The greatest adventure of her life was initially a big secret. When Gudrun Calligaro from Stuttgart, 42 years old at the time, set sail from Brest on 11 July 1988, hardly anyone knew about her plan to circumnavigate the world alone. Only when she was relatively certain that she would be able to complete the round trip did she publicise her plan.
And indeed: on 9 July 1990, the trained bank clerk docked in Brest again, after 31,834 nautical miles in 338 days at sea. She had only allowed herself seven stops along the way, which is remarkable in that life at sea demanded a lot from her - her boat "Mädchen" was only 9.25 metres long, an 18-year-old Dufour Arpège, a short keel sailing boat with just 48 square metres.
Calligaro has been sailing since she was seven years old, initially on a reservoir in Stuttgart. On various dinghies, she first discovered the waters of southern Germany and from 1975 also the coastal waters: IJsselmeer, North Sea, Baltic Sea, Mediterranean, English Channel. From 1977, she skippered women's and youth cruises on the Baltic Sea, and four years later she was drawn out into the world - Calligaro sailed the transatlantic for the first time as a deckhand.
On this trip, an idea took root in her mind that she persistently pursued from then on: she wanted to sail around the world alone - something no German had ever done before. She prepared for the big adventure on long voyages with a small crew - and in 1987 she bought the boat for it, the "Mädchen", the club yacht of her Stuttgart sailing club.
The following year, the great voyage began, and it was as gruelling as expected. The extreme strain on the journey from west to east reached its climax in the Tasman Sea, where she had to contend with monstrous, breaking seas for days and fainted after capsizing.
Calligaro published her experiences in her book "Ein Traum wird wahr" (Delius Klasing Verlag). It became a bestseller.
Calligaro has been honoured many times for her pioneering work: she has received the Trans-Ocean Medal and Trans-Ocean Prize, the Schlimbach Prize and the Award of Merit from the British Ocean Cruising Club.
Gudrun Calligaro remained faithful to the sea and sailing. Once again, she sailed single-handed to St. Petersburg and Iceland, among other places, followed by a 17,736-nautical-mile loop through the North and South Atlantic in 1996/97. This was followed by further transatlantic crossings and transfers. Most recently, the "Mädchen" travelled mainly on the Baltic Sea, "a good environment for dreaming and planning", as Gudrun Calligaro found.
The sailing pioneer died, as has only now become known, on 4 August at the age of 69.
