Bright sunshine, a fantastic atmosphere and a clear call to promote sailing – the start to Kiel Week 2026 could not have gone better for the boot Düsseldorf team.
Things got off to a perfect start as early as Friday, 19 June. In the afternoon at the Kiel Yacht Club in Strande, the Schleswig-Holstein Sailing Association’s new Olympic boats were christened and handed over to the athletes. Heike Meier-Henkel was the distinguished guest of honor at the christening. The former high jumper and Olympic champion spoke at the christening ceremony about the highs and lows of her exciting sporting career. The Olympian has had close ties to the Baltic Sea and her hometown of Kiel since her earliest childhood. At boot Düsseldorf, however, the Rhineland resident is also a regular guest at the “Sportstiftung North Rhine Westphalia” Captains Day, the networking event for young elite athletes and businesses.
Other prominent godmothers included the Vice-President of the Schleswig-Holstein Sports Federation and Olympic rowing champion in 2000 and 2004, Meike Evers-Rölver; the bronze medalist in sailing at the Tokyo 2021 Games, Alica Stuhlemmer, actress Sibel Kekilli – also known as the Kiel-based ‘Tatort’ detective – and Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister for the Interior and Sport, Magdalena Finke (CDU).
In addition to the sailing boats, the teams were also provided with two new motorboats for the coaches to use during training sessions. The boats were named after two legendary figures in Olympic sailing: Bertolt Beitz, former manager of Krupp/Essen, head of the sailing committee at the 1972 Olympics and honorary president of boot Düsseldorf, and Hermann Cornelius, Sailing Director of the 1972 Olympic sailing competitions in Kiel.
Ralf Abratis, spokesperson for the Sailing Association, also expressed special thanks to the friends of boot Düsseldorf, who for many years have made the active promotion of sailing a priority under the blue boot banner. boot Director Petros Michelidakis said: “It is a great pleasure for us to see the sailors here on site in their home waters. Many of them also visited us this year at the Sailing Center at boot. Our partnerships with the clubs and associations provide the perfect support for the successful development of sailing.” During Kiel Week, boot Düsseldorf invites all active sailors to chill out and relax in its lounge in Schilksee between their races.
Early on Saturday morning, Michelidakis also gave the starting signal for the first competition of Kiel Week, the “Eel Regatta”, which leads all the way to Eckernförde and where the winner is indeed rewarded with a smoked eel.
The sailing competitions were then officially opened on stage in Schilksee at 12:00 on Saturday. The predominant theme in the opening speeches by Magdalena Finke, Lord Mayor Samet Yilmaz (Green Party), Race Director Dirk Ramhorst and Petros Michelidakis was, of course, the Olympic bids by the Rhine/Ruhr region and the city of Kiel.
The boot Director emphasized the Rhinelander’s’ close ties with Kiel: “Kiel is our world! Just like at boot, people from many countries come together here to compete against one another in the world’s largest sailing competition. Since the 1972 Olympic Games, at which our former trade fair CEO, Kurt Schoop, served as chief of protocol here in Kiel, a close friendship and cooperation has developed. The Olympic sailing competitions belong in Kiel.”
A distinguished visitor then paid a visit to Kiel’s sailing area: Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, accompanied by his wife Elke Büdenbender, attended the long-established regatta, boarded Boris Herrmann’s Malizia Explorer and learnt about important life-saving measures for water sports at the DLRG (German Life Saving Association) stand. These will also play a major role at the upcoming boot. “It’s simply not possible to take part in water sports without being able to swim, which is why we at ‘boot’ will actively support the DLRG in its efforts to promote swimming lessons,” explains Michelidakis.
A glorious day of regatta action culminated in the presentation of the international Malizia sailing team, which will be competing in the upcoming Ocean Race against the impressive backdrop of the Brooklyn Bridge on 2 September. Boris Herrmann, the Briton Will Harris and the American Cole Brauer were then almost overwhelmed by enthusiastic fans during their autograph session on the terrace of the boot Lounge. Of course, there’s also a special gift for boot.club members: a sailing dry bag, autographed by the three exceptional sailors, will be given away in a prize draw.
The boot Lounge is open daily throughout Kiel Week until Sunday 28 June and, as well as offering a place to relax, serves delicious coffee prepared by the barista experts from “Fred’s Café Zeit”.
The world's largest yacht and water sports fair
With more than 200,000 visitors from over 100 countries and nearly 1,500 exhibitors in Halls 1 to 17, boot Düsseldorf is the world's largest yacht and water sports fair. Both sailors and motor boaters will find a wide variety of boats, dinghies, superboats or luxury yachts. The popular water sports of diving, surfing, kite surfing, stand up paddling, skimboarding or canoeing are available at boot in all facets and with the appropriate equipment. Attractive stage programs with the stars of the scene, the latest trends and a high-caliber mix of workshops and hands-on activities, both for leisure sports enthusiasts and experts, make the fair unique worldwide. But marine conservation and innovative, sustainable technologies will also be in focus at boot 2027. In cooperation with the European Boating Industry (EBI), for example, the blue innovation dock offers a unique dialogue format with political, economic, technological and media expertise. The next edition of boot Düsseldorf will open its doors from 23 to 31 January 2027. www.boot.com
