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25 years agoAn interview with Wilfried Erdmann shortly before the end of his single-handed, non-stop, upwind circumnavigation of the globe

Jochen Rieker

, Uwe Janßen

 · 24.07.2026

An interview with Wilfried Erdmann in the English Channel.
Photo: H.-G. Kiesel
Twenty-five years ago, Wilfried Erdmann returned from his single-handed, non-stop round-the-world sail against the prevailing wind direction after 343 days at sea. To this day, he remains the only German to have successfully completed a non-stop round-the-world sail in both directions. A week before his arrival in Cuxhaven, a YACHT team met the exceptional sailor in the English Channel. This interview was conducted on that occasion.

​Original text from YACHT 16/01.

​Mr Erdmann, you began this voyage in your mind’s eye more than three years ago. Now that the trip is drawing to a close, do you feel anything like sadness or wistfulness?

Melancholy? Nah. That’s enough of that now.

When you set sail from Cuxhaven, you said that this would be your last big voyage. Does this mark the end of a chapter in your life?

I’m just so glad. It’s taken quite a while, hasn’t it? I never thought we’d be on the road for so long.

They had actually intended to be back home a month earlier.

That’s what I’d been hoping for. But when the 320 days I’d set myself were up and we were still so far away, I found it hard to cope.

When did you realise you’d be able to do it?

I wouldn’t have set off if I hadn’t believed in it right from the start. But there were a few close calls. Especially before Cape Town. That’s when I got out the detailed maps I’d brought with me just in case, and imagined how lovely it must be in the harbour. But I carried on in the end. I thought: I’ve got to get through this – that’s why I’m here and doing all this.

Looking back now, was it a joy or a torment?

That was all right. After all, I’ve had more happy moments than bad ones.

Before your last non-stop voyage, you’d already wondered whether, at 44, you might be too old. Wasn’t it even harder now, at 61?

It was a close call. But I’m not going to complain. It’s what I wanted. I wanted to do something really special one last time.

Does that satisfy your desire for long shots?

Yes, it’s someone else’s turn now. I hope there are some out there. We’re a long way from the big oceans, after all. The English and the French are better off in that respect. Just imagine – they only have to sail for a day and they’re already looking at that beautiful deep blue water.

‘Kathena nui’ has safely taken you round the world twice. Is she the ideal boat for you?

I’ve sometimes wished I had a bigger boat. Not so much for the speed, but for the living space and the freedom of movement. In the Southern Ocean, I only took midday position fixes, because anything else would have been too much work. Leaning over the chart table like that – once a day was enough.

​More on the coverage of the single-handed non-stop round-the-world yacht race:

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Jochen Rieker

Jochen Rieker

Herausgeber YACHT

Aufgewachsen in Süddeutschland, hat Jochen Rieker das Segeln auf Bodensee, Ammersee und Starnberger See gelernt. Zunächst war er auf Pirat, H-Jolle und Tempest unterwegs, später auf Hobie Cat, A Cat und Dart 16. Aber wie das so ist: Je weiter entfernt das Meer, desto größer die Leidenschaft danach. Inspiriert durch die Bücher von Bobby Schenk und Wilfried Erdmann, folgte in den 90ern der erste Dickschifftörn im Ionischen Meer auf einer Carter 30, damals noch ohne Segelschein. Danach war’s um ihn geschehen. Als YACHT-Kaleu und Jury-Vorsitzender des European Yacht of the Year Award hat Rieker in den vergangenen mehr als 25 Jahren gut 500 Boote getestet. Sein eigenes, ein 36-Fuß-Racer/Cruiser, lag zuletzt in der Adria. Diesen Sommer verholt er es an die Schlei, wo er inzwischen lebt.

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