In the strait between the French island of Corsica and the Italian opposite Sardinia, the 48-year-old barque set a new record with 16.5 knots.
A very strong mistral has blown between the islands, says Captain Norbert Schatz. As a result, one really rushed through the strait.
In general, the barque was often driven by strong winds on the four-month training trip. According to Commander Schatz, the storms had "blown away" the ship and crew to such an extent that it was even possible to sail a few detours in the scheduled time.
The autumn voyage with the 275 officer candidates (the cadets were replaced twice during the voyage) should have been only 6200 nautical miles long. In fact, however, it was almost 10,000 nautical miles. The training ship covered 82 percent of this under sail. This is also a value that goes beyond planning.
Now holidays are announced for both the crew and the "Gorch Fock". The next training trip begins on March 26th. A trip to the US is then planned for a total of nine months.