37th Wustrow Zeesboat Regatta

Zeesbootregatta with regional artisan market, stage program, live music, food and beverages.

Next date: 05/07/2025, 10:00 am in Wustrow

The Zeesbootregatta is held in Wustrow at the beginning of July and the agile wooden boats sail across the Saaler Bodden for the best places. During the morning, the charming old boats gather in the harbor to prepare for the regatta, their distinctive brown sails flapping expectantly in the wind. The regatta starts at midday and for the next few hours the large boats can be seen from far and wide across the Bodden. Meanwhile, the harbour market, music and children's program provide entertainment on land. The regatta is divided into three classes according to hull length. Winners are chosen for the large, medium and small classes. After the award ceremony on the grounds of the "Godewind" sailing club, there will be time to celebrate in a cozy harbor atmosphere.

What makes these beautiful old wooden boats so special? The unusual color of the sails? The good sailing characteristics? A touch of "the old days"? For many hundreds of years, the sight of these proud sailors has been part of the Fischland landscape. The first Zeesboote probably date back to the 15th century. The boats were used for traditional Zeesen fishing until the 1980s, when bottom trawling, or "Zeesen", was discontinued.

The brown cotton sails used to get their typical color rather incidentally. To impregnate them, they were treated with ochre paint, wood tar, cod liver oil, tanning liquor made from oak bark and beef tallow. The Zeesen boats were built in oak or larch and in shell construction with clinker or carvel planking. The rigging, slup or ketch, has hardly changed in hundreds of years.

It is a fascinating sight when these beautiful old boats gather in the harbor and then sail across the Bodden for first place.

Admission is free!