23 rd HANSE SAIL: A POWERFUL MAGNET AND IMPULSE GENERATOR Rostock, Tuesday 6 August 2013 The 23 rd Hanse Sail will kick off from the 8 th to 11 th of August 2013. Already, 216 ships from 13 nations have confirmed their participation. Together, they represent a fascinating range of historical and technical diversity. Rostock-based companies such as AIDA Cruises, tow-boat companies Fairplay and Bugsier, Sartori & Berger, Rostock Hanseatic Brewery and Rostock Public Services are lined up to sponsor and co-finance the starting run of the ships. Rostock city harbour and Warnemünde combined, offer a four kilometer-long strip of entertainment. This fantastic strip will contain seven stages, up to 60 fun rides and about 500 market and food stands. One million visitors and more than 25,000 joint-sailors are expected to join the 23 rd edition of the Hanse Sail. The kick-off event will be opened by a regatta and cruises in company. The day before the opening of the Hanse Sail will feature the shark cutter regatta, which will sail from the Danish Nysted along the SCANDLINES-route from Gedser to the Warnow delta. In addition to this spectacle, there will be a cog-sail from Wismar. Many of the participating ships will set sail on Tuesday (6 th of August) from Szczecin to Warnemünde. The Polish city at the Oder river was this year's host for the final Tall Ship Races, which were organised for a period of four weeks in the Baltic region. The regatta of traditional sailing ships on Saturday (10 th of August) are another main maritime highlight. Seven event areas with diverse offers On seven areas visitors will be guaranteed a diverse programme on the four days of the event. The German Navy awaits guest at its open base in Hohe Düne where further ships such as the Brazilian Navy ship “Cisne Branco” and the training ship of the Polish Navy “Iskra” will tie up for an “Open Ship” attendance. The principal spot is Warnemünde. From the shores and moles, visitors will have the most spectacular view on the incoming and outgoing traditional sailing ships. Along the passenger pier, seven wind-jammers and the frigates of the German Navy “Karlsruhe” will tie up. On Saturday, four cruise liners will be joining the four-masted “Star Flyer”. The cultural main event at the seaside resort will take place on the stage near the light house and along the market-strip on the promenade pier. The main location for events is the Rostock city harbour where most of the participating traditional sailing ships will tie up. Four hanseatic ships will form the impressive setting for the market event “Life during the Hanse Time” which will be staged on the Silo-peninsular. Close to the peninsular, the parade sailing of the “Shtandart”, a replica of Tzar Peter I’s flag-ship, will end on Saturday at 6 pm. Later that evening, a game will be performed by the Hans Sail Association illustrating the history of Rostock's connections with its partnering country Russia. A further highlight in the inspiring programme will be offered by the northern German public-service broadcasting. On Sunday, “Miss and Mister Hanse Sail 2013” will be elected on the Hanse Sail stage with the help of the LT-Club. On Friday and Saturday night, the partners ANTENNE MV and M.A.U. Club entertain visitors with music on the stage ROSTOCKER (near Kabutzenhof). During the day, the “CITTI Kids and Fun Park” is the right place to be for families and close to this park, the well-established “Rock the Ramp”, will again provide a maximum of entrainment. In addition to the variety of amusements, sport activities are on display in the city harbour near the sailing stadium. One of the sport highlights will be the water ski shows of the water sports club Luzin (Feldberg) sponsored by EURAWASSER. The seventh area for further Hanse Sail events is Rostock's “inland sea” which refers to the “Schwanenteich” (swan lake) near the hall for art. The space around the swan lake will be illuminated during the first artSAIL on Thursday evening. This joint project of KARO and the hall for art features open air galleries, films, live radio, sound installations and a barbecue. Hanse Sail as an unique politico-economic networking event Under the auspices of Chancellor Angela Merkel, the 23 rd edition of the Hanse Sail represents a major political event for the hanseatic city and the northern German federal land. Among the confirmed political guests are the Federal Minister of Transport and Urban Development Dr Peter Ramsauer, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finances of the Federal State of Brandenburg, Dr Helmuth Markor and Erwin Sellering, Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania, as well as the three ministers of his cabinet Till Backhaus, Lorenz Caffier and Harry Glawe. Further political guests include members of the European Parliament, the Federal Parliament and the State Parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania. Expected are more than ten diplomats, consuls and attachés, including the representative of this year's partnering land Russia Vladimir Grinin as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation in Germany, Yakov Hadas-Handelsman and Takeshi Nakane as ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the state of Israel and Japan as well as Ricardo Alves de Barros, military attaché of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Iceland, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Austria, the Kingdom of Sweden and the Czech Republic are represented by their honorary consuls for Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania. The guest list of the hanseatic city of Rostock includes more than two dozens of representatives from partnering cities inside and outside Germany, including Bathtub (Georgia), Guldborgsund Commune (Denmark), Hefei and the province of Anhui (China), Karlskrona (Sweden), Kiel, Klaipeda (Lithuania), Riga (Latvia) and Szczecin (Poland). In cooperation with the Baltic Sea Forum, an international conference for the cooperation in the Baltic region will be held for the first time. Press contact Tourismuszentrale Rostock & Warnemünde Büro Hanse Sail Klaus-Dieter Block, Annika Schmied, Britta Trapp Tel. 00 49 381 29 63 /-64 [email protected] www.hansesail.com .