It is often said that regarding a circumnavigation, these two things are the hardest: The first step, the actual casting off and the arrival back, when it is done. In fact, most sailors would name the latter as by far the hardest trial. This article delves deep into the psychological implications such an adventure at sea might have, especially on a solo sailor. Therefore I´ve talked with Christian Sauer, who in March concluded his 27.000 miles sailing race around the world.
This article fits neatly the ongoing craze connected to Christopher Nolan´s “The Odyssey”, as his focus for this latest interpretation of Homer´s epic saga is indeed not the colorful, adventurous journey to all the exotic places, but rather the inner workings of a broken man and his struggle to return home.
If you are thinking of maybe sailing around the world yourself too, maybe even single handed, you should be aware of the fact that such a journey will inevitably trigger a profound transformation for you. I´ve read about this in so many books, from classic Moitessier to more recent modern circumnavigations. By that, and also to kind of “conclude” my Mini Globe-series, I´ve interviewed German sailor Christian Sauer once again and asked him these burning questions as well: How much of a life changing experience is a circumnavigation?
The vastness of the undertaking
Lars Reisberg | NO FRILLS SAILING: „Christian, good to see you in good shape! It have been a few months since your circumnavigation has ended. Just for the start: Can you give us a little overview and fact about that journey?”
Christian Sauer: „Sure! So, I attended the Mini Globe Race, a circumnavigation on a self-built wooden sailboat. A regatta. Out of fifteen contenders, eleven made it to the finish line. The race stared end of February in 2025 and I finished seventh on March the ninth this year. This means, I´ve been out on the sea for 201 days for the Mini Globe Race, not including the Transat we´ve had to do for the start line in Antigua. That said, the tracker showed almost 24.000 nautical miles for the race, in total that´s 27.300 miles if I´m correct. We did not sail non-stop, of course. There had been seventeen stopovers around the world in eleven countries to replenish provisions, do some repairs and of course keep the fleet together.”
Lars Reisberg | NO FRILLS SAILING: „So tell me, what was the very first thing you did after you arrived back after sailing around the world? And why was exactly this so important to you?“
Christian Sauer: „Well, maybe this isn´t so impressive to read, but the very first thing I did in fact was to take a very, very, very long hot shower! No, it´s true! Apart from the fact that the cramped volume aboard the a boat that is barely bigger than a bath tub does not allow for such amenities, especially the last leg to Antigua was a thorough beating for me. We´ve had pretty adverse conditions. The boat´s interior was moist and chilly, there was salt everywhere. I had to cope with gusts exceeding 50 knots of windspeed – thank God only short bursts in squalls, so this wind came without the waves, but still. It was an ordeal. And right on the last day I pushed very hard to arrive in Antigua during daylight, after the whole last leg was predominantly very tiresome upwind sailing. So, you maybe understand why the greatest thing I could think of at that moment was … a shower!”
How much will a circumnavigation change a man?
Lars Reisberg | NO FRILLS SAILING: „We´ve talked at the beginning about this a little: Can you confirm that arriving back after such a long, lonesome trip is the hardest, as it can be read in so many books?”
Christian Sauer: „The decision to tackle this challenge, the act of building the boat, my ARGO, and of course going to the starting line and really start this race was tough, that´s for sure. But you are right: What´s really hard is what comes after you conclude this undertaking. After arrival I did have a couple of resting days to wait for the other contenders´ arrival before the closing price giving ceremony took place. And I´ve had plenty of time to think about this. Or maybe, try to think about this. Even now, almost four month after the race was over, I still haven´t fully realized what I have done. It´s only step by step and little by little that my mind starts to process and really comprehend the scope of this adventure. Also, I am underway in South America now, new adventures, albeit smaller, new people, new input. Every day. I don´t feel that I have arrived for good and I have definitely not returned to life fully. At least this is how it feels.”
Lars Reisberg | NO FRILLS SAILING: „Did make sailing around the world change you as a person, as a character? If you want to take it so deep, tell us in which aspects it changed you.”
Christian Sauer: „Yes, sure it did change me. A lot. There are many aspects, I would say. But first of all, on the good side of things, it turned out that my decision to leave behind the “rat race” that was my life – like it is reality for so many people – was the best choice ever made! I do not at any rate miss my old life for sure! I am really happy that I was able to make a cut here and nothing can make me go back. On the other hand, I am still searching for what is now my new life. I am looking for a lifestyle that really correlates with what I have discovered what I am. For now, I feel like I have found what I was looking for, but I also realize that this is by far not the end. I know that there is still a lot before me of which I am not fully aware of as of now.”
Lars Reisberg | NO FRILLS SAILING: „This sounds very poetic. It´s a more psychological struggle, you say?”
Christian Sauer: „Well, we will talk about the physical implications later. But yes, it is profoundly psychological. I don´t want to get too deep into this, but during my circumnavigation I kind of completely turned my private life upside down. I changed things for good and this was a deeply drastic and changing experience. It was so profound that it made my life really hard during some of the legs, and frankly, the stopovers prevented me from kind of making my peace with this or think it through thoroughly. These new facts grow on me only slowly now. I wish I´ve had more time at sea to cope with these decisions and their implications, the stopovers kind of happened to early. On the other hand, I cannot know if two or three weeks more would have changed something. But even now I am gnawing on this”
Lars Reisberg | NO FRILLS SAILING: „Could you rank your personal, let´s say top three, changes which you observe on yourself? Would you say that overall this transformation is positive?”
Christian Sauer: „I don´t know if I could rank them. What´s even more important to know, I think, is that it is not only the fact of the circumnavigation alone, that changed me. It was the sum of all decisions leading to this big adventure, which changed me. So the transformation really began much earlier, I would say. What´s changed you ask? Well, for once it is a feeling that now I am much more myself. I feel my true inner self, follow my instincts and gut feelings rather than cold, purely objective fact. I would also say that for sure I have become much more relaxed. I kind of found a new inner balance, composure to accept things and not having the urge to always understand or change stuff. I let go a lot, wait, observe at first and decide then if and what to do. I would say this is in any case a very positive development for myself, yes.”
Christian Sauer: „I also developed a character treat that I really wasn´t aware of back then when I started. There is a nice allegory to it: See, back in the day when I was still building ARGO, I´ve had a very close friend who helped me a lot building the boat. We were under some pressure to finish ARGO in time, and so he would often say that we will not make it. “It´s too much, Christian! It´s too much!”, he would often argue. But we kept on working, rather stoic. And we´ve made it to the start. Later, this stoicism and perseverance would enable me to sail around the world in this little boat although my left shoulder was severely injured. As early as Tahiti I´ve been diagnosed with a ripped chord and the doctors advised quick surgery. But I remained true to the cause and kept on and on. I asked my friend – because I had already forgotten – what I would answer back then when he´d had one of his breakdowns. He said: “I have to, I have to somehow!” You see, even then, unbeknown of my conscious self, I developed a stoicism that is now a major character treat of me. Without this, I would have never ever made it.”
About the price you should be ready to pay
Lars Reisberg | NO FRILLS SAILING: „Nothing in this universe happens without a price you have to pay. What was the price Christian Sauer had to pay in order to have the privilege to sail around the world, for all his adventures and profound changes?”
Christian Sauer: „Oh yes, this is a universal truth, Lars! Good question. The price I had to pay – I already mentioned it – was the total turmoil and hard cut changes I did in my private life. Again, I don´t want to disclose all too much of it, but you can imagine the implications and the impact such decisions have. This journey to enlightenment, this journey to my true self was and is connected to a lot of sleepless nights and pain. I´ve made a number of very tough decisions. I turned 46 lately. In essence, I am starting my life over now. I start a completely new life. Return to zero, if you will. This is something I cannot even fathom now! I can only hope that I will deal with it, come to terms with it and that it turns out to having been a good decision. You can never know for sure. Is it clever to leave a secure life? I don´t know, the future will tell.”
Christian Sauer: „One price I´ve had to pay is obvious: Being separated from my family, my social life and my friend for so long was really tough! Even with all those modern amenities such as Starlink, it´s really hard! No real social contacts, missing my friends and old habits. It does something with you. Of course I have found many new friends, namely among the other Mini Globe-sailors, and for sure I was fortunate to meet so many fantastic people. But kind of severing the contact with your lifelong friends was absolutely devastating. Again, we will see how many of the old friendships can survive and be revived. Only time will tell.”
Lars Reisberg | NO FRILLS SAILING: „You´ve mentioned your injury. What´s going on there?”
Christian Sauer: „That´s another one of the not-so-nice prices I had to pay. In essence, a chord is severed and that caused a lot of pain right away. I maybe should have abandoned the race for surgery, but I kept on sailing. Thanks to lots of painkillers, I´ve made it. Naturally, I relocated much of the work to the right arm, which is now even more damaged than the left one. What this will mean in the long term, we will see. But that’s also a concession I had to make. In the end, what´s maybe interesting, I would trace back the source of this mishap to the boat itself. You know, I´ve been sailing on a VO70 lately to Panama. Although this all-out racer is much, much more emptier than ARGO, it felt like being on a cruise ship. So open, so wide. The work was easy, the movement of the boat stunningly pleasant. So, I am sure that the cramped situation aboard the 5.80 Class Mini Globe, it´s abrupt and wild tossing around in the waves and the necessity to do almost everything whilst sitting or crouched vastly contributed to my injury in the first place. But anyway, I am doing my physiotherapy and it slowly it gets better. If I do the surgery or not, I will decide later.”
What´s left then to do, after such an adventure anyway?
Lars Reisberg | NO FRILLS SAILING: „Speaking of ARGO. When we last talked you emphasized that you´d maybe wanting to sail her back to Europe. Where is she now and what are your plans with the boat?”
Christian Sauer: „Yes, I still want to sail her home to Europe. Unfortunately I couldn´t get the money needed to pay for her transport back home. The plan was to have her as an exhibit at Duesseldorf Boot boatshow in January 2027. So now she is on the dry and ready for hurricane season, which hopefully will spare Antigua. I must say my Goodbye from ARGO wasn´t that hard. I would have thought it to be much more emotional, but I could leave her without any heartache, surprisingly.”
Lars Reisberg | NO FRILLS SAILING: „… and what´s next year?”
Christian Sauer: „We will see. I have many ideas, some plans, but nothing concrete. As for now, I think I will sail ARGO back to Europe in Mai or June 2027. If possible, and that´s basically a budgetary question, I want to keep her. So I don´t plan on selling the boat. Back in Germany we have a national class for the Globe Mini now. Wouldn´t it be nice to arrange some regattas or race within bigger events? But again, nothing solid. As for right now, as you can see, I am currently in Bolivia. I am indulging myself into the adventurous life: I did mountain bike the infamous Camino de la Muerte or climb on 6.000 meter high mountains. I like it so much! I do have a nice idea going on with two of my fellow Mini Globe Race-contenders, but I´ll keep it to myself as of now.”
A new man …
Lars Reisberg | NO FRILLS SAILING: „That´s the question that is in my head now: What´s left there to do after one has circumvented the whole globe? I mean this both metaphorical and literal – what triggers you, what is a challenge for you after concluding this huge adventure, if there is any?”
Christian Sauer: „Oh, there is, believe me! I have so many ideas going round in my head. I want to live an adventurous life, that´s for sure. There is no going back into the cubicle life for me! So my plans involve sailing, for one part, but also shore-based stuff. I would love to do a non-stop solo circumnavigation, but this more or less depends on a possible sponsor. On the other hand, I´d love to do a sailing trip around the world with my family, which is a bug item on my list. But I can´t tell, when and how. But don´t worry, the world is still a big, big playground, even after you have sailed around it!”
Christian Sauer: „What´s interesting though is the shift of perspective. You see, what I am doing here right now might be considered “extreme” by many people. We climb on very, very high mountains, I do crazy stuff on the mountain bike, but still, it feels as though it cannot even touch what I´ve done with the sail around the world. Even if the degree of difficulty and the risks connected to these adventures here in Bolivia seem way off the charts, it´s still not causing any steep increase in blood pressure. Even though, in retrospect, the circumnavigation does not feel as if it was such a big thing to me at all! It´s really crazy. But as I said, I am just beginning to process this all. For now, I guess I will be starting the work on my book about the Mini Globe Race, that´s one of the more solid aims for the nearer future. I will be coming back to my home soon, even this year. I will clean up the mess that is my old life. And then I will start into my new one!”
Christian, many thanks for this intimate insights! Have fun and be safe in Bolivia: Hopefully we meet in person, maybe during Duesseldorf boat show?
You may also check out these related articles:
The craziest and most unbelievable stories there is: Donald Crowhurst!
Building your own 5.80 meters sailboat – for a circumnavigation!
Love at sea: Sailing as a couple
