Wilfried Erdmann (born 15 April 1940 in
Czarnikau,
Posen Province
The Province of Posen (german: Provinz Posen, pl, Prowincja Poznańska) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920. Posen was established in 1848 following the Greater Poland Uprising as a successor to the Grand Duchy of Posen, w ...
,
Prussia) is a German sailor and author. He is known for his single-handed, non-stop
circumnavigations.
Biography
Erdmann was born in Posen Province, Prussia but grew up in
Karstädt in
East Germany. 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, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...
before relocating to
West Germany at the age of 17. From 1958 to 1959 he traveled alone to India by bicycle via
Southern France
Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...
,
North Africa, the
Near East
The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...
and
Afghanistan. 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 in the
Merchant navy.
In 1967 Erdmann embarked on his first circumnavigation. In
Alicante
Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in th ...
,
Spain, where he bought his first boat, a used 25 ft wooden ship, he met
Bernard Moitessier, who also introduced him to the art of
astronavigation. Erdmann renamed the boat ''Kathena'' and arrived on 7 May 1968 after 421 days in
Helgoland. He was the first German sailor who sailed across the world alone. Because of the size of his boat, nobody in Germany believed him first. Erdmann was able to give proof of the visited
ports of call, though.
1969 to 1972 he spent his honeymoon with his wife Astrid on a 1011-day long journey, which eventually became his second circumnavigation. Having sold Kathena, his first boat, they traveled with his second boat ''Kathena 2''.
* 1976 to 1979: journey to the
South Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
with his wife and his 3-year-old son Kym.
* 1984 to 1985: non-stop, solo circumnavigation from west to east with the prevailing winds with ''Kathena Nui'' in 271 days.
* 1989: two Atlantic crossings with winners of a contest of 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. Ori ...
.
* 2000 to 2001: non-stop, solo circumnavigation from east to west (contrary to the prevailing winds) with ''Kathena Nui'' in 343 days. He was the fifth sailor worldwide doing such a journey.
References
#
CV on his homepage (German)#
External links
Homepage of Wilfried Erdmann
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erdmann, Wilfried
1940 births
Living people
German sailors
People from Czarnków
Single-handed circumnavigating sailors