Olympic silver medalist Susann Beucke has big plans: After 15 years of Olympic team sport on a small dinghy, she is switching to solo sailing on the high seas, which is full of deprivation. Her goal: Participation in the Vendée Globe.
In Japan, Beucke and her helmswoman Tina Lutz celebrated silver in the small sailing skiff 49erFX at the Olympic Games. Now the 31-year-old wants to conquer the world’s oceans in large keel boats. “My heart beats very loudly for offshore sailing,” said the native of Kiel. At the next but one edition in 2028/2029, she wants to take part in the circumnavigation.
She has already trained with German Vendée Globe star Boris Herrmann. “He is an old family friend and is at my side as a mentor and advisor,” she revealed to NDR.
Farewell to the sailing ship at the “Kiel Week”
Her switch to offshore sailing also means saying goodbye to 15 years of competitive Olympic sport alongside Lutz. The sailors had twice missed out on qualifying for the Olympic Games before realizing their dream on the third attempt and crowning themselves with a silver medal in front of Enoshima.
In the Olympic half of the “Kiel Week” (June 18th to 26th), Beucke will contest one last regatta together with Lutz in her favorite and home area in front of her own front door in Strande.
Solo training in France
Beucke started the new chapter in her career at the beginning of the year when she switched from the Olympic dinghy to Figaro keel boats. In February, she completed the first month of training in harsh winter conditions in Lorient, France (“the Mecca of offshore sailing”).
To get started, she chose the Figaros, the most demanding training class in the French-influenced world of solo sailing. It starts in August with the “Solitaire du Figaro” – a single-handed sailing regatta over 1,500 to 2,000 nautical miles and several stages on the Atlantic off France.
Ocean sailing a whole different world
She knows that she will learn a lot in the first few years. The realization after six months offshore commitment: “I initially hoped that I could take a lot from my Olympic career. And now I have to realize that offshore sailing is very different,” said the 31-year-old.
Sailing from place to place over the water for several days, and doing so alone, means “extremely much responsibility” and a lot of adventure. Olympic sailing, on the other hand, is traditionally about “faster, higher, further”.
Campaign “This race is female”
In two to three years, Beucke is supposed to switch to medium-sized keelboats of the Class 40 type, then to Imoca yachts, on which the Vendée Globe will be held. Beucke has already found two partners for this. The announcement is to be made on June 21 at the Kiel Week.
At the same time, the woman from Kiel launched a campaign: “This race is female” is intended to motivate women to do something they do not dare to do: “The old role model still prevails. And that is why it is very important to counteract it effect,” says Beucke, who wants to act as a role model with her sailing adventure.
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sports field | 06/12/2022 | 6:00 p.m
