Afshin hasn't been sailing for long, but he's already explored half the world on a sailing boat.
Text: Philine von der Reith, photo: Clipper Race, Philine von der Reith
Afshin is a participant in the “Clipper Races”. An international sailing race that goes around the world. The participants are a diverse mix: some have 30 years of sailing experience and others are entering a sailboat for the first time. Afshin belongs to the latter.
Actually, Afshin has been working in the London financial sector for years until one day he discovered a poster of the Clipper Race in the London Underground. His curiosity was aroused and he signed up “because why not?”…. he says.
Born in Iran, he has lived in London for half his life. He went there to study and in the meantime had established a livelihood there. He left all of this behind in the blink of an eye.
Afshin is accepted and qualifies for participation with the training sessions. In hindsight, those four weeks of training were more strenuous for him than the race itself.
“It was like learning a new language.”
“It was like learning a new language,” he describes that time.
However, he never questioned his decision.
He talks about his experiences during the race with almost boundless enthusiasm. Lightning-fast weather changes and extreme sea conditions impressed him. He was never afraid. Not even with phenomena that shocked even experienced sailors on his team. During this time, Afshin experienced the boundless nature, but also how people destroyed it.
He tells of an experience in the Solomon Sea. Many small particles were floating on the surface of the water there. At first he thought this was plankton, until he pulled a bucket full onto the boat. "It was full of micro-plastic," he says, still shocked. Afshin decided to change something in his everyday life on land. He wanted to live even more sustainably.
The corona pandemic brought the Clipper Race 2019 to an abrupt halt after just six months.
After a three-year break, the race is set to resume this year. Afshin used the time around his relatives in Hamburg 
visit. He stopped at the window of a shoe shop on Eulenstrasse 
hang. This is how his time at 8beaufort.Hamburg began.
"I just loved the concept!"
He was immediately convinced of the brand and philosophy. To contribute a part, Afshin spent the next few months trimming the sails fairly for further production. This is how he kept his resolution to live more sustainably.
He helped at 8beaufort.Hamburg until February 2022 when preparations for the Clipper Race started again.
First he went to the Philippines for refresher training. The race started again at the end of March. Afshin and his team now expect four more months at sea. He cannot yet say what his life will be like afterwards, but he would like to keep sailing.
One thing he knows, he wants to win this race.
We're definitely keeping our fingers crossed for him!
SailYourCourse!