Gustaf Estonian

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Gustaf Estonian, 1922

Gustaf Axel Estlander (born September 18, 1876 in Helsinki , † December 1, 1930 in Stockholm ) was a Finnish architect and one of the most successful Scandinavian yacht designers at the beginning of the 20th century. Raised and educated in Finland, he founded a yacht yard in Germany and lived and worked in Sweden in his later years. As a sporty teenager, he paddled a kayak from Finland to Sweden in 1894 . He was a very trained speed skater who won the European Speed ​​Skating Championships for Men in Helsinki (Finland) in 1898.

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Albertinkatu 27 building, Helsinki, design: Gustaf Estlander, 1906

Gustaf Estlander completed his architecture studies at the Helsinki University of Technology in 1898 (today: Aalto University ). He founded the architecture firm Estlander & Settergren, which designed a number of large residential buildings in the up-and-coming capital Helsinki from 1903 to 1915. These impressive structures were built in a national romantic style. Some of them were later declared national heritage. In the center of Helsinki at the port in Blekholmen is the building of the NJK (Nyländska Jaktklubben), this yacht club house was designed in 1900 by Gustaf Estlander. In 1901, Gustaf Estonia became chief designer at the Hammars yacht yard near Porvoo . Here were smaller device classes -Segelyachten designed and built 14 to 18 pieces, because the idea of unity coffers had reached Finland.

When Estonia started working exclusively as a yacht designer from 1914, he had already designed 60 sailing yachts. He achieved a special reputation for designing light, radical boats, such as the double-hulled yacht Flamingo from 1899. He achieved his international breakthrough in 1917 as the helmsman of his 22 m² archipelago cruiser Colibri , with which he competed on the Sandhamn Regatta in Sweden by 40 minutes. As a result, he received many design orders for yachts from customers in Northern Europe.

150 m² archipelago cruiser Singoalla , designed by Gustaf Estlander, 1922.

In the post-war years 1921-1923 he was chief designer and owner of the Pabst shipyard in Berlin-Köpenick. Its 22 m² . and 30 m² - Schärenkreuzer were very successful on the lakes in Northern Germany. His own huge 150 m² skerry cruiser Singoalla reached a speed of 14.1 knots during a regatta from Kiel to Travemünde on the Baltic Sea , as the English designer and water sports publicist Uffa Fox reported.

After moving to Sweden, Estonians received Swedish citizenship and were thus entitled to design yachts for Sweden's entry into the 6mR class that wanted to participate in the Scandinavian Gold Cup . The yacht May Be designed by him won the Gold Cup in the USA in 1927 for the Swedish shipping tycoon and sailor Sven Salén . He also constructed the later Gold Cup winners Ingegerd and Ian .

In the 1920s, Gustaf Estlander achieved international fame as a yacht designer. He has also received commissions for designs for the 6mR class from countries as far away as Cuba and Singapore . A total of 700 to 800 yachts were built according to his designs, including 21 yachts of the 6mR class and 8 of the larger 8mR class. His 8mR design Cheerio represented Finland at the 1936 sailing summer games off Kiel and reached 5th place.

Gustaf Estlander himself took part in the 1912 Olympic regattas in Nynäshamn , Sweden, and took 4th place as skipper of his own from William Fife III. designed 8mR yacht Örn reached 4th place.

Mälar 22 on Mälaren , Sweden, 2019, design: G. Estlander

In 1925 the Swedish archipelago surveying rules were changed and some voices thought this change was wrong. That is why Gustaf Estlander designed the B22 for the Sailyacht Society Aeolus in Gothenburg in 1929. It was a cheaper one- size-fits-all construction of the 22 m² skerry cruiser . Mälarens Seglarförbund (German: Mälar Sailing Club) in Stockholm got knowledge of the draft B22 and asked Estlander whether he could construct something similar for them. The result was the Mälar 22, of which 134 yachts were built. Gustaf Estlander was then asked to design a slightly larger yacht of the same type, but he died before the design was completed.

Gustaf Estlander died at the height of his career at the age of only 54. Many of the yachts he designed still sail today. His skills were compared with those of Nathanael Herreshoff and Johan Anker . A young employee, Knud Reimers , took over Estonia's business at the age of 24 and continued to run it as he did. Gustaf Estlander is buried in the old cemetery in Sandudd in Helsinki.

Successful meter yacht designs by G. Estlander

8 mR yachts

  • 1928 Sphinx
  • 1928 Isabel , ex Silvervingen (Winner Sira Cup 1992 and World Cup 1992)
  • 1929 Cheerio (5th place Olympic Games 1936 before Kiel)
  • 1930 Maribell
  • 1980 Ergekå

6 mR yachts

  • 1921 May Be (Scandinavian Gold Cup winner, 1927)
  • 1929 Ingegerd (Scandinavian Gold Cup winner)
  • 1930 Ian (Scandinavian Gold Cup winner)

literature

  • Barck, Pekka & Street, Tim (2007). The Six Meter - 100 Years of Racing , pp D22-23. Helsinki: Oy Litorale Ab. ISBN 978-952-5045-31-4 .
  • van Bueren, John Lammerts (2000). The Great Eights , pp. 107-116. Milano: Fabio Ratti Editoria Srl ISBN 88-87737-05-3 .
  • Ekberg, Henrik (2003). Uppslagsverket Finland , vol. 1, page 359. Espoo: Schildts Förlag Ab. ISBN 951-50-1356-9 .
  • Ericsson, Henry (2003). Finlandssvenska Tekniker , vol. 4, pp. 89-106. Helsinki: Tekniska Föreningen i Finland. ISBN 952-91-6603-6 .
  • Fox, Uffa (1936): Sail and Power , pp. 237-238. London: Peter Davies Ltd.
  • Henry Clay Ericsson: Nordic Designers of 8mR yachts, in the program of the 8mR World Championship 2002 in Helsinki, Finland
  • Gustaf Estlander - arkitekten som ritade Europas segelbåtar, i Finlandssvenska Tekniker, volume IV, Helsingfors 2004.Vicekommodor Gustaf Estlander, i NJK 1861–1961, en festskrift, av Tor Smedslund, H: fors 1961 (Finnish)

Web links

Commons : Gustaf Estlander  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 671-672 (Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 35. Supplement. Cambrai - Glis). 1923, Retrieved December 30, 2019 (Swedish).
  2. ↑ classic sailboats: Gustaf A. Estlander, (Text: Kristina Reincke), English , accessed on December 25, 2019
  3. ↑ 6mR-Yacht Carmela, built in 1924, shipyard: Neglinge Varvet August Plym, Stockholm , accessed on December 25, 2019
  4. ↑ classic sailboats: Gustaf A. Estlander, (Text: Kristina Reincke), English
personal data
SURNAME Estonians, Gustaf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Estonians, Gustaf Axel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish yacht designer and shipyard owner
DATE OF BIRTH September 18, 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH Helsinki
DATE OF DEATH December 1, 1930
Place of death Stockholm