Schiffer-Gilde e.V.

History

In 1976 the magazine Yacht reported under the headline "Sailing lessons for the blind: Augustus led the way" on Prosper du Bois-Reymond's initiative to enable blind people to sail on Lake Constance after an English model. At first only one blind person, one boat owner and two sailing instructors responded; sailing days followed on Germania III with the blind August Rüggeberg. The next year participation rose to 14 blind and visually impaired people and eight sighted adults. A permanent base was secured through the openness of the city of Bregenz. On 23 February 1979 Schiffer-Gilde e.V. was entered in the Munich association register to promote sailing and the integration of disabled and non-disabled people. In 1981 one sailing week became four 14-day holidays; people with other disabilities and a group from Weissenau clinic joined for the first time. That year the club bought its own boats: a youth cutter, a small keelboat (Wibo) and four dinghies (Laser and Bandit). A highlight was the Paralympic-style regatta with 14 Varianta boats. Under Dr Reinhard Auel a new concept for 1982 included six 14-day holidays and skipper meetings. In the late 1980s the cutter burned down and was replaced through a major donation drive; cruises followed in the Mediterranean, on the Baltic Sea and in Berlin and Poland. After Dr Auel's death in 1998 Otto Schultheis continued the work, leading holidays and organising winter storage. Buying the second cutter Zuversicht in 2009 increased flexibility. Until 2022 the club with cutters Courage and Zuversicht, a yacht and two Zugvogel dinghies was a fixture on the eastern Lake Constance. In 2022 Courage was sold and the Cometone 111 yacht Miteinander purchased. From 2026 a new concept applies: inclusion on cutter Zuversicht on Wannsee near Berlin, on yacht Miteinander on Lake Constance, and on chartered ships on the North and Baltic Seas.

Boat types