The Bocksbeutel regatta is back! After the corona-related cancellation in the previous year, the traditional run on Saturday, with the best autumn weather, was back with its 86th edition. This time the organizers had to consider a lot in terms of organization, but on the day of the competition it felt like a lot of “normality”.
“We are completely satisfied. Everything worked perfectly,” said regatta director Tilman Schenk in the late afternoon, when there were only a few races left. A good 600 rowers from all over Germany and Switzerland traditionally found their way to Würzburg at the end of the rowing season. Before Corona, the number of participants was slightly higher at around 750 participants.
Uncertainty until the last day
That was probably not due to the “3G rule”. Schenk believes that since the Bocksbeutel regatta focuses primarily on the older age groups, the potential field of participants should have an above-average vaccination rate. In the boats and on the premises, only vaccinated, convalescent and (negative) tested people were present.
There was no mask requirement. The start for the 4500 meter route was, as usual, at the lock near Randersacker, and that for the shortened route over 3000 meters at the Röperbucht near the gravel works in the direction of Würzburg. Everyone crossed the finish line at Bayernbucht.
So on Saturday rowing was the focus again. Rowing got off relatively lightly, as Jan Philipp Neumann from the regatta club explains, but the list of cancellations in the regatta calendar during Corona is still long. The uncertainty swung with this year’s Bocksbeutel regatta until the day of the event.
Organizer invests in software
“It stands a little for the time that for two years you have never known exactly what will be true in two weeks,” says Schenk. The tension was therefore high as to whether everything could ultimately be carried out within the envisaged framework. The effort and need for helpers and volunteers was significantly higher than usual. “But otherwise a lot was as usual,” says Schenk.
The special situation also caused a small digital revolution in the regatta. “Corona was the driver,” explains Schenk, who has to smile a bit. Actually, in his regatta office in the club room of the ARCW there was always a wild coming and going of the rowers. Registrations, race results and whatever else there was to ask the race management. Schenk always had an open ear and at the same time his eyes everywhere.
Schenk’s remarkable multi-tasking skills are now only in limited demand. The organizer has invested in software. Registrations took place online in advance, so that the entry fee no longer has to be taken to the office, the results are all available directly on the mobile phone.
The award ceremony is canceled this time
Of course, Schenk admits that he lacks contact with the participants. “But of course we will keep this modernization.” The award ceremony did not take place at the end of the event, as was usual before Corona. The winners picked up their prizes individually without much bohei. There was still the obligatory Bocksbeutel for the best.
On the Main itself, there was also quite a bit of normality. In Würzburg this means that the “> local hero Joachim Agne usually crosses the finish line earlier than the competition. In the double scull with Fabio Kress, the ARCW rower landed in first place with an advantage of almost one and a half minutes.
It should continue after the successful return with the 87th Bocksbeutel regatta on October 15, 2022.
The results can be found online at www.regattaverein-wuerzburg.de
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