The majority of the 250 guests must have sailed around the world dozens of times and travelled well over a million nautical miles: The 50th anniversary celebration of the ocean sailing club Trans-Ocean on Saturday evening was attended by well-known blue-water sailors such as Wilfried and Astrid Erdmann, Heide and Erich Wilts, Burkhard Pieske, Mareike Guhr and Wolfgang Quix, as well as long-standing TO members and long-distance sailors - but also the next generation of ocean-hungry sailors.
TO price for 270 days at 22 feet
As part of the celebratory anniversary event, the prizes that the association awards annually for outstanding ocean voyages were presented. Wilfried Erdmann presented the TO award to Polish single-handed sailor Szymon Kuczynski, who sailed solo and non-stop around the world on a 6.36 metre Maxus 22 from August 2017 to May 2018.
It took him 270 days to make the trip from Plymouth to Plymouth. With the help of an interpreter, Kuczynski reported on his journey and told Wilfried Erdmann in an interview about how he kept warm in the high southern latitudes and how he was able to store food for nine months. "Among other things, I had a bucket with 20 kilos of chocolate on board - but it was already empty on the Atlantic," said the 38-year-old.
Ocean Award for Lina Rixgens
While last year Jimmy Cornell received the Ocean Award for his life's work and services to blue water sailing, the award for individual sailing achievements now went to Lina Rixgens. Last year, the 24-year-old successfully competed in the Mini-Transat, the biennial single-handed regatta across the Atlantic on small Mini 6.50 ocean-going yachts.
"Germany is looking for the super mini-sailor"
Trans-Ocean now also wants to finance and accompany a young sailor for the next but one Mini-Transat in 2021. The idea came about when TO members Lina Rixgens and Andreas Deubel were bid farewell at the last start in France, says club chairman Martin Birkhoff. After an application process in which 15 sailors competed for the sponsorship, it was announced at the anniversary celebration that 20-year-old high school graduate Lennart Burke from Stralsund had been selected.
"This is a really big thing for me," Burke said happily. "Sailing is my life, I'm ambitious, and the Mini-Tansat is exactly the mix of racing and offshore sailing that I love. Taming a boat on my own, sailing it as fast as possible and being professionally supported was my incentive to apply."
Burke had travelled to Cuxhaven from Camaret-sur-Mer for the festive evening. The IW 31 is currently moored in the harbour on the French Atlantic coast, on which he and a friend set off on their Atlantic tour immediately after graduating from high school. "I will finish the trip, then be back in Germany for Kieler Woche next year and then devote myself fully to preparing for the Mini-Transat 2021," says Burke.
The Stralsund native has been sailing since he was nine years old, first in Opti and 420s, later Soling and Melges 24. He became German champion as helmsman in 2017 with his Melges crew.
Burke came out on top against 14 other candidates, including Lina Rixgens. "The criteria included success in regattas, technical understanding and language skills. It was really difficult, but by assessing the individual criteria with school grades, we came to an objective result in the end," explains jury member Andreas Deubel. The 40-year-old from Hamburg sailed across the Atlantic on the Mini-Transat in 2017 and supports the TO campaign as a consultant. "But what also counted was the unconditional will to compete in a Transat, and Lennart was way ahead in that respect. In the end, it was a bit like 'Germany is looking for the super mini-sailor', laughs Deubel.
Boat selection and financing still pending
It is still unclear which boat Burke will start on - and how it will be financed. "I'll present the financing concept at the next board meeting and then we'll focus on buying the boat," says Martin Birkhoff. Up to now, the preparations for the anniversary celebrations and the selection of the sailboat have tied up all capacities. Now, however, they want to focus on choosing the ship - a competitive, new production boat - and the financing. This is to be financed exclusively by sponsors, not by club funds.
Voyage prices, open ship and a storm depression
On the evening before the anniversary celebration, six long-distance crews had already been honoured for their circumnavigations: Anna and Karl-J. Hundhammer, Nicole and Armin Bender, Anna Maria and Ernst Hüttinger, Esther and Mario Wacker, Sybille and Dieter Neuhauser and Ursula and Hans Schult have all recently returned from their great voyage.
Some crews would have liked to have travelled to the festive event in Cuxhaven on their own keel, but the planned squadron trip from Helgoland had to be cancelled due to a storm low over the North Sea. Nevertheless, a handful of blue water yachts from TO members made it to the open ship for interested parties and future blue water sailors.
"The offer has been well received, within a few hours there were already 60 visitors here," says Bert Frisch, whose converted cutter "Heimkehr" was the central contact point for circumnavigators as a floating TO base in the Cuxhaven marina - and for all those who want to become one.
