Voice Of The Oceans with Wilhelm Schurmann

Standing Before the Mast

The Schurmann family set sail in 1984 and became the first Brazilian family to circumnavigate the world. The design and build of Kat is the culmination of that initial voyage and others on previous boats the family has owned.

Our talk begins with a tour of the boat and Wilhelm highlighting many of the unique design features. Kat serves as a floating platform for Voice Of The Oceans. Voice Of The Oceans is part of the Schurmann Family initiative in partnership with the UN. The goal is to document and highlight the problem with plastics in the oceans – particularly single-use plastics – and work to find alternative solutions at the source. They host scientists and researchers aboard on segments of their voyages.

Kat was designed and built to have the least amount of impact on the environment as she travels. As we learn through our tour of the boat, Wilhelm points out their onboard trash compactor, glass crusher, and a marine sanitation system that rivals and sometimes outperforms municipal systems.

After the tour, Wilhelm and I sat down at the main salon table and talked about the history of the family’s sailing adventures on previous boats and the mission of Voice Of The Oceans.

We also get to hear a bit of Wilhelm’s background. When I first met him aboard at the Newport International Boat Show, I assumed he had an engineering background as he explained all the systems and what went into their development. Turns out he’s not an engineer by trade, but a professional athlete – a 5-time Brazilian Overall Champion in windsurfing! But one thing is for certain – he knows every aspect of all the systems inside and out.

While they were in Newport for the boat show, they also participated in a beach clean-up with Clean Ocean Access. They’ve since left Newport and I believe are now in Bermuda.

You can learn more about Kat, the crew, their mission and follow along at: voiceoftheoceans.com

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