 2010 the Hanse Sail Rostock, which starts this Thursday (August 5), is celebrating its 20th anniversary and presenting more than 200 traditional sailing vessels and museum ships until Sunday. The outstanding showpieces of the international sailing ship festival are the world’s two oldest and largest windjammers still in operation, the “Kruzenshtern” from Kaliningrad (built 1926) and the 89-year-old Russian “Sedov”.

Fotograf büyültme (© Archiv Hanse Sail Rostock) About one million visitors are expected at the 20th Hanse Sail, where they can also admire another tall ship of more than 100 metres in length, the Polish “Dar Mlodziezy”. Along with many other ships, these three windjammers are offering trips on the Baltic Sea. This year’s partner country at the Hanse Sail festival is Lithuania. It is presenting a “Kurrenkahn” together with an exhibition about the fishing boats of the shallow coastal waters. Visitors can revel in maritime history on the silo peninsula where half a dozen replicas of historical cogs conjure up images of the Hanseatic era. The many activities on the fascinating Hanse Sail agenda include water ski performances, rowing regattas and an action and sports programme at the Sailing Centre in the city harbour. The festival ends on Sunday with the “Parade of the Nations” followed by the cogs putting out to sea.

But first of all the Hanse Sail has a spectacular premiere guest to entice visitors: the luxuriously fitted, 70-metre “Gulden Leeuw” which is the largest three-mast topsail schooner of the Netherlands. This ship was designed in 1937 and refurbished in May 2010. Visitors to Hanse Sail Rostock can sail in it, and on Thursday there is a special rate for students.

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