Opening press conference on August, 7th 2007

Stefan Rathmanner (Habour Captain), Holger Bellgardt (Tourismuszentrale Rostock & Warnemünde, Manager Bureau Hanse Sail), Roland Methling (Mayor) und Rear Admiral Ulrich Otto (Manager Marineamt) from left


17th Hanse Sail Rostock from August 9th to 12th 2007
Ships from 14 different nations visit Rostock

“The expected fleet of ships from 14 different nations at the 17th Hanse Sail Rostock will be colourful and varied and will turn this meeting into a unique event. Whether it is the “Concordia” from Canada, the Polish tall ship “Dar Mlodziezy” as well as the “Iskra” or the surprise guest “Lord Nelson” from Great Britain – ten of the local or foreign traditional sailing vessels participate in the Hanse Sail for the first time and they will never get enough of it” assures Holger Bellgardt, manager of the Bureau Hanse Sail of the Tourismuszentrale Rostock & Warnemünde. About 250 tall ships, traditional ships and museum ships adorn Rostock’s bonny ships’ celebration, most of all the Russian four-mast barques “Sedov” (117,50 m) and „Kruzenshtern“ (113,50 m) which are the worlds’ biggest traditional sailing ships.

Record of Dutch participants. Beginning with a topsail schooner “Abel Tasman“ to the two-mast schooner “Zuiderzee” all in all 41 ships from the “tulips-country” will arrive at the Baltic sea and at the Warnow. Rare guests will arrive on board of the training vessel of the Mexican navy “Cuauhtémoc” and with the flagship of the Sail Training Association Germany “Alexander v. Humboldt“. Also flags of Gibraltar, Belgium, Finland, Lithuania, Ukraine, the Bahamas will be seen above the ships. The partner country of the Hanse Sail 2007 Sweden announced 11 participating ships for example the three-mast schooners “Westkust” and “Lady Ellen”.

Cogs, water planes and historic canons. The Hanse Sail Rostock presents maritime contrasts. Also in 2007 medieval cogs will meet gorgeous cruisers. The second cog trip from Wismar to the Hanse Sail Rostock will take place on August, 8th. Five re-buildings of the German merchant ships “Lisa v. Lübeck, “Roland v. Bremen“, “Ubena v. Bremen“, “Kieler Hansekogge“ and “Wissemara” are going to pass the “Star Princess“ (290 m) which is one of the biggest cruisers of the season of Warnemünde.

Next to traditional sailing vessels ships without sails will also participate in the meeting. Loyal Sail guests are the steam icebreaker “Stettin” as well as the more than a hundred year old paddle steamer “Freya”. Water planes can be visited and invite their guests also to enjoy a flight at the 7th meeting of sea planes in the fishery harbour Marienehe. Eight sea planes and flying boats from Germany, England, Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands participate in this meeting, one of those is the world’s biggest one-motor water plane called “Cessna 208 Caravan”.

From August, 8th one of the 36 historic canons will salute the first incoming ships at the Hanse Sail from the east mole with rumblings. All in all 120 cannoneers applied for 8th meeting of cannoneer and banger at the quay of Gehlsdorf.

Sailing trips on four days. In the occasion of the 17th Hanse Sail Rostock free seats are still available for the day trips (10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.) and also for the evening trips (7.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m.). Free capacities were offered on board of the attractive tall ships „Eendracht“ (NL), the brig „Fryderyk Chopin“ and the full-rigged ship „Dar Mlodziezy“ from Poland, the „Linden“ from the Åland Islands as well as the old-timer „Ingo“ from Sweden. Guests who book a day trip or an evening trip on board of a traditional ship support actively the conservation of traditional navigation in the Baltic Sea.

The biggest participating ship of the Hanse Sail is “Hamburg” (143 m). The German navy has been a partner of the Hanse Sail since a long time. It will present one of the most modern frigates at the passenger’s quay at Warnemünde, the “Hamburg” next to the speed boat “Hermelin”, which ties up at the city harbour. At the open base Hohe Düne which takes part from Thursday to Saturday (August, 9th to 11th) the navy will show interesting ships, but also the cooperation of the DGzRS and divers. The training vessels of the navy “Cuauhtémoc“ and „Iskra“ can be seen temporarily.

No Hanse Sail without different opinions of present topics and problems. The program in 2007 consists of four conferences. So the Business-Forum 2007 (August, 9th) discusses maritime tourism in the Baltic area, while the Deutsche Marine Institut and the Karl-Theodor-Molinari-Stiftung des Bundeswehrverbandes invite guests to take part in 7th Rostocker Maritimen Sicherheits-Kolloquium (August, 8th). The 8th Ostseeforum of the Herder-Gesellschaft will deal with questions concerning “Chances and challenges of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in a Europe made of regions” at Rostock’s city hall on August, 10th.

From wild water slides to fireworks. Attractions of the Hanse Sail start with music and entertainment on many stages and end with exciting competitions at the Segelstadion, where next to other things the Segeltalent is going to be found out. An event area is extended from the Silohalbinsel to the hotel ship “Georg Büchner” with a lot of merchants, showmen and fancy foods. The medieval market changed its location and will now take place at the museum harbour. An international market offers next to different foods from Sweden, Croatia, Italy and Poland also typical handcrafts and tourist information.

The youngest guests of the Hanse Sail will enjoy the Legoland and toy rails. Saxony in the Erz Mountains entertains the audience with ice and show. So they bring a bob run and a climbing wall made of ice to the city harbour. Here the most sportive cadet of the training sailing vessels might to be found out. A wild water slide called “Piratenfluss” guarantees a lot of fun and entertainment. Famous DJs are going to entertain the younger guests of the Hanse Sail at a party tower, while all in all three big wheels at the city harbour and at Warnemünde offer the best overview. At the seaside resort the promenade offers the possibility to stroll and to enjoy the ambience. Fireworks which start at the same time in the city harbour and also in Warnemünde are the highlights on Saturday August, 11th at 10.30 p.m.

NDR cares for the sound at the Hanse Sail: In front of beautiful backgrounds great concerts will be outstanding parts of the Hanse Sail’s program. In the context of the Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern the traditional Halle 207 of the former Neptunwerft turns into a concert hall. Here the European Union Youth Orchestra will be conducted by Sir Colin Davis and will perform works of Johannes Brahms and Jean Sibelius. Furthermore the excellent musicians will play famous soundtracks in the occasion of an event titled “Ride Like The Wind” at the IGA Park Rostock on August, 10th.

NDR guarantees musical highlights on its stage at the city harbour with performances of the band “Revolverheld” and their hits from the current album “Chaostheorie” (August, 9th) and the Swedish party band “Rednex” (August, 11th). Classical rock and pop made by the “Firebirds” from Leipzig (August, 10th) as well as a fantastic blues concert performed by the “Blues Brothers Boys Band“ (August, 11th) can be seen at the Hanse Sail stage next to Shanties and folk songs.

On Friday August, 10th the Steigenberger Hotel “Sonne” invites guests of the Hanse Sail to the first Sail Ball, while moments of silence in the tumultuous days of the Hanse Sail will be offered at the church’s night.

Plan the Hanse Sail per mouse clicks. The Rostocker Geodatenportal already offers in the internet a lot of information about the maritime festival of Rostock. With only a few mouse clicks a digital map of Rostock or an air photograph can be seen at http://geoportal.rostock.de and shows exact berths of every sailing vessel as well as locations of stages and free parking.

The Hanseatic city of Rostock thanks all sponsors and supporters for their noble and uncomplicated assistance at the Hanse Sail 2007. “Without the engagement of many partners of the economy and the media on board of the Hanse Sail, without the untiring work of assistants and organisers and without the hospitality of Rostock’s inhabitants our bonny ships’ celebration could not be realised” accentuates Roland Methling the mayor of Rostock.

Press agency Hanse Sail 2007
Stadthafen, Warnowufer 65
Tel. +49 (0)381 203 7581 / 203 75 82, Fax: +49 (0)381 203 75 88
presse-hansesail2007@gmx.de / www.hansesail.com
August, 6th to 8th 9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.
August, 9th to 11th 8.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m.
August, 12th 8.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.

Sailing trips and flights
Tall-Ship Buchungszentrale, Warnowufer 65, 18057 Rostock
Tel. +49 (0)381 208 52 26, Fax +49 (0)381 377 74 66
tallshipbooking@t-online.de

Udo Gaedke (Coca-Cola AG), Wolfhard Buß (Hanseatische Brauerei Rostock) and Dr. Rainer Gehrke (OstseeSparkasse Rostock, from left) present in the occasion of the press conference the new flags for the berths during the Hanse Sail Rostock.