German crews have repeatedly made their mark in this ocean classic. The Akademischer Segler-Verein in Kiel was already on the line at the premiere in 1973 with the 1936-built yawl "Peter von Danzig". The young students on board came through - but were the last boat to finish. Their budget for the circumnavigation at the time was just 50,000 marks; today, adjusted for inflation, that would be just under 85,000 euros. The money was raised through donations. The "Walross III" from ASV Berlin and the "Schlüssel von Bremen" from Bremen followed in the third edition in 1989/ 1990.
Tim Kröger sailed twice with
After that, Tim Kröger - first with "Intrum Justitia" and then with "Swedish Match" - was the only German sailor in the race, which experienced a new surge in popularity in Germany in the 1990s. Kröger's book "Abgerechnet wird im Ziel" is one of the books that fuelled Boris Herrmann's passion for ocean racing when he was just 17 years old.
In 2002, the team founded and financed by Michael Illbruck achieves its greatest Ocean Race triumph to date under the German flag with victory in Kiel. The white boat with its striking green design thrilled hundreds of thousands on its triumphant arrival in the fjord. The only German winner on board is Tony Kolb, who starts again in the following race with the Swedish team Ericsson, but retires before the end of the year for family reasons. Michael Müller flies the German flag in races ten and eleven with the Puma teams.
After a total of 85 German sailors made their mark in the first 40 years of the Ocean Race, there was then a decade of doldrums. A decade ago, 39-year-old professional sailor Michi Müller was the last German sailor in the race around the world. Now, however, his comeback is imminent and promises to be full of excitement.
Short portraits
The folk hero
I'm really looking forward to the Ocean Race challenge. We will leave no stone unturned!"
Boris Herrmann, 41, Skipper "Malizia - Seaexplorer"
He has already sailed around the world four times. Last time, he became a national hero in the course of his rousing Vendée Globe premiere, with whom German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also sought a public dialogue afterwards. Boris Herrmann is Germany's most prominent sailor. Now the 41-year-old father of a young daughter from Hamburg is about to embark on another first in his career: Herrmann will be taking part in The Ocean Race for the first time. For the first time, he will be leading a multinational team as skipper in the most important team race around the world.
Successful in dinghies such as the challenging 505, the youngest participant in the Mini-Transat, winner of the Portimão Global Ocean Race 2008/2009 with his sailing friend Felix Oehme, record-chasing circumnavigator on the trimaran "Idec Sport" in 2015, the first German to successfully finish fifth in the Barcelona World Race 2010/2011 and finally a popular conqueror of the world's oceans in the Vendée Globe 2020/2021: Boris Herrmann's sailing milestones are impressive. They now lead him to the starting line of the Ocean Race, which he read about as a teenager and dreamed of one day taking part himself.
The course for Herrmann's success was set by his meeting and friendship with Monaco's princely son Pierre Casiraghi in the team of Giovanni Soldini's Maserati projects. Herrmann and Casiraghi also founded their team Malizia together in 2016 with the support of the Yacht Club de Monaco. It not only carried Herrmann solo around the world in the Vendée Globe, but has also grown into a veritable racing team. Herrmann has hand-picked his co-sailors for The Ocean Race. In addition to their sailing skills, they have all made a long-term commitment to Team Malizia. That is "typical Herrmann", who is already planning for his second Vendée Globe participation in 2024/2025. Before that, however, there is the adventure of The Ocean Race, which he is once again embarking on with a climate mission. Herrmann's credo "A race we must win" applies to the fight against climate change just as much as it does to the sport of his life. The new racing yacht "Malizia - Seaexplorer" was deliberately built to be robust. This is also typical of the Oldenburg native: Boris Herrmann is not a risk-taker, but a thoughtful strategist with long-term plans and goals.
The persistent
The Ocean Race is a tough challenge for which I had to make a huge change."
Robert Stanjek, 41, Co-Skipper "Guyot Environnement - Team Europe"
Robert Stanjek was born just 21 days before Boris Herrmann on 7 May. Both were born in 1981, but are fundamentally different. Unlike the early long-distance sailor Herrmann, Stanjek was active in competitive Olympic sport for more than a decade and a half, shining as Olympic sixth-placer in 2012 and as Star Boat World Champion in 2014. The Berlin scion of a successful rowing and sailing family initially acquired the tools for this as a child at the Rahnsdorf Sailing Club.
He later stepped on the gas at the Berlin-Grünau Yacht Club, which is also home to Germany's most successful Olympic sailor Jochen Schümann. As a national sailor in the German Sailing Team, Stanjek matured into one of the best national and international star boat sailors. He was rewarded by finishing sixth at the 2012 Olympic Games in a double-pack with co-sailor Frithjof Kleen, and after the two-person keelboat was knocked out of the 2012 Olympics, the same duo went on to win the World Championship title in 2014. Stanjek then switched to big boats, furthered his professional career and caught fire for sailing. A trial training session with the Dutch team Brunel before the last edition of the Ocean Race did not yet take him to the starting line of the most famous team race around the world, but Stanjek persevered with his goal of circumnavigating the globe under sail.
He founded Offshore Team Germany (OTG) with Berlin-based music producer, composer and sailor Jens Kuphal in 2016. Their long journey together was rewarded with victory in the Ocean Race Europe in 2021. OTG and Imoca ace Benjamin Dutreux from France joined forces for the famous ocean marathon and formed Guyot Environnement - Team Europe. This team is a force to be reckoned with in the 2023 Ocean Race, despite its ageing boat. As co-pilot of skipper Dutreux, Stanjek will share responsibility for his premiere. He is approaching the race "with respect and confidence".
The team player
This is the biggest race of my life!"
Phillip Kasüske, 26, crew member of Team Guyot Environnement - Team Europe
His Olympic career remained unfinished because the Finn dinghy was removed from the Olympic programme after 2021. That's when Phillip Kasüske from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club steered into new territory and is now about to make his debut as a circumnavigator alongside co-skipper Robert Stanjek.
As Junior World Champion 2016 and German Champion 2020 in the Finn dinghy, Phillip Kasüske from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club was one of the most promising German Olympic talents. But after the coronavirus shutdown, the postponement of the Olympic Games in Tokyo by a year and the cancellation of the Finn dinghy for the Olympic future, the 28-year-old Berliner has refocused his attention.
The powerhouse focussed entirely on sailing, seeking and finding his chance as a professional. Kasüske was already part of the French-German winning team in the Ocean Race Europe. Once a pupil at Flatow High School, one of Germany's elite sports schools, the former Finn helmsman is characterised by a special combination of sensitivity and strength. On board the Imoca, the passionate Berlin cyclist not only brings the necessary horsepower into play. Thanks to his experience in Olympic sailing, the youngest member of the Guyot sailing team can also take the helm when it counts. As boat captain, he has also acquired a great deal of technical expertise. Kasüske is really looking forward to the challenges of the Ocean Race.
The high-flyer
A lifelong dream comes true for me"
Susann Beucke, 31, crew member of Team Holcim - PRB
She represents a sailing career in fast motion: Susann Beucke, recently celebrated Olympic silver medallist in the 49er FX at the 2021 Olympics in Japan, has risen faster than almost any other female sailor before her as a newcomer to the high seas. Sanni Beucke only switched from Olympic racing on small high-performance skiffs to the French Figaro scene at the beginning of 2022. With her own charter Figaro, a lot of courage and modest initial results, she started in the demanding solo class. However, as she took her first steps in a demanding arena, she did not fail to look left and right as part of her "This race is female" campaign and to fight for additional opportunities for development and promotion. Her tenacity has now led Sanni Beucke to the starting line of the Ocean Race just one year after starting sailing. French skipper Kevin Escoffier signed her up for his Swiss Ocean Race team Holcim - PRB. Alongside three-time British round-the-world sailor Abby Ehler, the Olympic medallist from Strande near Kiel is the second woman in the core team of co-favourites. At least one of the two will be on board for each leg.
For Beucke, the Ocean Race marks a giant leap forward in her career. "It's a lifelong dream come true for me," says the 31-year-old from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, who is aiming for the long-term goal of participating in the Vendée Globe as a soloist.
The roots of her passion, which she wants to turn into a sustainable career, lie in her home town of Kiel. Beucke explains: "When the 'illbruck' became the first and only German team ever to win the Volvo Ocean Race in Kiel in 2002, I was on the water with my family to accompany them the last few miles to victory. There were 300,000 people there at the time. It was incredible. I was nine years old. Since then, I've had the dream of sailing in the Ocean Race myself. Now it's about to start. It feels fantastic."
