He is a true friend of boot Düsseldorf, has demonstrated his enthusiasm for sports here, has donated an antique anchor to the trade fair, supports the “ocean tribute” Award with his ocean foundation and simply likes coming to Düsseldorf: Prince Albert II of Monaco.
His first visit to boot Düsseldorf was in 1993 – incognito with his father Rainier III, to prepare the partnership between Monaco and boot 1994. In 1994, father and son Grimaldi officially opened the25th boot as representatives of their Principality. At the time, the Prince was an active athlete as a bobsleigh pilot in the Monacan team and reported to Günter Jauch about the preparations his team was making for the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer / Norway as a celebrity guest on the ZDF-Sportstudio television programme at boot 1994.
ocean tribute Award: Prince Albert II, Petros Michelidakis, Werner M.Dornscheidt (left to right).
Inthe run-up to boot 2017, Monaco and Düsseldorf revived their long standing friendship via their joint commitment to ocean protection. Together with the German Ocean Foundation, they established the “ocean tribute” Award. Messe Düsseldorf and the Ocean Foundation also launched the “love your ocean” campaign, with the British ocean activist Emily Penn as its high-profile figurehead. Prince Albert II impressed the audience by his enthusiasm, expertise and personal dedication not only when the Award was announced but also on the occasion of his passionate speech about ocean pollution control.
The Monacan Prince took this opportunity to promise that he would be returning to Düsseldorf for the 50th anniversary in 2019, exactly 25 years after his first official visit. On 21. January, he will be presenting the second boot Düsseldorf “ocean tribute” Award to the winners in the three different categories (society, industry and science) together with the Executive Director of the German Ocean Foundation, Frank Schweikert, and Messe Düsseldorf CEO Werner Matthias Dornscheidt at the boot 2019 “blue motion night”, to which other well-known water sports icons such as Sir Robin Knox Johnston, who was the first sailor to circumnavigate the world single-handedly, are also invited.
About boot Düsseldorf:
boot Düsseldorf is the biggest boat and water sports trade fair in the world and is the place where all of the industry meets in January every year. The exhibitors are presenting their interesting innovations, attractive new developments and maritime equipment from 19. to 27. January 2019. This means that the whole of the market will be coming to Düsseldorf to provide an exciting insight into the entire water sports world for the nine-day exhibition covering 220,000 square metres in 16 different halls. There is something for every water sports enthusiast, with the main focus on boats and yachts, motors and engine technology, equipment and accessories, services, canoes / kayaks / rowing, water skiing, wake boarding, wake skating, skimboarding, jetskiing, diving, surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, SUP, fishing, maritime art, marinas, water sportsfacilities, beach resorts and chartering. The trade fair is open from 10:00 to 18:00 hours every day. Admission tickets can be ordered online at www.boot.de and printed out conveniently at home. As an additional feature, they entitle ticketholders to use the Rhine-Ruhr public transport system free of charge.