Interview: An Atlantic round between everyday office life and trade winds
Fabian Boerger
· 24.05.2026
Sailing for a winter - with this plan, Robert Baumann, 54, a trained toolmaker and tyre dealer from Schwerin, fulfilled his dream of sailing the Atlantic. For years, he sailed dinghy cruisers across lakes and coastal waters, sailing around Rügen or on the Müritz. Then the desire for more grew. The idea took shape: to sail across the Atlantic.
He set off in September 2025. He headed for the Caribbean via the Cape Verde Islands - twelve days to Barbados. He stayed in the islands with his family for three months, and eleven different crew members came on board during the voyage. He returned just in time for the Trans Ocean summer meeting in Orth on Fehmarn in mid-May, one Atlantic round later.
Always with him: his laptop. Baumann worked while travelling, conducting his business from the boat. To do this, he built a small office in the forward cabin of his Alubat Ovni 395 "Globi" - compact, functional, self-built. We meet Baumann on board. He talks about the journey, about life between the office and the ocean - and about what he wants to do differently on the next crossing.
YACHT: You are at home on Lake Schwerin and sail a lot of dinghy cruisers. Why the Atlantic Round?
At some point you want to go further. My wife said: "Why not try a bigger boat?" On Rügen, I then discovered a boat on land - with a centreboard. A 32-foot Ovni that got me thinking. As a dinghy cruiser sailor, the centreboard immediately won me over. We ended up buying a 35-foot Ovni, but it turned out to be too small. So we kept looking and came across an advert: three cabins, cherry wood, fully equipped with a watermaker and everything you could wish for - exactly to my taste.
However, it was in Venezuela. "You're crazy," said my wife. Two weeks later, I wrote to the seller, a Swiss man, who replied in German. We got on straight away and he has since become a friend. "Baumi, sell your other boat and buy mine," he urged. I advertised the Ovni - three days later a Frenchman was at the door. The boat was sold within a week. I got on a plane, flew to Venezuela and bought the boat. That was in 2012.
More about Ovni:
That means you had already crossed the Atlantic?
Yes, exactly.
Back in Germany, I made the boat fit, put a lot of work into it myself - the boat was completely stripped bare. I'm a trained toolmaker, so I did everything myself. And so the dreams of sailing around the world continued.
Well, it's now an Atlantic round - that's enough.
Atlantic tour with office in the forward berth
Why not circumnavigate the globe?
I'm still working, not quite free yet. Being out of work for too long would be problematic. Now I had the chance to continue working while travelling - and I took it. No time off, I just keep working.
How did that work?
I had Starlink on board. It ran for half a year, always on. My office is at the front in the forward berth - my bed. And at the front is a laptop with a big screen. That's actually the whole story, told so quickly.
Did that take a lot out of you?
Without it, you would be much freer. You would no longer have the pressure of having to get the work done.
Your credo was: sail a winter. In just over six months, you completed the Atlantic round trip. How did that go?
I was extremely lucky on the outward journey. We sailed almost continuously before the wind: via Brest and Madeira to the Cape Verde Islands, then in twelve days to Barbados. The spinnaker was up for three quarters of the Atlantic. With the centreboard up, the boat slid nicely down the wave.
Then we travelled on to the Caribbean. My wife came on board in Martinique. We travelled through the Caribbean with her for three months. Friends and our children came to visit. When this time was over, the next crew came on board and then we set off for the Azores. We started on 1 April.
Eleven crew members, one Atlantic
How long did the crossing take?
It took us 17 days to reach the Azores. We sailed on from there at the end of April, taking our time in the English Channel. After 20 days we were here on Fehmarn.
The whole journey in figures:
- Round 12.000 Nautical miles
- 8 Months plus one day
- 190 Engine hours
- Round 500 litres of diesel
- 6 Crew change with 11 Friends
Different crews accompanied you on the stages.
Exactly. All friends who could sail, but some with little experience of the Atlantic. For some, it was completely new territory.
How did that manifest itself?
They are inland water sailors, the waves are foreign to them. They are familiar with dinghy cruisers on inland waters. On board here, however, everything is rougher, more powerful. It's a different world on a boat like this - it's a bit like sailing a freighter.
When did that change?
It took them all about a week to really arrive. In total, I sailed with eleven different crew members - and each of them could now run the boat on their own.
Your home port is Wismar. Instead of sailing through, you made a stopover on Fehmarn, at the Trans-Ocean summer meeting. What connects you to the ocean sailing club?
A friend brought me to the club. The community is great: you sail together, share experiences and get to know interesting people. That gives you courage - and makes your desire grow. That's why we kept going to these meetings.
The many WhatsApp groups also help enormously. Whether it's batteries or Starlink - I've picked out how to implement it there, read and learnt. The Caribbean group is also worth its weight in gold. For me, that's what it's all about: getting tips, gathering inspiration. That's what the Trans-Ocean super.
Next Atlantic round: this time without a deadline
What are you taking away from the trip?
I would definitely do it again - but not for another five years.
Why?
I need some rest first (laughs). I've learnt that the Baltic Sea is also very beautiful! It's more manageable, you're always at home, no matter which country you're in.
Would you do anything differently next time?
Next time, I would take three or four years for the round. Then I would also like to be freer and no longer tied to work.
Fabian Boerger
Editor News & Panorama
