The countdown is on: in eight days, on 21 January 2023, the 54th boot will start in Düsseldorf. The gates of the 16 exhibition halls are already wide open as the yachts and boats arrive by road, on their own keels or on a cargo ship across the Rhine. The ship's crane, affectionately known in Düsseldorf as "Big Willi", has been toiling tirelessly to lift the precious cargoes out of the Rhine. In the evening of 12 January, he was finally able to relax, because with a Swedish Hallberg Rassy sailing yacht, he had lifted his last boat for the fair out of the waters of the Rhine.

In the halls, they are now busy sawing, building, hammering and painting around the boats to have the exhibition stands of the 1,500 exhibitors ready in time for the start of boot 2023. There is a lively, multilingual hustle and bustle here, after all, companies from a total of 68 countries are on board and the list of participants spans the globe, from Australia to Cyprus.

But it's not just the exhibitors' stands that are hard at work at the moment, the fair staff who are constructing the stages and hands-on activities are also putting in all a great deal of effort. An action pool 60 meters long and 20 meters wide is being set up in Hall 17 for windsurfing, wing foiling and wakeboarding. Because of the large amount of water in the pool - it holds 1.2 million liters of water - its walls are reinforced all around with 135 reusable concrete blocks.

The boot Sailing School in Hall 15 has been a popular attraction for young sailing beginners since the 1970s. And there is a pool and wind machines for this too, which provide the necessary breeze for sailing. The boot sailing area holds 200,000 liters of water and measures 25 meters in length and 10 meters in width.

Also, a crowd-puller for many years, is the paddling course at the World of Paddling in hall 14. Here, a 100-meter-long river course stretches through a Canadian-like setting with two lakes and is filled with 140,000 liters of water.

The new diving tower, which will replace the aging tower, will celebrate its premiere in hall 12 at boot 2023. The marvel made of Plexiglas and steel has a diameter of eight meters and a height of four. Here, experienced divers with a license may enter the water and also try out apnoea diving. Beginners can still use the pool for their first diving exercises. The diving tower holds 190,000 liters while the pool is filled with 55,000 liters. The new diving tower will be officially unveiled and inaugurated on 21 January at the opening of boot 2023.