May 16, 2014, saw the premier German luxury yacht builder, Lürssen, host the Lürssen Rowing Regatta for the ninth time. Now a traditional and highly popular event, it first took place in 2003 for the numerous crews, who spend several months in Bremen or at one of Lürssen’s yards elsewhere, while a newbuild is under construction or a yacht is going through a refit or repairs.

Lurssen Rowing Regatta Group - Photo credit to Klaus Jordan

This year there were more participants than ever before. More than 150 Yachties were there, amongst others crews, project managers, designers and a few Lürssen employees. All of them of course keen to win the coveted trophy!

The venue was, as it is every year, at the Vegesack Rowing Club – a club that has a tradition of close ties with the Lürssen shipbuilding company and is located on a branch of the River Weser called Lesum

Chinese dragon boats were organized for the regatta. Each boat can accommodate up to 20 paddlers plus a drummer and a helmsman. The drummer sits on the bow on a raised seat with his back to the direction of travel and sets the rhythm. The helmsman stands aft; having the difficult task of steering the boat in the right direction against wind and strong current.

Lurssen Rowing Regatta 2014 Final Race - Photo by Klaus Jordan

There were eight teams in all, recruited from a large number of newbuild projects and repair jobs. To set them apart more clearly, brightly coloured t-shirts were handed out, making it easy to see which team was in the lead. The other participants cheered loudly to spur the teams on.

Luckily it was a sunny day, but the wind and the strong current made the racing far from easy. All of the teams were however highly motivated and despite getting occasionally wet everyone had a great time. There were nail-biting neck-and-neck heats as oarsmen paddled to the point of exhaustion, but after several heats the winning team was clear. The pink team, consisting of the crew of Phoenix2, won with a 1.4-second lead over the orange team – the crew of one of the new build projects.

To entertain the participants who were not rowing, Lürssen organized bull-riding, which was greatly appreciated by the crew who loved to try out different tactics to stay a longer time on the bull than the others.

Lurssen Rowing Regatta 2014 Winning Team - Photo by Klaus Jordan

At the award ceremony each participant was presented with a medal, and the winning team proudly took possession of the exchange trophy, which it must now defend next year. At a relaxed and cheerful barbecue with plenty of beer the upbeat mood reached its peak, accompanied by a great deal of laughter and discussion of various racing tactics.