At the end of October, Bobby Schenk organised his 19th and final blue water seminar at the traditional Hanseatic Yacht School in Glücksburg. A good 150 sailors took the opportunity to come a little closer to the dream of a long voyage by attending lectures and exchanging ideas. Those who needed the final push were given it by Golden Globe winner Kirsten Neuschäfer.
End of October 2025 in the Hanseatic Yacht School of the DHH in Glücksburg: Blue Water Pope Bobby Schenk says his last mass at Germany's oldest sailing school. He has already announced several times that his blue water seminars are coming to an end, and now it is about to come true. A good 150 sailors have gathered to exchange experiences for the last time in this tried and tested setting, to listen to the lectures by round-the-world sailors and Cape Horniers and to take away practical tips for their own trips, even if they don't necessarily have to go around the world.
Participants from all German-speaking countries
Many of them have travelled all the way from Austria, Switzerland or Bobby Schenk's native Bavaria to the far north of Germany. They have their own boats or charter them regularly, dream of longer trips or have already done so. One of them has been building his boat for 20 years and hopes to finish it soon now that he is retired. The couple next door report that they have owned a boat suitable for long journeys for 10 years, but that it does not yet have a mast. They practise their sailing skills by regularly sailing from their berth inland to the North Sea and Baltic Sea and exploring both seas on extended trips under motor. Some are just starting out, others have school-age children or parents to look after. But they all want to be inspired by stories or dream away once again in the wake of their past trips.
It can obviously take some time before the plan becomes a reality. Bobby Schenk knows this and recommends: "Start travelling first, then plan." Some people, he quotes from an older article in Yacht, spend a lifetime working on a coffin. He has the long voyages behind him, spent almost 20 years on board with his late wife Carla, sailed around the world, rounded Cape Horn and, according to his own account, enriched the German sailing vocabulary with the term "blue water sailing". He has been in the scene for 50 years and is "no longer interested in discussions", he says, taking the wind out of the sails of potential critics in advance. After all, the 86-year-old knows that some of his statements can polarise and that contradiction would be expected if he did not enjoy the greatest respect among sailors in view of his great services to cruising sailing.
Bobby's "ten commandments"
"Of course, I would also like to adulate myself," he begins the presentation of his "ten commandments", the essence of five decades as a skipper, author and teacher, with a wink. He advises prospective long-distance sailors to practise jibing, gain experience on passage trips and pay attention to the quality of accommodation when choosing a boat, because "75% of the time you are in harbour or at anchor when sailing around the world. Sailing plays a subordinate role in the long run, the passion for sailing diminishes."
In his experience, compromises are also out of place when it comes to the crew: phrases such as "I sail for the sake of my husband" are a guarantee that the long voyage will fail. He himself was very lucky that his late wife Carla was just as addicted to sailing as he was, "she was the perfect crew mate."
The speakers take the participants out to sea and give practical tips on equipment and weather, medicine on board and the best way to deal with paperwork when travelling. Questions about energy supply, internet on board and water makers - things that can make long-distance travellers self-sufficient and ensure safety at sea - are clearly at the top of the list.
"If you have the chance, make it happen!"
The technical questions are framed by images that the speakers throw onto the screen and reinforce with words, such as when circumnavigator Kerstin Pieper tells how she and her husband Hans Schubert always sailed across the Atlantic chasing the sun and, after passing through the Panama Canal, a look at the nautical chart showed: "Everything was blue. Half a globe just blue!" In the middle of it all were small speckles of land, the South Seas, the Maldives and larger ones like Australia or Africa. They travelled around the world and finally arrived in the Mediterranean. Their pictures show dreamlike sunsets, white sand and sea in all shades of the paradisiacal colour scale. They are intended to whet the appetite for this kind of slow and intense travelling: "If you have the chance, go for it," recommends Kerstin Pieper.
It's advice that runs through the event like a mantra, regardless of whether the long-distance travellers have followed the barefoot route or battled their way through the Northwest Passage. The messages are literally well received by the participants.
Presentation of the "Cape Horn Award"
The old master of blue water sailing has created a small monument to himself with the "Bobby Schenk Cape Horn Award". The prize can only be awarded to anyone who passes the infamous storm cape without interruption between the points Rio Grande and the islands south of the Strait of Magellan, i.e. between 54°30' south on one side of South America and 54°30' south on the other side of the continent.
In 2023, it went to Kirsten Neuschäfer for her victory in the 2022/23 Golden Globe race, and now the exceptional sailor is ceremoniously handing it over to Norbert Sedlacek in the hall of the Hanseatic Yacht School. The former Vendée Globe participant pursued despite some setbacks persists with his plan to conquer all oceans, including the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean, single-handed and non-stop in a sustainably built volcanic fibre one-off.
Positive conclusion
Regardless of what the participants' intentions were when they came to the seminar, they were overwhelmingly very positive. Some of them can literally see how they are mentally preparing to finally cast off, others already have a concrete plan, are selling the house and looking for the right boat. Thanks to lively and well-founded presentations, they have learnt that it is possible to turn dreams into reality. Finally, Golden Globe winner Kirsten Neuschäfer may have dispelled some doubts with her gripping presentation.
Farewell to the blue water stage?
Was that really it? With Bobby Schenk you can never be quite sure; after all he had already announced his last blue water seminar in 2021 and talked to the yacht about itwhat that means for him. At the end of the event, he confirms that it is always a huge organisational effort. But more importantly: "My wife has written to me threatening to divorce me if I carry on." His wife Frauke, on the other hand, relativises: "Maybe there will be smaller events again." And who would know better than her about the restlessness of a Bobby Schenk?
