WOW is all we can say. What an incredible guest! Meet Kirsten Neuschäfer who won the Golden Globe Race in 2022. The Golden Globe Race is a solo around the world sailing race and it took Kirsten 233 days to complete it.
Not only is she the only female to win the race, she is also the first South African to win the GGR. As well as that, during the race she rescued fellow competitor Tapio Lehtinen whose boat sank in the Indian Ocean.
Kirsten has a wonderful and simple philosophy for life. When someone says ‘it can’t be done’ she replies ‘have you tried it?. No? Well then, let’s try’. When she was just 22, Kirsten cycled home from Europe. A short hop of just 15,000km to South Africa to explore the Continent she is most passionate about, Africa. She started that journey with the words ‘let’s try’.
Her love of boats goes back to childhood. She grew up inland but went to the coast on holidays and just felt at home. She spent time in a dinghy with her friends at the Hartbeespoort Dam and thought ‘I think I would like to take to the Seas some day.’
Kirsten has been professionally sailing since 2006. She has specialised in high latitude sailing, taking film crews to places like South Georgia, the Falklands, Patagonia and the Antarctic peninsula.
Kirsten was inspired as a young person by one of her older brother’s best friends who was a ‘can do everything person’. Nothing was impossible for him and this left a big impression on Kirsten. He would always just find a way.
Through the podcast we delve into Kirsten’s 233 days at sea with her boat ‘Minnehaha’. We talk about life leading up to the point, all that she learned and her seeming never ending knowledge of weather and climate, which makes us smile to hear her say ‘I am not expert’. We disagree!
She says winning the race was incredible, and when people ask her how it feels to be a woman who won the race she says she only really thinks that she was a person who worked incredibly hard to win the race and prepare her boat and that for her is the most important part.
Kirsten says that being seen as a role model has taken time to sink in and wishes that there were more females in the sport as well as the industry. She says there is no difference between male and female and it’s a traditional construct we need to get past.
Listen on to learn about electrophysics, wildlife encounters, why she would like to be able to breath under water and how one day she might just write a book so she doesn’t forget what happened as perhaps another adventure is looming. We cannot wait to see what she does.
As a parting thought Kirsten reminds us that everything starts with one step and you will eventually take enough steps to have completed the journey. She is humble, funny and has an incredible philosophy in life and we hope that you hear the love and brilliance that she shares with us and as always we hope you leave the podcast loving the weather and climate just that little bit more.
You can follow Kirsten here:
Website: https://kirstenggr.com/
Instagram: @kirstenggr
LinkedIn: https://za.linkedin.com/in/kirsten-neusch%C3%A4fer-275822197
As well as here https://goldengloberace.com/skippers/kirsten-neuschafer/
