Hermann Noack was an impressive, empathetic and caring person. I got to know him at Cowes Week in 1981, when I set off for England by train and ferry with my parents' blessing, hardly any money but a packet of toast in my pocket. I was 16 years old and wanted to get to where the German Admiral's Cup boats were at all costs.
Hermann Noack gave young people a lift
My main goal was to join the crew of Hermann Noack's "Sabina". There was no binding appointment for this. I introduced myself to the crew in the big marquee in Cowes. Thomas Jungblut was a mainsail trimmer on "Sabina" at the time and asked who I actually was. I proudly said: "I'm vice world champion in the three-quarter tonner." We had just won the World Championship silver medal with "Gaviota".
Then it actually worked out. Hermann Noack and his crew welcomed me with open arms. I was given the position of foreship mate on board and a roof over my head in the crew house. Hardly anyone else had such a positive influence on my future career in sailing as Hermann Noack. Over the next few years, I became part of the regular crew as foreship mate and soon also the boatswain with responsibility for the boat. All this at barely 18 years old. Hermann Noack was always characterised by his ability to inspire young people whom he trusted.
That's exactly what made him special. That's how he helped us grow. At the regattas and also during the preparations for them, he showed us boys that he was not above any work. This was of course also due to his craftsmanship, with which he turned the sculpture foundry in Berlin into a world-famous company. It was here that the bronze sculptures of the British artist Henry Moore were created, for all of whose bronze casts he was responsible from the end of the 1950s onwards.
Successful as a picture caster and sailor: Hermann Noack from Berlin
Many other renowned artists relied on the eye, skill and strength of Hermann Noack III. Whether Joseph Beuys, Käthe Kollwitz, Anselm Kiefer, Georg Baselitz, Wilhelm Lehmbruck and others - they all trusted the Berliner, who passed on the management of the family business founded in 1897 to his son Hermann Noack IV 16 years ago.
For me, his friendliness and kindness always characterised Hermann Noack as a person. He was someone who never put on airs. He sanded the underwater hull with us and took over the lead and realisation when we still had to fill cheeks on the hull at the 1984 one-ton cup in La Trinité because the measurement of the "Sabina" didn't fit after the surveyor had measured incorrectly in advance.
Hermann also showed us that hard work and fun go well together. He was hungry for life, fun-loving and a party animal. He loved life. His laugh was legendary - he gave so much to all of us who accompanied him on his boats. His club homes in Berlin were the Seglervereinigung 1903 Berlin e.V. and the Seglerhaus am Wannsee association.
Hermann Noack's "Sabina": with Team Germany to victory in the Admiral's Cup
We had our greatest success with him when, in 1983 the Admiral's Cup won. The battle was already tough in the eliminations. Willi Illbruck and Udo Schütz had the top boats "Container" and "Pinta", which stood out at the time, built in an autoclave. The two racers were regarded as "absolute pastries". The German team, with which both owners were to win the Admiral's Cup again ten years later alongside Hans-Otto Schümann's "Rubin", was thought to be set.
According to their idea, Tilmar Hansen's "Outsider" should have joined the two "big ones" in 1983 - and the Admiral's Cup team would have been complete. But things turned out differently. It was our team led by Hermann Noack that won the eliminations with the less highly rated one-tonner "Sabina". After that, things got heated behind the scenes for a while, but fortunately it was too difficult to leave us at home.
In the end, the team line-up for the 1983 Admiral's Cup remained the same as the results of the qualifying round: "Pinta", "Outsider" and "Sabina" went to England. In the Cup itself, we didn't manage the Inshores as well as in the elimination, but we scored highly on the long distances and even became the best German boat in the individual classification. More importantly, however, we won the Admiral's Cup with the German team for the second time since 1973.
Fellow sailors mourn the loss of Hermann Noack
This victory was a sporting celebration for the modest Hermann Noack, his greatest successful summit attempt and also a bit of satisfaction. He was honoured with the Silver Laurel Leaf, as were all the other sailors who took part at the time. This honour was important to him, even though he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Order of Merit of the State of Berlin in other areas. At the time, Hermann Noack was quoted in YACHT with this comment: "You can see that the others are only cooking with water."
Hermann, your family will miss you very much. Me too! No other owner had such a lasting influence on me at the beginning of my sailing career. When we met last Friday for the funeral service in the small church on Nikolassee, some old companions from those wonderful times, the wild 1980s, were there. Thomas Jungblut with his wife Brigitte, Sönke Kähler, Roland Michael and our helmsman at that legendary Admiral's Cup: Wolf-Dieter Jahn.
We all had only beautiful and cheerful memories of Hermann, which we were very happy to share. This united us with the entire large mourning community. The eulogy by Hermann's long-time sailing friend Nils Bleese, who had sailed many "Sabinas", fitted in well with this. Nils Bleese's speech was given by Herrmann's daughter Sabina. She allowed us all to immerse ourselves once again in the sailing world that we shared with Hermann.
"Hermann was simply a great guy"
Hermann's son Hermann IV also honoured his father and the sculptor Hermann Noack in a speech which - analogous to his commitment to sailing - showed how much the father of the Berlinale Bears, the Quadriga on the Brandenburg Gate and countless other well-known art objects influenced and positively moved the people around him with his work in the traditional art foundry.
As one lady said so aptly at the end of the funeral service: "Hermann was simply a great guy!" That's how I will remember Hermann Noack: As a person who was always interested in others. Someone with infectious energy and dynamism, who was positive and open-minded - even at the ripe old age of 95.
Sailing was a big part of his life. He ordered his first one-tonner from Wolter Huismann (now Royal Huismann) in Vollenhove in 1964. I share his grief with his loving wife Renate and his children Sabina and Hermann - your loss is great. We have lost a special person.
Hermann Noack: a role model that remains
If you wanted to cast a bronze sculpture of a strong role model, a courageous regatta yacht owner and sailor, it would look like Hermann Noack to me. I am glad that I visited him again two years ago in February and was able to share one or two stories of our shared past with him in good humour. Hermann was born on 9 February 1931 and died on 5 March 2026. Sail on, Hermann - you were my early mentor, a fatherly friend, simply a wonderful role model who remains.
Worth seeing! Click here for the ZDF report from 1983 on the German team's victory in the Admiral's Cup. Immediately afterwards, Hermann Noack, "Outsider" navigator Dr Michael Iwand and "Pinta" sailor Michael Illbruck were guests of presenter Harry Valerien in the Mainz sports studio 43 years ago. There was also a report by ZDF reporter Jochen Bouhs. A programme with a lot of zeitgeist:
Tim Kröger
Profisegler, Coach und Autor
