Table of Contents
Germany Surfski
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Downwinding in Germany
The Paddler - German Surfskiing
- 2020
How Surfskis Are Gaining Popularity in Germany (Oct 2020)The Paddler spotlight on Germany - Gordan Harbrecht, Michael Dobler, Oscar Chalupsky, Tom Selleck, Max Hoff…
- 2024
Gordan Harbrecht Wins ICF World Championship The Paddler article on Gordan Harbrecht's historic 2024 win, the first ICF men's championship won by a paddler not from South Africa or Australia
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Downwinds/Paddles
Marine
Baltic Sea (Ostsee)
(Locations from West to East - meistens, hoffen wir)
- Flensburg Solitüde - Glücksburg Schausende 7 km Downwindfun
- Eckernförder Bucht (aka “E-Bay”) winter storm downwinder
- Schwedeneck - Eckernförde ~ 18 km video (part of the course that has been used up to at least 2023 for the Baltic Sea Festival race)
- Kiel
- Laboe to Fehmarn ~52 km
- Todendorf (village with Hubertsberg lighthouse) - Heikendorf (Kiel Bay) ~28+ km video
- Lippe - Schönberger Strand 18 km video
- Poel Island calm day circumnavigation
- Rerik
- Wustrow Peninsula calm day circumnavigation
- Elmenhorst - Heiligendamm 15 kmvideo
- Wilhelmshöhe - Heiligendamm 13 km video, Downwindfun
- Warnemünde - Kühlungsborn ~23 km video, reverse direction video (OC Ostsee Cup 2019)
- Nienhagen - Kühlungsborn ~13 km video
- Warnemünde - Börgerende 14 km video
- Börgerende - Kägsdorf 15 km video
- Rostock
- Rostock - Darß ~36+ km
- Bodden Wustrow - Born ~10 km
- Prerow - Zingst ~8km video
- Prerow - Hiddensee ~35 km
Wadden Sea (Wattenmeer)
Intertidal zone at the Southeast end of the North Sea
- Elbe (Estuary)
- downwind video near Kollmar
- Wedel - Blankenese 6-7 km video
- East Frisia (Ostfriesland)
- Neßmersiel - Neuharlingersiel ~23 km sea kayak video
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Tide Races
Wadden Sea (Wattenmeer)
- Between Baltrum & Nordeney Islands sea kayak video about finding the tiderace (not for beginners)
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Freshwater
Lake Constance (Bodensee) (Swiss/German/Austrian)
- See Switzerland Page
Lake Plön (Großen Plöner See)
Lake Steinhude (Steinhuder Meer)
- windy lake, popular for windsports (Racer On the Lake). We would be surprised if you can't downwind here, possibly a good downwind learning location when conditions are not too rough?
Rhine River (Der Rhein)
- Boat Wake Surfing video
Wesel-Datteln-Kanal
- Hünxe - Dorsten calm water paddle
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Conditions
Weather
- AyeTides. For iPhone, iTouch and Ipad.
- Windy - Germany Wind Forecast w/ webcam
Webcams
- MyGermanCity Webcams (Webcam sites are notoriously flaky - the webcams shown above on the Windy website may be more reliable if you can find some water facing views where you may want to paddle)
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Races
Video
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Clubs and Groups
- Kanu-Connection (facebook) this is a company but their facebook feed also includes non-commercial informative posts for canoers
- Deutscher Kanu-Verband Ocean Sports scroll down to bottom right to see full club list - does not include all clubs that support ocean sport vessels
- Ocean Sports is a term in Germany that seems to refer to “canoe” and board sports with origins on the ocean. Clubs in the following list may have surfskis, SUP, dragon boats, outrigger canoes, sprint kayaks, sprint canoes (called “Canadian” in Germany to distinguish them from kayaks, but “Canadian” more broadly also refers to open canoes including voyaging, whitewater, and sprint canoes) etc.
- Deutscher Kanu-Verband Ocean Sport Events List can include races, training, etc.
- Small Sample listing of Ocean Sport and Surfski inclusive clubs (the list above from the Kanu-Verband includes 1000 clubs!)
- Berlin
- Bremen
- Chiemsee
- Chiemsee Outrigger Canoes (facebook)
- Frankfurt
- Hamburg
- Ring der Einzelpaddler (has a good size group of surfskiers)
- Herford
- Rerik
- Hawaiian Sports Club (runs the Hawaiian Sports Festival)
- Rostock (home for Gordan Harbrecht)
- SV Breitling Ocean Sports (SVB Ocean Sharks) (the Breitling is a protected lagoon near the mouth of the Warnow)
- Schierstein
- Schleswig-Holstein
- Landes-Kanu-Verband Schleswig-Holstein e. V. (association of clubs in S-H)
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Rentals
- Kanu Scheune (Bremen/Lilienthal) rental, lessons, tours. Open canoes, sit-on-top canoes, sea kayaks, SUP. No surfskis, but probably good source of information about inland paddling in their area.
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Coaching
Local
Surfski/Downwind
- Kajak Nord/Vajda training camps, lessons
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Injury and Recovery
Dealers/Stores
- Dietz Performance Paddling paddling accessories
- Ecü Sport watersport accessories
- Kajak Nord Tornesch Vajda sales
- Kanu-Connection Surfskis (brands advertised vary - we have seen Epic & Carbonology Sport)
- Lite Venture Stellar Surfskis
- Nalu Canoes OC company using same construction methods as Nordic Kayak (Nordic Kayaks is listed as a dealer for Nalu in Germany)
- Neumann Boats Outrigger Canoes
- Nordic Kayaks Rostock
- Sport Schröer watersport accessories
- Wetiz by Zacki Surf & Sport Fenn/Fennix Surfskis
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Resources
- SeeKajakForum not just seakayaks - downwinding and surfskis sometimes discussed
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