Water travel
Water rafting (Weidling driving) is a rowing sport which in Switzerland and mainly in the regions of Schaffhausen , Bern , Zurich , Aargau and Basel is executed. In addition to sailing in the water, there is also pontooning , which mainly involves rowing and spiking on rivers and lakes with so-called transfer boats and willows.
Basics
For water rafting one needs a boat, Weidling called a rudder , a rudder mounting, the cuttings or rowing nail or provider called, and a sting or Unlock, this is a wooden spars with iron pins.
With the Weidling one traverses rivers and / or uses them for descents or with the sting for upstream journeys. The Weidling used to be made of wood, but is now mainly made of plastic. A Weidling is usually 10 meters long and weighs around 320 kilograms. There is also the long ship, which is 15 meters long and 1700 kilograms in weight. The Weidling developed over the years from the Jag ships, Nauen or fishing boats (see types of ships ).
Usually the crew consists of two men / women standing in the ship, a helmsman in the back of the Weidling and a driver in the front of the boat, which is called a couple . A Weidling can also only be driven by the helmsman, which is called single driving . There are competitions in these two types of driving.
There is also an impact rowing championship that takes place every year in Basel. To do this, you put benches in the Weidling and move the boat forward using galley-like oars. With the Weidling this is 4 men and a helmsman, with the longship even 8-10 men, two helmsmen and a tactician.
Origin / history
The waterway goes back to the earlier rafting , which took place on the navigable rivers of Switzerland from Zurich , Bern and Constance . This type of transportation was mentioned in the Koblenz Customs Ordinance as early as 1200 . In 1456 the millet trip took place. It was a bet between the cities of Zurich and Strasbourg , which was intended to prove how quickly the people of Zurich could rush to the aid of the Alsatians in the event of war.
The fishermen and the boatmen organized themselves in guilds , which took their professions very seriously. So could z. B. in the late Middle Ages in Basel an apprenticeship as a boatman could take up to four years before he was accepted into the guild.
For these guilds was from 1820 a kind of genius troops formed which from 1850 in the Swiss army as Pontoniereinheiten and sappers were used for river crossings and bridge construction.
From 1869 the first water driving clubs were founded and the only military use was turned away and water driving was also used as a sport and competition.
As the basis of the military orientation, the clubs still train future pontoniers in pre-military courses.
Clubs and associations
In Switzerland there are 29 water boating associations that are part of the Swiss Waterways Association (SWV) . This association also belongs to the Swiss Olympic . There is also the military Swiss Pontoon Driving Association (SPFV) . These two associations bring together 2000 to 2500 active water users.
As the first water ride club was founded in 1869 the Limmat Club Zurich Founded in 1876, 1883 and 1884 followed the clubs Rhine club Rheinfelden , Rhine club Basel and fishing club Basel . The last club founded so far is the WFV Rupperswil (1977).
The Aargauer Wasserfahrverband is a sub-association of the Swiss Waterways Association. The 7 Aargauer Clubs, Limmat Club Baden, Nautischer Club Aarburg, Rhein-Club Rheinfelden, WFV Rupperswil, WFV Ryburg Möhlin, WSC Bremgarten and WSV Aarau belong to this cantonal association. There is at least one Aargau association on every major Swiss river. The Aargau water drivers meet once a year for the Cantonal Assembly of Delegates. A cantonal competition is also held annually. This competition is organized in rotation by every Aargau club. The annual youth day is attended by all schoolchildren, young drivers and juniors. This day is also organized in rotation by all clubs.
Thanks to the opening of the clubs for "non-sailors and fishermen" they have survived to this day and only two clubs have just been dissolved.
In addition to cozy get-togethers and races, there are also traditional events such as long-distance trips, holidays or trips down the valley. The most famous descent is probably the millet journey from Zurich to Strasbourg in France , which took place in 1456, 1576, 1976, 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2016.
Races
Each club attends 7–10 races per season, which are organized by the individual water driving clubs themselves. In order to take part in these trips, the water operator must have a valid license from the Swiss Water Operator Association , which must be renewed every year, or a pontooner license.