Fifty people on deck, no autopilot, no electric winch: anyone who steps aboard the ‘Thor Heyerdahl’ enters a traditional world of sailing. For forty years, this sailing ship has been a school of life and a place of adventure.
In this episode, YACHT editor Fabian Boerger talks to host Timm Kruse about his meeting with Detlef Soitzek. He built the ‘Thor Heyerdahl’ in the late 1970s, inspired by an idea he’d had as a young man. An idea which, as he himself says, he probably wouldn’t have tackled with the knowledge he has today. Back then, it was precisely this ‘youthful recklessness’ that meant he didn’t think twice about it – and that, as the YACHT editor explains, was perhaps the crucial prerequisite for everything that followed.
‘Thor Heyerdahl’ becomes a life’s work
This project became Detlef Soitzek’s life’s work. Generations of young people sailed across the Atlantic on the ‘Thor Heyerdahl’, learning to take responsibility, to make mistakes and to learn from them. “The best teachers on board are the ship and the sea,” says the founder himself, and Fabian Boerger explains in the podcast why he agrees with this statement.
The conversation also touches on an uncomfortable question about the present day: are young people today less independent than they used to be? Detlef Soitzek certainly observes this and sees the answer in his ship.
After more than four decades, Detlef Soitzek is stepping down. And what does the future hold for the ‘Thor Heyerdahl’? You’ll find out from the founder and from Fabian Boerger in this podcast episode.
You can listen to Fabian Boerger’s YACHT sailing podcast here
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Leonie Meyer
Editor News & Panorama
