Flensburg Rum Regatta: Historic Working Sailing Vessels and Regatta Traditions

The Flensburg Rum Regatta is an annual gathering of historic working sailing vessels. The Flensburg Museum Harbour Association founded it in 1980 to build support for preserving traditional ships. Today, the event combines regattas on the Flensburg Fjord with a shore-based festival at the museum harbour. Its special appeal lies in the mix of maritime history, shared seamanship and deliberately informal competition.

From collection to regatta

It began with the creation of the museum harbour: in 1979, private shipowners founded the association, restored the old timber quay and began collecting working sailing vessels. The following year, they held the first Rum Regatta. According to the organisers, 30 old sailing ships took part. What began as an initiative to support the preservation project grew into an annual gathering for historic ships.

The regatta is not limited to a single vessel or a particular class. It brings together traditional boats that once worked in commercial and coastal shipping. The Flensburg event takes place on the Inner Fjord; the harbour and its ships also provide a setting for shore-side gatherings. The number of boats and the programme may vary from year to year.

Rum as a tongue-in-cheek regatta tradition

Traditionally, the runner-up receives the large bottle of rum. This unusual prize captures the competition’s tongue-in-cheek spirit: it is not about coming first, but about reaching the finish together.

Seamanship before victory

The organisers describe the Rum Regatta as a rather family-friendly fleet cruise. Safety, fairness and good seamanship take priority over winning. In this way, the competition also expresses a shared responsibility for historic ships.

According to the organisers, the Flensburg Fjord Regatta from Sønderborg to Flensburg has also been part of the programme since 2009. This brings the original aim of showcasing historic vessels and their preservation together with the gathering of historic ships on the fjord and in the harbour. Other maritime events have their own focus: the Hanse Sail in Rostock combines traditional ships with a city-wide programme, while the SAiL in Bremerhaven brings together international tall ships and crews. The dates and programme details for each event depend on its current edition.