Sea cruiser

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A seafaring cruiser is a sporty sailing yacht that was built in Germany between 1928 and 1949 under the rules of a national construction class . According to the wishes of the German Sailing Association (DSV) , yachts built according to this limit value formula should not only be seaworthy and suitable for sailing , but also be fast and beautiful to look at. One goal was to be able to organize regattas at a high level with the well-sailing cruising boats . The yachts should compete against each other as free of charge as possible. In retrospect, today this type of sailboat would be called a “cruiser / racer”, ie a cruising yacht suitable for regattas.

The new sea cruiser class was named after the measured sail area and divided into nine groups: 30 m², 40 m², 50 m², 60 m², 80 m², 100 m², 125 m², 150 m² and 250 m². The latter were never realized.

The decision for the new class of sea cruisers was made in October 1927 at the German Sailing Day, which took place for the first time in Vienna . The building and surveying regulations for the new yacht class were ready on December 1, 1927 and the division into nine different types of sea cruisers was so narrow and so diverse that every potential owner could find the right ship according to his financial possibilities.

Building regulations

The building regulations did not provide for swords and free-hanging oars , as pure seagoing ships were wanted. Despite the wishes of the lagoon and the Bodden watersailers , the maximum drafts were only slightly curtailed. Each owner could use the maximum permissible draft, just as the length over all ( Lüa ) was specified as the maximum dimensions. The width of the ship, draft, freeboard , deck jump , and cabin superstructure, on the other hand, were limited at the bottom. The measurement rules should prevent yachts in the forecastle to rank would be too full and aft. Furthermore, the overhangs should be relatively large. From experience with the archipelago cruisers , it was known that speed, seaworthiness and dryness when sailing could be improved through pronounced overhangs. In addition, you gained more deck space , which was beneficial for comfort and safety when operating the sail. The freeboard was higher than that of the national cruisers and a clear cover was required.

The minimum dimensions of the cabin were designed so that there was sufficient living space for long journeys, even with the smallest possible construction. Additional cabin space was at the expense of speed in light winds. If cabin superstructures were required up to the 50 m² class, the larger yachts had to have headroom in the cabin.

The surveying regulations provided for a rig that was designed for cruising sailors. The hull-to-sail area ratio was not oversized and therefore more manageable for the yacht crew than in previous classes. The type of rigging and the subdivision of the sail area were free. The surveying regulations stipulated that the sail area would be subdivided into clear remuneration, which was for safety. Hollow masts were allowed. However, they were not allowed to be curved (e.g. whip masts). The lower forestay was allowed to reach a maximum of 75% of the sail measurement height.

In the case of sea cruisers up to 80 m², a maximum of one paid crew member was allowed on board, in the 100 m² class there were two and in the 150 m² yachts three paid hands were allowed. There were no restrictions on this point for the 250 m² sea cruiser. Tender boats were compulsory for the 100 to 250 m² sea cruisers.

All sea cruisers had to be built in wood or shipbuilding steel under Lloyd's supervision and had to be certified.

history

As the first 80 m² sea cruiser in 1928, the Athena (now mandrake ) was built by Abeking & Rasmussen (A&R), a successful design by Henry Rasmussen . The owner was Eduard Schilling, who later became chairman of the Weser Yacht Club. After initial success at the Kieler Woche 1929, the yacht won 86 first prizes in the following years.

Despite the regatta successes of the first yachts, hardly any new sea cruisers were built. The time for the introduction of a new class was very unfavorable, as the sports boycott imposed on Germany after the First World War was not lifted until 1928 and German sailing crews could start again in international regattas. The high price level of the stably built sea cruisers was another reason for the slow construction activity. In 1928 a luxury 30 m² sea cruiser cost 9,000 Reichsmarks , an 80 m² sea cruiser already 24,000 Reichsmarks, each without an auxiliary engine, construction and acceptance fee.

Attempts were made to classify existing yachts that roughly corresponded to the new class regulations by changing the rigging in sea cruiser classes. For example, old 75 m² national cruisers could be assigned to the new 50 m² sea cruiser class by reducing their sail area. This reclassification was used vigorously. By April 1930, 24 sea cruisers had been registered: only six of these yachts had actually been built as sea cruisers, the rest had been adapted.

After the seizure of power by the National Socialists who discover in 1935 the Navy and the Air Force seafaring cruiser for the sailors' training their soldiers. The seafaring cruiser was praised as the legendary seagoing ship that combined the previously contradicting properties of safety, speed and seaworthiness and also offered comfort and comfort on long sea voyages. The seaworthiness and strength of the ships were also exaggerated with the words "The sea cruiser lasts longer than the crew".

The construction list of the Abeking & Rasmussen shipyard in Lemwerder shows how strong the upswing in the class was. A similar development was observed at other shipyards.

From 1928 to 1934, only three sea cruisers of different sizes were built at A&R. In 1935 the shipyard delivered three 100 m² and 50 m² sea cruisers to the Luftwaffe, the Navy received two 50 m² and one 30 m² sea cruiser. In the Olympic year 1936, A&R built 33 sea cruisers, including the 150 Athena II , the 125 AR sea cruiser (private yacht for Henry Rasmussen, now owned by the Hamburg advertising filmmaker Tom Nitsch ), right up to the small 30. The German navy and the air force alone ordered 21 sea cruisers.

Shipyards

Sea cruiser abroad

In 1936, A&R also built the first sea cruisers for foreign countries: The Polish Physical Education Office ordered two 80s and four 50s sea cruisers and the Romanian Royal Yacht Club ordered two 80s.

Time after 1945

After the end of the Second World War, many sea cruisers were confiscated by the British occupying forces. The British officers called these spoils of war windfall yachts , which fall like overripe fruit. This also included the Yawl Nordwind of the Kriegsmarine (often incorrectly referred to as the private yacht of Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz ), which had won the Fastnet Race as First Ship Home in 1939 . British Navy and Air Force officers brought many sea cruisers to Great Britain. Windfalls also reached Malta , Australia , Canada , Hong Kong , Singapore , New Zealand , Gibraltar and Bermuda . After many property disputes between previous owners and also between the Navy and the Air Force, many sea cruisers returned to Germany after being bought back by private individuals.

The sea cruiser classes were replaced by the KR classes after 1949. The reason were changes in the international surveying formulas.

In 1952 the sea cruisers were declared an age group by the DSV.

Type overview sea cruiser

Type Lüa
(in m) 		LWL
(in m) 		Width
(in m) 		Draft
(in m) 		Displacement
(in t) 		Number of ships
1938 today
30 m² sea cruiser 9.75 6.50 2.20 1.40 3.2 59 25th
50 m² sea cruiser 12.50 8.30 2.60 1.70 7.0 105 23
60 m² sea cruiser 13.30 8.80 2.80 1.70 7.0-8.0 21st 3
80 m² sea cruiser 15.50 10.30 3.10 2.05 12-13 16 3
100 m² sea cruiser 17.50 11.60 3.50 2.40 16 18th 5
150 m² sea cruiser 20.55-21.95 13.70-16.00 3.94-4.30 2.62-2.70 28 7th 3

literature

  • yacht classic, issue 1/2011
  • Michael Cudmore: The Windfall Yachts, A Legacy of Goodwill, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9542547-1-1

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Website: Takel-ing: Seefahrtkreuzer , Updated 2007, Accessed July 29, 2015
  2. ↑ Yachtsportmuseum: Building regulations for sea cruisers
  3. ↑ yacht classic, issue 1/2011, p. 28
  4. ↑ yacht classic, issue 1/2011, p. 23
  5. ↑ Yacht sport archive: Portrait Alraune, accessed on July 29, 2015
  6. ↑ yacht classic, issue 1/2011, p. 28
  7. ↑ yachtsportarchiv: Portrait of the Yacht AR , accessed on July 30, 2015
  8. ↑ Michael Cudmore: The Windfall Yachts, A Legacy of Goodwill (History of the captured sea cruisers), 2007, ISBN 978-0-9542547-1-1
  9. ↑ Website: Windfall-Yachts , accessed on July 29, 2015
  10. ↑ Sailing booty , FAZ from March 16, 2008, accessed on July 29, 2015
  11. ↑ website transatlanticrace.org yacht Portrait Nordwind (Engl.) , Accessed on September 7, 2015
  12. ↑ yacht classic, issue 1/2011, p. 28
  13. ↑ Yachtsportmuseum: Seafaring Cruiser Classes , accessed on July 29, 2015
  14. ↑ The information from 1938 is based on the former DSV register. Of the 30 m² cruisers alone, 36 were stationed in the Kriegsmarine and 54 50 m² cruisers. While the Kriegsmarine mainly commissioned 50 m² sea cruisers, the Luftwaffe preferred the 100 m² class. Today's figures are based on the register of the Freundeskreis Classic Yachts .