With the By winning the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, Otto Kulow, together with skipper Oli Irvine, has claimed victory in one of the most unusual offshore regattas. In this interview, the German-British sailor describes what it feels like to return to Portsmouth, how a group of novices became a well-functioning team, and why the human aspect of this regatta in particular has left a lasting impression on him.
YACHT: You and your crew arrived in Portsmouth just a few days ago. How are you feeling so soon after your return?
Otto Kulow: I’m feeling a bit tired. It’s been three incredible days. I never would have imagined it would be like this.
What do you mean by that?
Being back in Portsmouth after eleven months. I was actually quite surprised at myself for having managed to do it all.
It didn’t feel real to be back in this marina, where we first set off. It’s like a dream.
Which weighs more heavily: the joy of victory or the knowledge of having sailed round the world in eleven months?
It’s mainly the joy of being part of the team. The first few have already set off for home. Saying goodbye, knowing that this is coming to an end, parting ways with the boat: it’s certainly sad. The fact that we’ve been so successful throughout all this makes it a bit easier to bear. All in all, I’d say: I’m simply proud of the team.
How Otto Kulow came to be part of the Clipper Race
He was born in Scotland, but moved to Leipzig with his family when he was ten.
That’s right, we spent eleven years there. I’ve been travelling for the past three years. After earning a bit of money, I moved to Sydney. There, I gained a few qualifications, sailed round Australia with a friend from Perth, and worked in the yachting industry. Among other things, I worked as a sailing instructor and charter skipper. Later on, I worked in Barcelona.
How did you end up taking part in the Clipper Round the World Race?
I met my skipper, Oli Irvine, in Sydney. We’d already been talking about the Clipper Race there. Six months later, I applied for the role of First Mate. This was followed by a series of assessments in Gosport: interviews, tests and so on. Above all, it’s the personal side that counts – how you get on with people and your patience. Four months later, I was offered the job. It was absolutely incredible.
What makes the Clipper Round the World Race so special to you?
It’s a challenge. The mix of people on the boats is a social experiment in itself. You’re assigned to a boat at random. With 15 people you don’t know, but by the end of the day you’ve become a family.
It’s much more than just a sailing race. For some, it makes it possible to fulfil their dream of crossing the ocean. Our job was to get people safely across the ocean – and to have fun doing it.
Trust, sleep patterns and a ‘big brother’
How close was your relationship with skipper Oli Irvine?
I had a different skipper at the start of the race. We’d spent weeks together preparing for the race. Then he suddenly pulled out. That was quite a challenge. I then messaged Oli and told him that an opportunity had arisen.
I asked him, ‘Do you want to sail round the world with me?’ As luck would have it, he had time and was in England at the time. So we decided to go for it. We set off as friends, and fortunately we still are.
How would you describe the relationship between the skipper and the first mate?
When Oli slept for six hours, I was awake for six hours, sorting out the tactics, being on deck or changing the sails, and vice versa. In between, we’d have a half-hour chat. That’s how we built up such immense trust. Sometimes it felt as if he were my big brother. We can speak our minds to each other, yet at the same time I have the utmost respect for him. It’s quite remarkable that it worked so well.
Find out more about the Clipper Round the World Race and you can read about the teams here.
Amateur crews under professional guidance
The teams are mostly made up of novices and amateurs. How difficult is it to sail round the world with a team like that?
Oli’s and my experience as sailing instructors made things a bit easier; after all, we enjoy teaching others. What really stood us in good stead was that, right from the start, we invested a lot of time in training the crew in steering, trimming and everything else. We put in a lot of effort, so that after just three or four months we were able to take a step back and leave a lot of the work to the crew.
What is the difference between training sailors on the Mediterranean and training them on a long ocean crossing?
That’s hard to say. But it’s certainly different. The boats here are big and heavy. They feel like a tank in the water. That makes it easier to cross oceans in them, compared to sailing in small boats along the coast. It’s a different kind of sailing.
What obstacles have you encountered over the last eleven months?
Definitely a few. It’s difficult to be at sea for eleven months without something breaking. After Cape Town, we sailed far south. There, we had winds of 40 knots for four or five days. That was deep in the Southern Ocean. The water was freezing cold and the waves were building up behind our boat like houses. It was mad and made you pretty nervous. But we managed to stay pretty calm on board.
Why?
The boats have already sailed round the world six or seven times. So you can be pretty sure they’ll see you through any storm. We have 13 different sails on board, some for light winds, some for 40 knots and more.
What really remains in the end
Were there any moments that have stayed with you in particular?
The very first race has stayed with me in particular. Four days after leaving Portsmouth, we were facing 65 knots in the Bay of Biscay. Right at the start of the race, we were put through our paces. The good thing was that this gave us plenty of confidence for the remaining eleven months. The crew learnt straight away how to cope with the conditions and to trust the boats.
But the most important thing is undoubtedly the people with whom you spent time, lived alongside, celebrated successes and worked through conflicts during the Clipper Race.
It is this sense of togetherness that I will miss the most.
Will the wind carry you on from here?
I’m not quite sure about that at the moment. First of all, I’m going to take a break, visit my family, go on holiday and catch up with friends. I also want to get my driving licence. I can’t drive yet, you see.
And what about sailing?
As far as sailing is concerned, I’d like to focus more on solo sailing and offshore racing. If I had the chance, I’d love to sail a Figaro or join a sailing team and gain further insight into the industry. In any case, I want to carry on teaching. I really enjoy it.
Fabian Boerger
Editor News & Panorama