Dear readers,
A fortnight ago, the Sailing Oscars for the best yachts of 2024 were awarded at the Flagship Night at boot Düsseldorf. I was there, it was a first for me. In addition to the boatbuilding awards, another person was honoured; Kirsten Neuschäfer, the winner of the challenging Golden Globe Race 2022, a non-stop single-handed race around the world, was flown in from South Africa especially for the presentation of the "Seamaster Award". I was thrilled by her. Never - really never - have I ever experienced a person who radiates such calm.
The laudatory speech for Kirsten Neuschäfer was held by none other than Boris Herrmann, who won the title in 2020 and said, among other things, that Neuschäfer had "deeply inspired" him and "inspired him with her courage".
After Boris announces her name, Neuschäfer strides calmly down the stairs and accepts her award. Even during the interview, which she gives to our editor-in-chief Martin Hager in German on stage, there is no sign of any excitement. Despite all the attention surrounding her, she simply sits there afterwards and calmly accepts the congratulations.
Is it this serenity that can only be learnt by being alone for more than 200 days, at best at sea? Literally alone, because on this retro marathon around the world, a GPS plotter and modern communication devices are prohibited.
Apparently not. Because even Kirsten Neuschäfer sometimes had to force herself to get out of race mode and enjoy what she was doing. The moment, nature, the privilege of sailing around the world like this.
If you would like to hear this in her own words, you can click into our podcast with her, which was published yesterday.
The prizewinner is therefore an ideal example for me that this serenity, this slowing down, does not come by itself, not even on the high seas, but that I have to work for it myself. So I will try to focus more on the originality of sailing again.
It's probably not the equipment that plays the decisive role on a cruise, whether on the Mediterranean or the Baltic Sea, but what you make of it. Nevertheless, I won't be throwing the GPS plotter off the boat in future either. But maybe it's enough to switch off the mobile phone more often.
Or simply being pulled by the boat, on a long floating line and without a SUP or similar. Just like Neuschäfer, I don't need it either. She let herself be pulled off her boat in the middle of the sea using only the swimming ladder and without any safety line, even though no one was even close enough to call.
I am determined to take the "less is more" approach a little more into account on my boat in future. So it's certainly not just Boris Herrmann who has inspired Kirsten Neuschäfer.
Nils Leiterholt,
YACHT volunteer
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Newsletter: YACHT-Woche
Der Yacht Newsletter fasst die wichtigsten Themen der Woche zusammen, alle Top-Themen kompakt und direkt in deiner Mail-Box. Einfach anmelden:
