Lectures by Claudia and Jürgen Kirchberger: Sailing to the end of the world

The couple from Austria are now reporting on a decade of cruising in a new series of lectures that begins on Sunday 15 January in southern Germany.

Their sailing career begins with a near-disaster: At the age of around 20, Claudia and Jürgen Kirchberger were caught in a storm off the North American coast, lost their first boat and barely escaped with their lives.

But they pluck up new courage and put all their eggs in one basket: they convert a dilapidated steel yacht into their personal expedition yacht, rent out their house and dedicate themselves entirely to life at sea. Little did they realise at the time that the journey would take a total of ten years.

Icebergs instead of coconuts

Instead of travelling along the barefoot route and enjoying the sweet long-distance life under palm trees, the Kirchbergers fall in love with the cold regions in high northern and later southern latitudes. They experience the loneliest winter of their lives in Greenland, frozen in the ice. This is followed by the Northwest Passage on the way to Alaska, where they spend another winter. The journey continues across the Pacific and through the South Seas. But palm islands and dream beaches still don't appeal to the two extreme sailors as much as the cold, remote areas.

After a year in New Zealand, they set course for the Roaring Forties and the stormy route to South America. It will be one of the most challenging, but also one of the most beautiful ocean crossings of their entire journey. Finally, they leave Cape Horn in their wake and sail across the Drake Passage to Antarctica. There, after almost ten years, they decide to set course for home again.

Wanderlust in the lecture theatre

When they cross the Atlantic from south to north on their way to Europe, the circle is complete: they have sailed around the entire American continent. The Kirchbergers report on this journey of a lifetime in their multimedia presentation "To the end of the world". The events take place mainly in Switzerland.

For one evening, they tell how they went from beginners to ocean sailors, how they ventured out to sea again and again despite seasickness, enormous physical exertion and fear of storms, and how they realised their desire for a self-determined life and great freedom.

The dates:

• 15 January in Denzlingen. Information and tickets are available here.
• 9 to 26 February at various locations in Switzerland. Information and tickets are available here.

Big interview in the YACHT

The adventures didn't last long after returning home. Claudia and Jürgen Kirchberger talk about their most recent trip to Greenland, which even included two off-road motorbikes, and their experiences on a ten-year long voyage in a major interview that appears in YACHT 3/2023.