Tim Kröger

Who is Tim Kröger?

Tim Kröger was born on the 25. August 1964 in Bremen and started to go sailing on his parent’s cruising yachts when he was not even five years old. Today the 1,87 metres tall athlete looks back to more than 40 years of successful international offshore sailing. In 1983 “OT” (Offshore Timmy) won the Admiral´s Cup with the German Team as crew member on Sabina. The president of Germany, Mr. Carstens, honoured him with the highest German sports award, the Silver Laurel.

Between 1986 and 1988 Timmy has been member of the national Olympic sailing team and just failed to qualify for the Olympics 1988 in Pusan as crew member of Soling helmsman Thomas Jungblut. He almost sailed a decade on Willi Illbruck´s successful yachts named Pinta before he took the chance of his lifetime and sailed his first Whitbread Round the World Race on the European entry Intrum Justitia in 1993/94. The crew of skipper Lawrie Smith finished second after eight spectacular legs.

1994 Tim Kröger finally decided to become Germany´s first full-time yachting professional. His passion became his profession. He sailed one and a half year with the French Corum Sailing Team and won the Mumm 36 World Championchips on Corum Watches with skipper Luc Gellusseau in 1995. After some more action on Illbruck´s Pinta he competed in his second Whitbread Round the World Race as watch captain aboard Swedish Match. His memories can be read in the book “Abgerechnet wird im Ziel” that he wrote after the race. One of Timmy´s challenges then was The Race onboard Steve Fossett`s PlayStation.

From 2001 to 2003 he was working for the French America´s Cup Challenge Le Défi Areva as member of the sailing team, boat captain and coordinator of the masts. The Team reached the Quarterfinals of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the Challenger Series for the 31. America’s Cup. After that he raced as Watchcaptain and Strategist in the Daimler Chrysler North Atlantic Challenge, a race from Newport/USA to Hamburg/Germany onboard the German Maxi Yacht UCA. They accomplished this race in the fastest sailing time across the Atlantic. Also in 2003 Timmy raced his 10. Fastnet Race on the Open60 Skandia Set Sail, better known as Kingfisher, the Yacht of Dame Ellen MacArthur.

In the 32nd America’s Cup Kröger participated with the South African Team Shosholoza, the team of hearts. They finished with a highly respected 7th place in the Challenger Series.

In November 2007 he joined the newly structured German America’s Cup Challenge under the guidance of triple Olympic medallist Jochen Schümann. Unfortunately, the team had to close down due to the legal turmoil in the America’s Cup between defender Alinghi and The team BMW Oracle Racing.

As alternative the team participated in 2008 in the TP52 Audi Med Cup onboard the yacht Platoon powered by Team Germany.

In 2009 Kröger went back to Olympic Classes and raced for a season in the Starboat – a 10th Place at the Worlds in this competitive class was the reward.

In the Summer of 2010 Tim Kröger organised and orchestrated a Project for the Audi AG. A Team of 6 Pro Sailors got combined with 6 Amateur Sailors and grew within a short time to a competitive Team. Onboard a TP52, a thoroughbred-racing machine, the Audi A1 Team under the guidance of Skipper Tim Kröger performed so well that they won the German Championship in their class within the Kieler Woche regatta.

Whether as crewmember in international race teams, as skipper of high profile incentiverace programs like the Audi project A dream comes true, as coach for a race training program run by the largest yachting magazine Die Yacht or coaching German racing teams – Tim Kröger is regarded as one of the most experienced Yachtsman in the country.

In 2011 he won the long-distance classic Gotland Runt/AF Offshore Race and he came second skippering the Swan 60 Spirit of Europe in the inaugural Nord Stream Race from St. Petersburg in 2012.

He participated with his international team in the editions of 2013, 2014 of the Nord Stream Race and finally won it in 2015 with the same core group he started with in 2012.

Since the beginning of 2016 Tim Kröger organizes and manages the 30strong Team of a big J-Class, the replicas of the America’s Cup Yachts of the 1930ies. The yacht is participating in various regattas in the Med and the Caribbean.

Besides his involvement in the J-Class he got appointed in 2019 by the German Sailing Federation (DSV) to become coach for the new Olympic sailing discipline Doublehand-MixedOffshore. Unfortunately, this discipline did not get ratified by the IOC in 2021 and will not be part of the 2024 Olympic Games.

He is also sailing and working with various national yacht racing programs, to help them to develop their skillset and bring across his expertise.

The Yachtsman is also a well sought after and experienced speaker for Incentive Events, Management Training, Exhibitions, or other high-calibre Events where he is able to build a bridge on an informative and entertaining level between his world of high-tech sailing to the modern level of business achievements and teamwork.

His book Ich bin Wir was published in 2013. It describes life at sea for success on land. His essence: “There is no better school of life than sailing!” Kröger’s plea for sailing as a guiding principle and role model for managers and employees is authentic, rousing and highly inspiring. The effects and parallels continue to have an impact in everyday life.

When Timmy is not racing round the buoys of the sailing world he loves to spend his time in Hamburg with his partner Tatjana and the twins Carlotta and Rasmus-Finn, born in 2000.