The fact that the Kiel “Uca” was the fastest yacht in the jubilee race from Schleimünde to Aerösköbing in three and a half hours was almost a minor matter. The main celebrations were the initiator and organizer Peter Gast, who resigned from his position after the 25th edition.
147 yachts, some of them very well-known, and 1275 participants from 14 nations set out on the 34-mile course after the opening celebrations on Friday in Kappeln and Maasholm, and they were lucky. After it had rained and blown heavily the days before, perfect conditions prevailed on Saturday in time for the start of the regatta: westerly winds between 3 and 4 Beaufort and clear skies. At 9 o'clock the yachts of the first of five take-offs had crossed the line, around 1 o'clock the first of them arrived at Aero with the "Uca" from the penultimate start group.
After the usual parade through the town, led by the mayor, Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Peter Harry Carstensen and Peter Gast, the participants arrived in the tent city built especially at the port. The celebration turned into an homage to the 78-year-old boss of the event, who announced in his speech that the 25th shipping regatt was his last in this function: “I say goodbye and hope to be Peter Gast as a guest for the next few years The visibly moved doer was bid farewell with a sustained standing ovation. In the future, the organization of the regatto will be in charge of guest sons Christian and Dieter.
For the lavish celebration of the day, Gast had once again put together a full, high-quality supporting program for the crews from the shipping industry - Aerösköbing only came to rest in the early morning that night. Only a little later the first yachts left for the return voyage.