Tag Archives: sailing

World Class Sport in Sonderborg

U19 European Handball Championship (Women)

Denmark is a country crazy about handball. In fact, this tournament has been won 3 times out of the 17 it has been organised by the Danish team. Therefore, Denmark, specifically Sonderborg & Kolding, was considered a fitting location for the 2013 edition.

The tournament started last Thursday (1st of August). At a cost of 50 DKK for a whole day of games, popping in to see a couple of goals from the European stars of the future is well worth it! Games in Sonderborg end on the 10th of August with the 16-10th placement games. When we visited there was quite a lot of space available, so just drop in and enjoy the atmosphere and the playmanship.

World Championship – Europe class Sailing

Considering the lovely weather we have been having, enjoying the outdoors may be of interest. In that case, Sonderborg has been hosting the world championships for the Europe class dinghy since the 29th of July. The boats leave from the Sonderborg marina, from where you can watch the sailors in action out on the water.

As with the handball championship, this championship will come to an end next weekend, with the final races occurring on Saturday 10th August.

Post Danmark Rundt

Post Danmark rundt is a Danish stage race for professional bicycle racers. Followed by around half of Danes, this is a well-known race that hits the spot in this cycling crazy country. This year, 2nd stage ended and the 3rd stage started in Sonderborg.

We went along to watch the finish of the second stage. The race ended by 3 circuits into Sonderborg, up over the bridge and towards Dybbol Molle. This meant that as spectators we got to see the riders pass by four times. This – together with spotting Mark Cavendish – made the wait well worth it!

The six stages of the race came to an end today in Frederiksberg. Mark Cavendish did win this last leg, but the overall winner was Wilco Kelderman.

Kieler Woche

Getting There

Driving from Sonderborg to Kiel takes around 1.5hrs. However, Kiel week is particularly crazy, with parking being a big issue. For a more relaxing arrival and departure, leave your car in Flensburg and take the train from Flensburg directly to Kiel. There are trains every hour during the day, and running into the night (extra trains are organised at night on this route during Kiel week). If you are 2-5 people in the group, a Schleswig Holstein group ticket is your cheapest offer.

Getting around

An issue with Kiel week is that the events are spread all over the Fjord. Good walking shoes are a must, but even those will not be enough to get you from the central harbour area to Schilksee for the races. There are two options here: buses (if you have a Schlewsig Holstein ticket you can take a bus from the train station to there for free) or the more scenic option, a ferry. Buses 501 and 502 run from the train station (bus stop A1) to Schilksee every half an hour (3 €) and takes around 45 minutes. The ferry (4€) takes around 1.5 hrs but is a good way of resting your legs on the way back after a day of walking.

What to do

Where do we start? There is plenty to do, and having been there only once we don’t dare to even think that we figured out half of what is going on. However, a good plan if this is your first time is to arrive at the train station and have a walk around the harbour area. This area is mainly full with food stalls. From there, walk along the water to the Kiellinie (harbour promenade), where there is more food, fair ground areas, but also other stalls e.g. by the University of Kiel.

At the end of Kiellinie your main next destination is Schilksee to see some races. We took a bus back to the train station, where we grabbed some lunch and jumped on a bus to Schilksee. This is probably not the best option. We later discovered the ferry: so what you can do is either back track a bit to Reventlou bridge or walk a bit further to Bellevue bridge and take the ferry from there to Schilksee.

Schilksee is the area where most of the sailors are located. It is nowhere near as busy as the inner harbour area. There is also a beach right next to it if a swim is what you are looking for. Having enjoyed Schilksee you can then take the boat or bus back to town, where you can grab some dinner and enjoy the atmosphere.

To know what is going on in Kiel, you can also download the Kieler Woche app to be able to quickly look through events.

When to go

Kieler Woche, as the name implies, is on all week. However, the weekends are the busiest so if you’re going for the atmosphere that is your best bet. We also arrived in Kiel around 10:30 am (it should have rained later and wanted to get in as much as possible before it arrived). In the circumstances, the rain didn’t arrive, so 10:30 was a bit early. Arriving around 11-11:30 is probably a good idea, especially if you want to enjoy the night life of the place.

If you want more information, a good website we found for planning our trip was this one.

Whereever the wind takes us – a film about an old boat

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Missing summer? Maybe I got something that can bring you back. Imagine sailing where the wind takes you in Atinga, a wooden boat built 51 years ago that has been passed down for three generations.

Dänische Südsee from Lut ze.

I came across this amazing video of three guys on a boat sailing in the Danish South Sea – our corner of the Baltic Sea. The film on vimeo is just titled “Dänische Südsee” and that’s about it, so I got curious. I asked the filmmaker Lutz a couple of questions:

Can you introduce yourself?

I am originally from Berlin but currently I am living in Göteborg, studying Interaction Design. This city is just perfect for sailing. Lots of wind (sadly even more rain), many beautiful little rock islands in front of the coast and almost more boats than people. Until this year, I was only sailing on lakes, which is just not the same as sailing on the sea. Besides sailing I love many other outdoor sports. like climbing, hiking, biking.

Who are the crew and are they always the same?

We were three people on the boat, my sister Karola, our friend Tilman and me. It was our first trip together. Tilman was our skipper, since he had the most experience on the boat, but we were switching roles all the time.

Tell me about the boat in the video?

The boat is called the “Atinga”. It belongs to Tilman’s dad, who himself inherited it from his dad. I don’t know so much about it, but it is a real beauty! Kind of slow, but really comfortable and really good tempered. Everything is made out of wood, even the hull and the mast. We had quite heavy winds, and the boat was squeaking and moaning all the time. It’s a self constructed boat as far as i know, about 50 years old, but I don’t know who exactly build it.

Where did you go on the trip we see in the video?

We started in Høruphav, going wherever the wind and rain blew us. 🙂 Since we only had 5 days and the winds were already pretty strong, we stayed south of Fyn to avoid the huge waves.

Where else do you like to sail to?

I really would like to make a longer trip when I finish my studies. Probably down to the Mediterranean Sea – if I can find the time. Until then I will just make some daily and weekend trips in the skerries off Göteborg and Bohuslän. My University has a sailing club that owns two really nice “Albin Express” boats, which are a lot of fun to sail in.

How did you film this? Do you often make film?

Actually it was my first try in making a short film in years. I used a Pentax k-7 dslr with two wideangle lenses. Most of the shots were done handheld. But I am planing to do some more stuff. Right now I’m working on a small video project for an university course, which will be about a quite ambivalent street here in Göteborg. And I’m planning to shoot a climbing movie of some spots in the region around Göteborg.

Do you have a website I can link to if people want to know more about you?

Not yet. At least not for my filming stuff but you can check my Flickr page. I recently discovered an old Rollei 35 and Contax from my grandfather, which I use a lot and I post some pictures to Flickr from time to time. And I’m on Facebook.

Great video and story, Lutz and thank you for sharing!

The same day I got another email from Jens from Lüneburg, who is owner of the boat and father of Tilman. He wrote more facts about the boat Atinga.

Constructor: Ernst Lehfeld
Built in 1961
Type: Knickspannt Kielkreuzer
Material: Plywood
Length: 8,00 m
Width: 2,50 m
Depth: 1,05 m
Weight: 2,5 t
Mast: 9,00 m
Sail : 25-35 square meters
Engine: Nanni Diesel 2 cylinders
Speed 10 PS

Viking for a day – Help launch a viking warship

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Spring is in the air and if you had been living around Roskilde Fjord some 1000 years ago you might have been preparing a warship for this season’s raid. Luckily you don’t need a time machine to experience this because we have a local viking ship in Augustenborg.

Sebbe Als, as the boat is called, is built as a replica of wreck number 5 found in Roskilde Fjord, where it sank sometime in the 11th century. It is a fast warship with a long and slim body with 24 oars and a relatively large sail. It can fit up to 30 people.

The ship is owned and operated by an independent society (PDF in English), who built the boat in the period 1967 – 1969, a few years after the finds in Roskilde. The ship, which was launched and named Sebbe Als in 1969, was built according to the drawings of the original ship and by using the same tools as the “old vikings”.

You can take part

Every spring Sebbe is checked, repaired and prepared for the season and this is where you can get a taste for what it’s like to work with a boat like they did in the age of the vikings. There are two dates coming up where you can go see the boat, meet the people building and sailing the boat, help out and maybe even join the crew.

21st of April starting from 9am Sebbe is getting a new coat of paint on the bottom. Come and get up close to the ship.

28th of April at 9am Sebbe will be launched into the water. This is done purely by manpower so they can use any help they can get in pulling the 2 ton boat in the water.

Sunday Ann and I cycled out to see if we could find the “naust” where the boat lives in winter and at the end of a gravel road we found it. Two very friendly ladies were painting a smaller boat called Ottar outside and they were more than happy to give us a tour of the facilities. The tranquility of the place was amazing we had brought a lunch pack with us so enjoyed that while soaking up the sun and enjoying the atmosphere.

Read more about the boat on SebbeAls.dk. To get to the home of Sebbe Als look for Hesselvej 10 by Augustenborg. To get there on bike it’s a nice 20 minute bike ride from central Sønderborg, in a car you need to follow this path and park by the manure tank. Check the map below for the exact location.

Hesselvej, Augustenborg

Photos by Steen Weile, chairman of Sebbe Als.

Hej Sønderborg

Culture, food, events and life on Als, Denmark