INTERVIEW: Sanni Beucke, Olympic champion & Ocean Race participant
“It’s completely normal for a woman to be a skipper.”
Susann (Sanni) Beucke from Kiel is an Olympic silver medallist in the 49er FX, offshore sailor, Ocean Race participant, co-commentator for for the tv channel ARD at the Olympic sailing competitions in France and is aiming for the Vendée Globe 2028, probably the toughest single-handed regatta in the world. Now she has the This race is female-Campaign and has also published the book "Against the Wind". We spoke to Sanni about the forces of nature, femininity and tailwinds.
Kiel-Marketing: Genes and gummy bears is a chapter in your book. Genes from two sailing parents. Gummy bears as a child while sailing, when the sky turned black and you sat in the cockpit on a leash. Is there any life for you without sailing?
Sanni Beucke: Hm, that's difficult for me to answer because I'm lucky enough to have never had to do without sailing. There were perhaps phases where I didn't sail so much for several months and simply got fed up with sailing. There are always times like that, but the sport has always brought me back. In the meantime, I would say that I have really internalised this lifestyle, this way of thinking like a sailor. It's definitely a big, big, big part of me.
How does a female sailor think?
I realise that as a sailor I look outside a lot. When I walk through the door, I always look to see what will happen next with the weather. I plan ahead a lot more, because that's also one of the character traits you need as an offshore sailor. What can you prepare, what do you need to prepare for a certain situation that could happen next? These are two things that I definitely take with me from sailing in everyday life.
At some point while reading your book, I had the impression that there was always an engine running in Sanni. Are you a gearhead?
I find that really funny that you say that. When I read the first texts after the first interviews with Nele Justus, I thought to myself - boah, if you didn't know me, you'd think I'm a total masochist and that I'm totally dissatisfied and always have to keep going. I can totally understand that you get that impression when you read the book. But I can also come down very, very well. From my CV, you would probably think that I'm someone who is extremely focused on success and achievement. But the book made me realise that it's not success that drives me, but rather the process, being on the journey. Getting from A to B, no matter how. I don't think I'm driven. But I'll probably only really find that out later on.
Here's a little anecdote: Federal President Steinmeier once invited you to the Silver Laurel Leaf award ceremony – and you didn't go. You were going through a stressful time at the time and opted for seclusion and peace and quiet.
That also took a lot of thought for me. I said yes to so many things back then and I realised that if I were to say yes now, the barrel might overflow and I might go into burnout. I wasn't feeling well for months afterwards and I really felt like I had to put a lid on it now. I can't say yes to someone again and forget about myself.
Most people would probably say, I have to go there now. This inner attitude of allowing yourself some distance, is that something you first had to learn?
I thought to myself, Steinmeier won't get me out of my depression later. So what do you do? I really felt that this one appointment would simply have been one appointment too many, because it also coincided exactly with my holiday. It was this long-awaited holiday that I knew would give me the distance I needed. You have to learn to stay true to yourself, to listen to yourself and to say no sometimes.
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“Sometimes we sail with the wind. Otherwise nobody would be able to get through it.”
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Boris Hermann once said "Sanni Beucke is like the sea, a force of nature that won't let anything or anyone stop it from achieving its goal." Is sailing more of a battle or more of a desire?
A desire to fight.
To the point.
(laughs) Yes, sailing is very brutal and the quote from Boris reflects that. Nature is so incredibly beautiful and brutal at the same time and that is also reflected in sailing. Sometimes you have these kitschy moments where dolphins jump and you watch the sunset, and the next moment nature bursts out with all the brutality it has to offer. This change from good to evil, from bad to pleasant, is the interesting thing. In a way, it's a meditative task for me to know that Ah yes, everything that is good right now can also become bad again. And everything that is bad right now can become good again. You have to stay in this centre. That's why "against the wind". That sounds hard, it sounds exhausting. But sometimes we sail with the wind, otherwise nobody would get through it.
How does it work offshore, creating a meditative retreat despite physical and mental stress, lack of sleep and being alone?
The environment alone, you are simply alone on the boat without mobile phone reception. It always takes me a day or half a day to get there. I don't sit down and consciously meditate on the boat. But it comes with the territory. For example, I now sail quite a lot without music. With music, you don't feel the boat as well, you're no longer as connected to the sound of the wind, to the feeling of the boat under your bum.
Sanni and the boat in flow?
Ideally, flow. If it wasn't sometimes just exhausting and your body says it's super uncomfortable, it's cold, I'm tired. A quote that describes it best is the one by Florence Arthaud: "On the ocean, our spirit becomes free and our pure feelings come to the surface, the simplicity."*
You seem very relaxed even now. But there are other moments in sailing too. "Offshore sailing is a series of firsts", you write.
When you sail alone, you are constantly thrown into unpleasant situations that you have never experienced before and for which you have to find a solution all by yourself. It's a huge boat, there are so many components that can break. And then I'm also relatively new to the discipline. I've only been doing it for two and a half years and of course I make mistakes all the time. But the final tally is taken at the end, and everything I've learnt now I don't have to master again later.
Speaking of firsts, publishing a book is also part of it. Why a book in a social media world? You yourself are extremely active on various digital channels.
It's really scary to write a book. Your story is just out there. You really make yourself vulnerable. Why would you do that voluntarily? But my big motivation behind sailing is that I'm not motivated by success alone. I love sailing and I think it's great that as an athlete you can do something good with it. Sailing has so many facets. Perseverance, being with nature, being with yourself. That can't be portrayed well in short-lived formats like Instagram. A book can convey that. I can use it to pass on my motivation, to inspire. When I read a book myself, it's a parallel world for me. Like sailing, I'm also in a different world. Perhaps there are parallels between sailing and reading a book.
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“I find it an extreme privilege to be able to be in this state on the water, to be so real.”
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Thomas D from the Fanta4 [a well-known German band] has a nice song, it's called "Thomas D has a tailwind". And Boris Herrmann was the only participant on the last Transat from New York who sailed very far north in order to be able to sail from there on a beam reach, i.e. wind from diagonally behind. But your book is called "Against the wind" ... not really a good course from a sailor's point of view, is it?
Hm, right, you're right. The story is actually about a girl who has learnt to fight her way through. From a totally shy, introverted girl to an Olympic silver medallist, to an ocean sailor. I've always really fought my way through. But in my next stage, I want to surf with the wind a bit more, enjoy the tailwind sometimes. Funnily enough, I was just thinking the other day that if I were to write another book, I would call it "With the Wind". I really need the song, by the way!
Sailing with the wind can sometimes make sense?
With his last race, Boris is the perfect example of planning your sailing in such a way that you manage your resources well and are patient. It's not about going with the flow, just going with the flow. Above all, it's about resources.
In the film "Invictus "*which is about the South African rugby team Springboks in the early nineties, when Nelson Mandela became president, it says "I am the master of my destiny. I am the captain of my soul." I immediately thought of that when I read one of your sentences: "We are the boss of our thoughts. We control them and they don't control us." How important is unshakeable inner strength when sailing the oceans and through life?
Honestly, I don't think you need much more inner strength to sail than to get through everyday life. Sometimes I think you need a lot of mental strength every day. Hey, we really have a spiritual interview! (laughs) On the water, you don't have to deal with everything that's happening out there in the world, you're far away from all the everyday problems. You're just totally far away from all the grievances that exist in the world. I find it an extreme privilege to be able to be in this state on the water, to be so real. Sure, you definitely need mental strength. Definitely. You have to endure it somehow. It starts with having the courage to tell those around you what you're up to. This vulnerability. I mean, if the whole thing doesn't work out, everyone will say, yes, Susann Beucke is the one for whom it didn't work.
As a woman, you still have a very special race to master, which is why you have launched the campaign This race is female campaign. The women who inspire you are free, wild and extreme. What does female mean to you?
I'm currently thinking a lot about what feminine and masculine are and what that means to me. A stereotype of a woman was simply sold for ages until people thought that women were like that. And I found it totally fascinating when women are extreme, like Florence Arthaud or Ellen MacArthur*. I come from a very conservative world where a classic image of women is embodied. The question is, how do you want to be? And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what you are like, the main thing is that you feel as comfortable as you want to be. It's exactly the same for men. You're modelled on stereotypes and often don't even know if it all comes from yourself. It's super important to me to sometimes sail with nail varnish. Not because I want to be provocative, I just do it because I feel like it. It's damn hard to find the right centre as a woman. If you look too masculine, you're immediately labelled as too tough. If you look too feminine, you're not taken seriously. That's why the This race is female campaign. For more visibility for women.
Then surely you are a supporter of the women's quota?
I was in favour of it for a long time. I come from the Olympics, where there are quotas. That gave me this self-image. Then I got into offshore sailing and realised that there were no women like me here. It's totally a male community here. I realised visually that I looked different to the others and felt a bit alone. I realised that a lot of men are against feminism and against women who got in somewhere because of a quota. So, if I was asked if I wanted to skipper or sail in the next Ocean Race, I would only do it without fulfilling a quota. I want to sail, to be a sailor, but without a quota. I want the generation after me to see that it's completely normal for a woman to be a skipper. And sometimes I don't know whether a quota doesn't diminish the work of those who have done it on their own. To put it in a nutshell: Yes. We definitely need more visibility.
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“It is the skipper's job to create an atmosphere in which everyone dares to speak their mind.”
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The visibility of women, diversity and respectful communication are topics that are also receiving increasing attention in companies. In your book, you described your experience during the Ocean Race of communication problems in a team and what that did to you. What tips do you give teams, whether on board or in a company, to ensure they work well together?
I always find it funny: you invest millions in a project and in the end it all comes down to communication. Something so fundamental that we all think we can do. Talking. I always find it fascinating that you can still learn something new. When the team language is officially English and everyone speaks French, it's quite obvious that communication isn't working. I worked a lot on our communication with my team partner at the time, Tina, on the way to the Olympic Games. We worked with code words, simplified communication and thus maximised efficiency. In a team, it is the skipper's job to create an atmosphere in which everyone has the confidence to speak their mind within an appropriate framework.
The feeling of being heard is also important in a corporate context: against the backdrop of different languages in an increasingly globalised world, different generations, diverse gender identities and cultures with their own codes and attitudes. But it is certainly essential on board a boat that can get into extreme situations at any time.
Yes, in the case on board it was so obviously inefficient to use a language for manoeuvres that excludes two people, that's complete humbug. You've just said something important. I think many people don't feel heard because they are reduced to their work. Because we often no longer have time to deal with the people behind the work. It's about creating an atmosphere of openness.
On board the Malizia a culture of openness was visibly practised during the last Ocean Race. I never saw Rosalin Kuiper as a token woman there. They say the fish stinks from the head: Boris Herrmann apparently gave everyone the feeling of being seen, heard and pushed.
Yes, Boris is a super good example. Boris is a mega role model in many ways. Also how he built up his climate protection campaign - from nothing. He told me a few years ago that he likes working with women. That he finds it interesting to have heterogeneous teams, that it's simply an asset. There aren't many of them in the sailing world. The sport of sailing and seafaring are male-dominated. A totally male ego-testosterone industry. That's why I was so surprised at the time that someone like Boris Herrmann would say that as a role model. At Malizia, they also put fun right at the top.
What advice would you give my daughters who are now starting out in life after leaving school?
No matter what you do - love what you do.
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The interview was conducted by Ralf Löwe, Communication & Commercial The Ocean Race Europe/Kiel
©Kiel-Marketing GmbH
*Florence Arthaud, 1957-2015, offshore sailor, winner of the Route du Rhum in 1978.
Ellen MacArthur, *1976, held the world record for the fastest single-handed sail around the world for three years, two-time winner of the Route du Rhum.
"Invictus", Unforced (2009), directed by Clint Eastwood, based on the book "The Victory of Nelson Mandela: How Enemies Became Friends". The title refers to the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley, which gave Nelson Mandela support and comfort during his years in prison.
Thomas D: "I'll tell you this way, all those who are searching with me on the journey have a tailwind ..." Thomas D, Tailwind
Sanni Beucke: www.sannibeuckesailing.org
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