Rollo Gebhard (7 July 1921 – 27 December 2013) was a German multiple single hand maritime
circumnavigator
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magel ...
and
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
of books.
Rollo Gebhard obituary
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Life
His father was a private scholar. The family lived in many places around Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. In WW II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, he served in the Air Force (Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
) as a photographer. In 1956 he bought his first boat, ''Solveig I'' (Swedish: sun-strength). With this dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...
he sailed to the Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...
. With his wooden ''Solveig II'' he crossed the Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
in 1963 single handed. SY ''Solveig III'' was his third boat, actually a yacht
A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...
. He did two round the world cruises single handed with that from 1967 to 1970 and 1975.
In 1983 he started off to an 8-year cruise with his girl friend Angelika Zilcher (later his wife), including a term of 6 month without a stop. Soon after in 1991, he founded a ''Society for dolphin conservation''.
From 2001 to 2003, he did a Europe-Russia-Europe cruise with his 7th boat ''Solveig VII'', a Dutch-built motorcruiser.
He published several books about his trips and about sailing itself.
External links