Seglervereinigung Worms e.V.

History

Seglervereinigung Worms e.V. (SVW) was founded in 1972 in Worms and has existed for more than 50 years as a small, traditional sailing club. The club is a member of the Landes-Seglerverband Rheinland-Pfalz e.V. with club number R052; the umbrella organisation is the Deutscher Segler-Verband e.V. Its home waters are the Otterstädter Altrhein, a naturally formed cut-off Rhine meander east of Otterstadt and Waldsee in the recent Rhine floodplain, which was considerably enlarged and deepened by dredging. The water area covers about 260 hectares, retains the bow shape of the former meander and encloses Kollerinsel in its interior. The Otterstädter Altrhein is a disused Rhine arm about seven kilometres from Speyer; the municipality of Otterstadt is also reachable on foot from the club grounds. The club grounds with modern marina and 14 water berths are located on the south-western bank of the Otterstädter Altrhein on the Rhineland-Palatinate side. The club deliberately avoids elaborate infrastructure – there is no clubhouse on site, no freshwater connection, no toilet and no electricity supply, leaving more time for sailing. No combustion engines are permitted throughout the area around Kollerinsel; electric motors on sailing boats are only permitted to a limited extent (in emergencies, when mooring and casting off). Much of the area is under nature conservation. The marina offers water berths only; guest berths are available on request. Members of SVW may use the slipway of Segler-Vereinigung Mannheim e.V. At the start of each sailing season, dates are set at the club meeting; highlights include the summer festival, opening and closing of the season, and autumn pontoon maintenance.