Wilfried Erdmann (15 April 1940 – 8 May 2023) was a German sailor and author. He was known for his single-handed, non-stop

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnaviga ...

Biography

Erdmann was born on 15 April 1940 in

Czarnków Czarnków is a town in Poland in Czarnków-Trzcianka County in Greater Poland Voivodeship. As of December 2021, the town has 10,279 inhabitants. The town lies on the Noteć river. Because there are many hills around the town, the area is called ...

in German-occupied Poland during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but grew up in Karstädt in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. After finishing school he worked as a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

before relocating to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

at the age of 17. From 1958 to 1959, he traveled alone to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

by bicycle via

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

, and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. It was in India that he first encountered the idea of sailing across the oceans. Because he couldn't afford a boat, he made his living for a couple of years as a

seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

in the Merchant navy. Erdmann embarked on his first circumnavigation in 1967. He bought his first boat, a used 25 ft wooden sloop in

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

– where he met

Bernard Moitessier Bernard Moitessier (April 10, 1925 – June 16, 1994) was a French sailor, most notable for his participation in the 1968 ''Sunday Times'' Golden Globe Race, the first non-stop, singlehanded, round the world yacht race. With the fastest circumn ...

who introduced him to the art of

astronavigation Celestial navigation, also known as astronavigation, is the practice of position fixing using stars and other celestial bodies that enables a navigator to accurately determine their actual current physical position in space or on the surface o ...

– and renamed it ''Kathena'', arriving back on the German island of

Heligoland Heligoland (; , ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , ) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, the ...

on 7 May 1968 after 421 days. He was the first German to sail single-handed around the world. Because of the size of his boat, nobody in Germany believed him at first despite Erdmann producing carefully maintained logbooks and documentary evidence of his ports of call. His honeymoon with his wife Astrid was spent on a 1,011-day voyage from 1969 to 1972 which eventually became his second circumnavigation. Having sold Kathena, his first boat, they travelled aboard his second boat ''Kathena 2''. Further voyages included: * 1976 to 1979: journey to the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

with his wife and three-year-old son Kym. * 1984 to 1985: non-stop, solo circumnavigation from west to east with the prevailing winds on ''Kathena Nui'' in 271 days. * 1989: two Atlantic crossings with winners of a contest run by German magazine

Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

. * 2000 to 2001: non-stop, solo circumnavigation from east to west (against the prevailing winds) on ''Kathena Nui'' in 343 days. He was the fifth sailor in the world to achieve this. Erdmann died on 8 May 2023, at the age of 83.

References

Sources

#
CV on his homepage (German)
#

External links

Homepage of Wilfried Erdmann
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erdmann, Wilfried 1940 births 2023 deaths German sailors People from Czarnków Single-handed circumnavigating sailors Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf