Interview: Sailing dynamo in retirement - Gerd Eiermann remains true to himself

Multi-talented Gerd Eiermann has won more than 50 championship titles in various boat classes and was one of Germany's best in regatta sport. On 17 June 2004, a serious accident in Kiel-Schilksee tore the trained Rhine sailor from his wave of success, which he continued as an entrepreneur with a renowned boat service and as a youth coach. He is now retiring from active professional life, but remains loyal to sailing on many levels.

Tell me Gerd, can someone like you even retire?

Good question! But I had a look at the calendar and saw that there's been a 7 there for quite some time. I'm 71, so it's been 49.5 years with the boat service. It's really crazy how time flies. A lot of people have come and gone in that time. But at some point you really have to start living. Although: my whole life is about sailing, otherwise you couldn't be so crazy and do it for so long.

You have entered into a co-operation with the dinghy specialist Ziegelmayer in Hamburg...

Yes, we had considered that as the largest dinghy dealer, we couldn't do anything to the market by simply closing down. Then we found someone in Ferdi Ziegelmayer who also does the Ilca stuff very well. You only hear good things. He's a great age, everything fits. We have come to an agreement. I believe that he will continue like this, especially in the Opti and also in the 420.

Gerd Eiermann remains active as a coach

You are still active as a consultant and continue to be involved as a youth coach...

I was persuaded. I continue to coach 420 sailors. Last year we were U17 champions and runners-up.

You also sail on yourself...

We bought a sailing catamaran for our retirement. I call it a houseboat because it doesn't have the sailing feeling of a monohull. We also had the classic considerations: House in the south or boat? But with a house, you can't go wherever you want to be. With a boat, you can stay where it's nice or move on if something else tempts you.

It's a bit like the wild camping of the past." Gerd Eiermann

As a lifelong monohull sailor, why did you decide in favour of two hulls?

The decision in favour of a catamaran was based on the consideration of how much you live on the boat and how much the sailing hours make up. You might be at 10 or 15 per cent. You have to pay a little tribute to age. The cat is at ground level, easy to handle. With my restricted leg, climbing isn't so much fun.

You were hit by a car on 17 June 2004 in the harbour apron at the Kiel-Schilksee Olympic Centre. With life-changing consequences...

I had 14 Kieler Woche victories, more than Wolfgang Hunger at the time. We wanted to fight for 15th. I came from the right of the weather forecast, was on the way to the campsite at the Olympia Hotel, and was standing. A car came the wrong way down the one-way street. The driver saw me and probably braked hard on a wet road, then crashed into me. He got four points, no driving ban, had to pay 500 euros for assault.

Brutal career end for the top sailor

And you?

For me, it was eleven drastic months in hospital, which did a lot to me because I was and still am a crazy sailor. That came to an end overnight. I had several broken ribs, but above all a serious fracture of the tibial plateau. The tibia was gone, there were only fragments left. A so-called "compartment problem" was then diagnosed. If this is not repaired within 24 hours, there is a good chance that the limb will have to be removed. I was extremely lucky with the treatment, first at the Lubinus Clinic with Heinz Laprell and then with a very good neurosurgeon in Duisburg, where an ADAC plane took me in good time.

Has the person who caused the accident ever apologised to you?

No.

You fought your way back, but were no longer able to compete in regattas like before...

... you would have had to sail a kite or a tall ship. You need a lot of time and money for a tall ship, dragons weren't my class. Back then, I thought about how I could continue to be on the water. It was possible as a coach and for young people. Since my accident, I've enjoyed passing something on in this way - sailing mad as I am. I got on the dinghy. That was the only chance. Young people give you so much. It's not just me who teaches them, they teach me too. I see it around people who don't sail. Sometimes I think, my goodness, they're old people.

You need a 'popometer' for that." Gerd Eiermann

How do you feel when you go to Kiel Week with young people as a coach today?

Good with the sailors and on the water. But every time I come to Kieler Woche, people still drive the wrong way round in the one-way street. Sometimes I speak to them.

You have won more than 50 championship titles. Why were you so good?

Just like in business, you have to have a lot of ambition. Then you can assert yourself more often and be successful. I have also made sport my profession. Hard work and meticulousness are also part of it. And - as the racing driver Hans-Joachim Stuck once said - you also need a 'popometer' for it. You can't learn that feeling that gives you a tenth more speed.

Sailing is for you...

... never the same, not always in the same hall as in other sports. That's just great for a fanatical sailor!

You have sailed Pirates, 470s, FD, in South Africa also on the TP52 of your old friend Hasso Plattner, Admiral's Cup, Copa del Rey and much more. Your greatest success?

Very difficult to say. Is it the more than 50 championship titles or the three in one year? I would also describe the only Olympic elimination I have ever raced - and lost - as a success. We were leading after two out of three regattas. Our opponents completely changed their equipment for the third: different boat, different manufacturer, different sails. That was the Kiel Week. And they gave us such a run for our money that we came second. They won gold at the Olympics. We would never have won that. It was Frank Hübner and Harro Bode who were Olympic champions in 1976. It was a shame not to go to the Games, but we were beaten by someone who won gold. I found that comforting.

Gerd Eiermann: sailed everything except foilers

You were successful in many sailing classes.

I really have sailed everything. Everything except foilers. They offer a different kind of sailing, where tactics and trim are no longer as important. They are sports equipment that you have to master very well, but with which you can get to the next buoy in just a few tacks.

FD sailing is great fun." Gerd Eiermann

Do you have a favourite boat?

(Thinks longer). There is one boat that I haven't sailed much and that I can no longer sail with my injured leg. That's simply the FD. It's so extreme in terms of trim. But I never had time for that because I sailed in classes that were also interesting for my business. I sailed FD for three years and accidentally became champion twice. It's just a hell of a lot of fun. Now I can already hear the song: old man, old boat... Yes, that's true! But then I'd like to see a 49er sailor on an FD. He would probably break his neck and find it difficult to move forwards. They're not used to working with the centreboard forwards, backwards, up, down, with the mast drop, with the rig tension. And all this during the race.

Which major sailing events do you like to follow?

I really like the 52 Super Series. All the tactical sailing that I love so much takes place at a high level. I also followed the SailGP online while I was on holiday. That closes the circle for me again. The tactics are at the back again. It's a bit like the America's Cup, only there are several boats racing, not just two. You have to love something like that. There are a lot of people who love it. Fine by me. Time goes on.

Gerd Eiermann's "Peter Burling moment"

Did you have an idol or role model as a young sailor or in the course of your career?

There are a few that I could name. But I would probably forget some of them, which would hurt because I can't think of them right now. Spontaneously, however, I like to remember an encounter with Peter Burling (ed.: 3 x America's Cup winner, 49er Olympic champion, SailGP helmsman of the Black Foils), when nobody knew him yet. He came to Gran Canaria for the 420 World Championship in 2006. He won it. Six months later we were in New Zealand, in Auckland. He won there again. So I've known him since his youth. It was fascinating to see how he sailed! And then the prize-giving ceremony! That was amazing for a 15-year-old. The way he thanked me! To his parents, to the club, to the coaches, to the sponsors. That was unique at that age. And what he has become!