Around the world with Sailing Uma

Stephanie C.

On 15 November 2026, Dan and Kika Deckert plan to set sail from Gibraltar on their sailing yacht, the Uma, for an extraordinary round-the-world voyage. Their aim is to complete the voyage within twelve months, without using any fossil fuels for propulsion, on-board power generation or cooking. That means: no diesel engine, no generator and no cooking gas.

Sailing remains the most important means of propulsion

The planned route takes her from Gibraltar across the Atlantic and round Cape Horn, then through the South Pacific, past Australia, across the Indian Ocean, round the Cape of Good Hope and finally back across the Atlantic. Sailing will remain Uma’s primary means of propulsion throughout the journey. Solar power, battery storage and energy recovery whilst sailing are set to provide the energy required for propulsion, navigation, communication, cooking and day-to-day life on board. If the project is successful, Sailing Uma estimates that the voyage could become the first fully completed round-the-world sailing trip on a truly all-electric cruising yacht.

From a classic cruising yacht to an electric ocean-going yacht

Uma is a 1972 Pearson 36 and has served as a home, workshop and test platform for Dan and Kika since 2014. They removed the boat’s original diesel engine and began their electric journey with a second-hand forklift motor and a few batteries. Over the course of the following decade, this simple system underwent continuous development as the couple sailed from the Caribbean tropics to the High Arctic and on to Spitsbergen. The yacht has once again undergone extensive refitting in preparation for the upcoming round-the-world voyage. The current Uma 3.0 features a dual electric propulsion system from Oceanvolt, 3 kW of solar power, 50 kWh of battery storage and a regenerative capacity of up to 1 kW whilst sailing. Measuring 36 feet, or around 11 metres, Uma is not a specially developed laboratory prototype, but a decades-old cruising yacht that has been shaped by many years of practical use, repairs and experiments.

Twelve years’ experience at sea

Dan and Kika’s story is at least as remarkable as the technology on board. When they bought Uma in 2014, neither of them had any sailing experience. The couple met whilst studying architecture and, just a few months after graduating, bought the ageing sailing boat, which they converted into a largely self-sufficient home over the following ten years. Since then, they have covered more than 30,000 nautical miles, visited over 30 countries and lived on board Uma for twelve years. In 2021, Uma also took them all the way to Spitsbergen without using the diesel engine. For Dan and Kika, therefore, sailing round the world is not a one-off adventure or a publicity stunt, but the next step in a long process of development characterised by ocean crossings, technical problems, repairs and continuous improvement.

A real-world test for electric cruising

It is precisely this experience that makes the project particularly interesting for sailors interested in electric propulsion. Rather than testing the concept under ideal conditions, the round-the-world voyage will put Uma’s energy system to the test against the real-world demands of long-distance sailing on the open sea. All essential systems on board – from propulsion and navigation through to communication, cooking and water treatment – are to be powered exclusively by energy generated through solar power and energy recovery whilst sailing. Whether Uma can actually complete the entire round-the-world voyage within twelve months will ultimately be decided at sea. What is certain, however, is that this ambitious project brings together more than a decade of experience in electric sailing, boatbuilding and life on board.

The round-the-world voyage will be documented on the Sailing Uma website, in her videos, through regular travel updates and via live tracking.