Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - After a two-year Corona break, preparations for the Boot water sports fair are in full swing in Düsseldorf. On Friday, the first yacht brought to the exhibition center on the Rhine was brought ashore with the help of the exhibition crane "Big Willi" in order to be taken to the neighboring exhibition site. It was a 28 meter long and 85 ton Sunseeker 95Y motor yacht.

Two more yachts - a not much smaller 83-ton Sunseeker 90Y and a 17-metre, 36-ton Superlauwersmeer SLX54 motor yacht - were due to follow later in the day. The "Big Willi" crane itself weighs "only" 79 tons, but can lift loads of up to 100 tons. The crane runs on a total of eight wheels, which allow it to drive up a ramp to the Rhine, lift up the waiting boat there and transport it to the low-loader waiting on an adjacent street, which then takes the ship to the exhibition halls.

The Boot Düsseldorf trade fair opens its doors on January 21st. Around 1,500 exhibitors presented their products in 16 exhibition halls there until January 29th.