a while because there just wasn’t enough room on board a smallsailboat for a strong-willed father and a teenage son. However,the sea does not let you go that easily. At the time, there wasa TV series called »Secrets of the Sea«, directed by and starringJacques Cousteau. He was to be the first great role modelfor Thomas Behrend and a source of inspiration: »At the time,I suddenly realised that I wanted to do that, too. Go on expeditionsand travel around the world, showing people this amazingunderwater world!« And this was something very special atthe time. Scuba diving hardly existed; it was still in its infancy.»Back in the seventies, being a scuba diver was almost like beingan astronaut!«DIESES ELEGANTEBOOT PASST ZUSEINEM LEBENSSTIL //THIS ELEGANT BOATIS VERY MUCH PARTOF HIS LIFESTYLESo he didn’t become an astronaut, but a diver. At the age of18, he was working as an intern when one of his colleagues tookhim to a pool for a diving lesson. »It was a great coincidence thatI met him! After a trial dive, I immediately enrolled for a fullcourse and from that moment on it was clear to me that I wouldmake diving my profession. Diving and filming!« He is every bitas enthusiastic about it today, but of course there were hurdles.His parents, for one thing. His father owned an engineeringfirm, and his parents did not approve of his plans. Then therewas the army, which drafted him for a short period. However,Thomas turned this into a real opportunity: he saw it as a meansto make money and to finance his dream of finally being ableto afford an underwater camera. »I signed up for two years as areserve officer, and at the time I earned what I felt was an incred-ible amount of money.« It made him enough to be able to travelto the Maldives at the age of 19 and to shoot his first film there.Nevertheless, he studied mechanical engineering for fiveyears, for his father’s sake. »But I also had my own plans,«Behrend laughs today. »In my spare time, I did odd jobs or wentdiving and filming, and as a student I sold my first film to RTL,which was about shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea!« And how wasit possible for a student to sell a film to a TV station? »Well,back then it was pretty unique to make underwater films. It wassomething no one else had done.«Almost no one, that is. To realise the dream that burned sostrongly in him, he went to Munich after his studies and beganworking as an intern for the only producer of underwater filmsin Germany, Dr Walter Sigl. »I lived in a basement apartment,and I didn’t want to earn money, only to make films.« Such focuswould eventually be rewarded, of this Thomas Behrend wassure. »If you really want something bad enough and you havethe potential it takes, you will eventually succeed one day – nomatter how bizarre your dream may seem at first!«He thus carved his own path and founded Blue Planet Filmin 1991. You may think the rest is history, but it wasn’t as simpleas that. »I was still very young, and no lenders dared to bear thefinancial responsibility for movie productions that would alwayscost at least 120,000 to 150,000 Deutschmarks. So I had to startall over again, working as a cameraman for other productions. Inthis way, I got to know the editors and repeatedly offered subjectsto film.« Finally, in 1997, he managed to make his first film asproducer and writer: »I could make a living from it and employstaff. It was an exciting time. And my parents finally acceptedthat their boy had grown up to become something after all!«And from then he also finally had time to sail again. »SinceI’ve had my skerry cruiser, I deliberately find the time to sail.«Being the boss, he can pick and choose from possible jobs andembrace the opportunity to work more in the winter and leavemore time for sailing in the summer. And he does not sail justany boat, but a classic, fast and fragile skerry cruiser from 1927that he completely restored himself. »I think it’s nice to sail on aFoto: iStockphoto58
oat with so little freeboard. You do not lose the feelingthat you are close to the water.« Above all, theboat also satisfies the aesthetic streak in him. »Thisboat is so beautiful. I immediately thought, I musthave her!«Some boats, especially those for family sailing, aresimpler and more practical than this narrow, flushdecked,wet sailing bullet, which has very little spacebelow deck. How did this love affair come about?Thomas Behrend laughs: »Back when I saw my firstskerry cruiser in Sweden, we moored in the berth nextto it and my father said: Look at those poor peopledown there. Fancy being in a dog kennel like that inthis weather! I replied: But what a beautiful boat!«Thomas then read an article that said the skerry cruiserclass would soon be celebrating its centenary, andhe was thrilled: »I had to make a film about that!« In2008, he shot »Gods of the Seas« about the mythicalskerry cruisers for TV channel Arte. He researchedthe subject and, as he says, soon knew more aboutthese boats than almost anyone else. And his enthusiasmfor these boats grew during work on the film, asdid his desire to own one for himself.His boat, Gerd VI (a woman’s name in Sweden),was designed by Harry Becker – someone who is alegend among connoisseurs, having designed a numberof elegant racers before building them at his ownshipyard in Karlsborg on Lake Vättern. The boat hasan adventurous history, and Behrend is the eleventhowner in 86 years. »Sailing with such a classic is morea philosophy of life than mere recreational fun,« hesays. »I like that. I also like to have projects. With thisboat, you will never be quite finished. It is a permanentrepair and maintenance affair, and the journeyitself is the destination. Once you have come to termswith that, you can be very happy with it!«read more59
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