Storebro Bruks
| Storebro Boats AB | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Aktiebolag |
| founding | September 11, 2012 |
| Seat |
Älvsjö , Stockholm , Sweden
|
| management | Sven Roger Kjell from Haugwitz |
| Branch | shipbuilding |
| Website | Storebro |
The Storebro Bruks AB shipyard in Storebro , Sweden , was originally founded as a branch of the AB Örnmaskiner company. In 2012 the business was transferred to the current owner Roger v. Haugwitz sold. He founded Storebro Boats AB.
Development of the company
In 1946, AB Örnmaskiner began building simple rowing boats after one of the founders, Ivar Gustafsson, observed Estonian refugees building boats for fishing. He created the spatial framework for professional production. Initially, the boats produced were sold as an accessory to the company's actual product, the lathes. With commissioned work for Electrolux and AB Telfa, the branch of the company continued to grow. From 1951 onwards, motor boats were mainly produced in-house. At the beginning of 1965 AB Örnmaskiner took over all shares in the local competitor Storebro Bruks AB, founded in 1728. Since the name Storebro was introduced worldwide, it was decided to give up the name Örnmaskiner and continue the company as Storebro Bruks AB . In 1986 the yacht building was spun off as an independent company from Storebro Bruks AB and continued as Storebro Royal Cruiser AB . In 1998, the then owners sold the shipyard to their long-term customer Hans Mellström, one of the founders of the Swedish IT company WM-data . Hans Mellström also bought the Ryds, Nimbus and Maxi shipyards and integrated them into the Viamare Group.
In mid-2012, the group, whose main owner was Altor Equity Partners, had to file for bankruptcy. The rights to names and properties were given to the current owner, Roger v. Haugwitz sold. He founded Storebro Boats AB .
First boat building
From 1946 the company produced the first rowing boats for fishing and fishing.
The initial production of rowing boats was followed by the production of camping boats (Elektrolux boats), which were intended to promote sales of Archimedes' outboard motors from the device manufacturer Electrolux after the Second World War . Since the production of these boats as commissioned work was not sufficient, own ships with permanently installed propulsion were developed. The Swedish designer Einar Runius was hired for the construction . In 1951 he created the motorboat classics Vindö and the larger Solö Ruff for AB Örnmaskiner , which are popular collector's items in Sweden.
In addition to these first motorboats, the shipyard built the Königskreuzer (Kungskryssaren / Kingscruiser) sailing boat from 1957 on behalf of AB Telfa in Gothenburg. These boats were successfully sold in the USA. Since the customer switching for hull material of mahogany - wood to fiberglass-reinforced plastic were planning (GRP), the Ivar Gustafsson refused cooperation was stopped and started in this segment to develop its own boat types.
Boat building in the 1960s and 1970s
In the mid-1960s, the production of many previously produced types was stopped and replaced by successor models or new, larger models. With the model change, the design of the ships changed, which now came from the German Winfried H. Wilke. He created the design of the Adler IV / 34 (internat .: Storebro Royal Cruiser IV / 34, Swedish: Storö IV / 34) built in 800 units . This ship was built entirely of wood. From 1968 a plastic hull was offered as an alternative. The superstructure was largely made of wood until the end of production in 1988.
In addition to the Adler IV / 34 , the Adler V / 47 was presented in 1969 . This ship was also built entirely of wood. A short time later, the Adler 43 came on the market, which forced a change in the nomenclature from Roman numerals to numerical data in feet. This ship had a hull and superstructure made of wood.
The lower end of the series was the Adler I (internat .: Royal Cruiser I, Swedish: Solö Lyx II / III / 25) , which was the first Storebro Bruks ship to be delivered with a GRP hull only.
Participation in the Pavillon d'Or long-distance voyage competitions in 1964, 1965 and 1968 and winning them was used extensively in the media and underpinned the quality of the ships.
In the mid-1970s, production of the Adler I was discontinued and the Adler 31 , made entirely of GRP, was presented. This ship was successful with around 470 units produced in three variants and changed the manufacturing technology of the shipyard.
In contrast to the increasing production figures for motor boats, the demand for wooden sailboats, which like the Havsörnen II or Havsörnen 40 types, had very good sailing properties, dwindled . These ships could achieve some regatta victories. Due to the low demand, production was stopped in 1974.
It was not until 1977 that the shipyard brought a sailing boat back onto the market in response to the energy crisis with the Storebro 33 . The ship was designed as a family ship with a middle cockpit and had a fast hull designed by Dick Carter.
Boat building in the 1980s
While Storebro Bruks mainly served the European market in the 1960s and 70s, new markets had to be opened up in the context of the energy crises of the 1970s. In the 1980s, new trade relations were established with Arab states and Japan.
In order to meet the general requirements of yacht owners for easier-to-care-for boats, new ships were made entirely of GRP. The Adler 40 presented in 1979 did not show any wood on the outside when it was presented. The interior work was carried out unchanged in mahogany with a satin finish. In order to mitigate the radical break in appearance, the nameplates were later made of wood again in response to multiple customer requests. In 1982 the smaller sister of the Adler 40 , the Adler 36 , was presented. Both ships were very successful and were produced in 155 ( Adler 40 ) and 74 ( Adler 36 ) units.
In 1988, after more than 20 years and 800 boats built, production of the Adler 34 was stopped.
At the same time, three new ships of 34, 40 and 47 feet in length were presented in quick succession. Winfried H. Wilke had created a new design for these ships. With the introduction of the ships, the name of the ships changed internationally to Storebro Royal Cruiser XXX ( SRC XXX for short ) with a three-digit value for the length in feet (340 for 34 feet). Only for the German market were the ships additionally given the established trade name ( Adler - Storebro Royal Cruiser ).
Boat building in the 1990s
As in the late 1980s, a large number of ships were delivered to Japan in the 1990s. At the time, Japan tried to reduce its trade surplus with Europe by procuring high-quality imported goods and bypassing import restrictions into the EU.
More powerful engines from the engine supplier Volvo Penta required new hulls that were suitable for the higher speeds. In this context, the models SRC 380 and SRC 420 were created at the beginning of the 1990s , the hulls of which were no longer designed as a round-frame construction, but as an articulated chine with propeller tunnels.
At the urging of the Japanese importer, construction of the Storebro Royal Cruiser 730 began. Two of the 22 m long ships were ordered from Japan and meant enormous effort for the shipyard. With the collapse of the world economy around 1992/1993, the contract for the second ship was canceled and another buyer was sought for the first ship. At the same time, many smaller ships produced for Japan were stored in Västervik, Sweden. Although these were paid for by their client, they were not brought onto the Japanese market as planned, but were offered very cheaply worldwide, which put a heavy burden on the sale of new ships.
To support the company, the Swedish Navy commissioned Storebro Royal Cruiser AB to develop and build a light naval ship. As a result, Storebro developed the Stridsbåt 90E (E for Swedish grandson - simple) together with the Swedish Navy . The shipyard built 54 boats for the Swedish Navy and six boats for the Kongelige Danske Marine in Denmark . Two ships were delivered to China. In the meantime, some of the ships have been decommissioned from active service in the Swedish Navy and made available to the water rescue service , the Sjöräddningssällskapet .
The SRC 730 project had swallowed up a substantial part of the shipyard's capital. In 1995 Hans Mellström bought shares in the company and took it over completely in 1999.
Web links
- Storebro Boats AB. storebro.se, accessed May 3, 2017 (Swedish).
- Verksamhet & Status. Storebro Boats AB. In: allabolag.se. September 11, 2012, accessed April 17, 2016 .
- Jens Oelerking: Storebro - the shipyard. Storebro Passion, accessed November 11, 2018 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jens Oelerking: Storebro - the shipyard. Storebro Passion, accessed November 11, 2018 .
- ↑ Ryds. Retrieved May 3, 2017 (Swedish).
- ↑ Nimbus. Retrieved May 3, 2017 .
- ↑ Ny aegare till Storebro Bruk - P4 Kalmar. sverigesradio.se, September 18, 2012, accessed June 3, 2017 (Swedish).