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What has happened so far...

2025 June

Sønderborg/Als via the island of Ærø, back through the Als Fjord and the sound to Sønderborg.

Sunday, June 29, 2025: No chance to slip and row with *Elsa 2* – wind was too strong. So everything was postponed to Monday.

Slipping went smoothly, and the journey began with tailwind toward the island of Ærø. The wind soon shifted to headwind and stayed that way. The next day, we rowed to Marstal and then continued through the Danish South Sea – a dream – all the way up to the northern tip of Ærø Island. During the night, we crossed from Ærø to the island of Als. We set off with a beautiful sunset and arrived on the other side, just south of the Funen ferry, about three hours later. We spent the night there, waiting out headwinds of up to 21 km/h.

The weather changed to rain and thunderstorms. We just made it into the ALS Fjord and found a quiet bay to anchor in – a restless night.

The final leg was on Thursday. First, we crossed the fjord to row with a sideways tailwind toward Sønderborg/ALS Sound – which worked out. In the sound, the wind was relatively calm, but conditions suddenly changed again as we exited toward the marina, and we had to steer into it against strong headwinds. But we managed.

As the weather turned stormy, *Elsa 2* was immediately slipped and made ready for transport.

Four amazing days accompanied by seals, dolphins – and seasickness.

2025 June

All you can row 2025

All You Can Row” (AYCR) is an annual long-distance rowing tour on the Rhine, organized by the Karlsruher Rheinklub Alemannia.

The 13th edition took place on Saturday, June 21, 2025. The starting signal was given early in the morning at 5:22 AM, and participants rowed until sunset at 9:35 PM.

The goal of the event is to cover as many kilometers downstream as possible within this time frame—not in competitive mode, but as a shared endurance experience.

2025 May

Circumnavigation of Cres May 2025

Unser Flug ging Samstag 30.11.24 von Stuttgart aus nach Teneriffa und von dort aus mit einem Mietwagen weiter zur Fähre nach La Gomera, wo wir dann nach einer stürmischen Überfahrt unser kleines Ferienhaus in Lepe am Abend bezogen.

Da wir als Futurerower erst am 03.12.24 vor Ort sein sollten hatten wir noch zwei Tage Zeit zum Insel erkunden und Wandern.

Dienstag morgens fuhren wir dann zum Hafen in San Sebastian bzw. zum dortigen Renngelände.

Für die Teams gab es im Wechsel Briefings und Überprüfungen aller erforderlichen Dinge die für die Überfahrt benötigt werden und welche systematisch ausgebreitet waren.

Wir trafen unsere Kursleiterin Dawn Smith mit ihrem Team Ocean Empower und Kursmitglieder von Team lnvictus Atlantic, welche dieses Jahr auch am Start waren, sowie Lizzie Brown von Rannach Adventure – unserem Bootsbauer, unter großem Hallo und Wiedersehensfreude.

Überhaupt wurden wir herzlichst aufgenommen in diese Ruderriege, erhielten wertvolle Tips fürs Boot sowie für die Ausrüstung, durften uns alles genau anschauen, alle Fragen wurden sofort beantwortet und wenn möglich auch in der Praxis gezeigt und erklärt.

Die Kamera stand nicht still. Unzählige Bilder von jeder Kleinigkeit wurden tagelang gemacht, da sich jeden Abend bei der Durchsicht der Aufnahmen Dinge ergaben, nach denen nochmal geschaut werden musste.

Auch nahmen wir an zwei angebotenen Veranstaltungen teil, zum einen eine Einweisung für zukünftige Ruderer über den gesamten Ablauf hier vor Ort, sowie der Ankunft auf Antigua und zum anderen eine Veranstaltung für Familienmitglieder, welche hier die Ansprechpartner kennenlernen konnten und einen Ablauf erklärt bekamen der sehr interessant gestaltet war, damit niemand überfordert wird.

Die Boote wurden nach vollendeter Überprüfung zu Wasser gelassen, wo nun der Entsalzungsanlage, Navigation, Satellitentelefon getestet wurden außerhalb des Hafens, wobei wir leider nur vom Strand aus die aus und einfahrenden Boote beobachten konnten und auch dabei viele Details gesehen haben, welche uns auch sehr von Nutzen sein können.

Der Start wurde dann wegen schlechtem Wetter auf dem Atlantik um einen Tag vorverlegt um für mehr Sicherheit der Teams zu sorgen.

Im Morgengrauen am 11.12.2024 Hektik Gewusel und Nervosität sowie Abschiedsschmerz bei den Teilnehmern , Familien und Zuschauern . Die Mole war brechend voll , die Stimmung vom ersten bis zum letzten Start grandios. Gänsehautfeeling. Mit Applaus, Glückwünschen und Gejohle wurden alle zwei Minuten die einzelnen Boote verabschiedet . Einfach Emotionen pur.

Wir beobachteten die Teilnehmer, manche weinend, manche lachend um die Nervosität zu überspielen , anderen zeigten ihre Nervosität offen.

Sind mal gespannt wie es uns nächstes Jahr ergeht

Diese Reise sowie dieses Erlebnis war das Beste, das wir für die Vorbereitungen unseres Starts im Dezernber 2025 tun konnten.

2024 December

World’s Toughest Row 2024 – Atlantic
Race Start: December 11, 2024
We were there...
...this time, still as spectators.

Our flight departed on Saturday, November 30, 2024, from Stuttgart to Tenerife. From there, we continued by rental car to the ferry to La Gomera, where we arrived at our small vacation home in Lepe after a stormy crossing in the evening.

Since, as Future Rowers, we were only scheduled to be on site on December 3, 2024, we had two days to explore the island and go hiking.

On Tuesday morning, we drove to the harbor in San Sebastián, specifically to the race venue there.

For the teams, there were alternating briefings and checks of all necessary items required for the crossing, which were systematically laid out.

We met our course instructor, Dawn Smith, with her Ocean Empower team, as well as fellow course participants from Team Invictus Atlantic, who were also starting this year, and Lizzie Brown from Rannach Adventure – our boat builder. It was a joyful reunion with plenty of laughter and excitement.

We were warmly welcomed into this rowing community, received valuable tips for the boat and equipment, and had the opportunity to inspect everything closely. All questions were answered immediately, and whenever possible, demonstrated and explained in practice.

The camera was constantly in use. Countless pictures were taken over several days of every little detail, as reviewing the photos each evening often raised questions that we needed to follow up on.

We also participated in two events offered: one was an introduction for future rowers covering the entire process on-site and arrival in Antigua. The other was an event for family members, where they could meet the local contacts and were given an engaging explanation of the process to ensure no one felt overwhelmed.

After completing the checks, the boats were launched into the water, where the desalination systems, navigation, and satellite phones were tested outside the harbor. Unfortunately, we could only observe the boats entering and exiting from the beach, but even this provided many useful insights.

Due to bad weather in the Atlantic, the start was brought forward by one day to enhance the safety of the teams.

At dawn on December 11, 2024, there was a flurry of activity, nervousness, and emotional farewells among participants, families, and spectators. The pier was packed, and the atmosphere was incredible from the first to the last start. Goosebumps. Every two minutes, each boat was sent off with applause, well-wishes, and cheers – pure emotion.

We observed the participants: some crying, some laughing to mask their nervousness, while others openly displayed their anxiety.

We’re curious to see how it will be for us next year.

This journey and experience were the best preparation we could have for our start in December 2025.

2024 October

...and always training sessions on the Neckar...

2024 Sep, 21th

24 hours of rowing on the Neckar in Heilbronn

Organized by the Ruderschwaben Heilbronn, we were happy to accept the event as additional training.

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