Autumn has arrived on Lake Constance, the days have become short and the morning mist only gives way to the low sun late in the day. On the classic 75-metre skerry cruiser "Gustaf" in the harbour of Josef Martin's boatyard, he warns us to hurry: "The wind won't last more than an hour."
When the 18-metre-long vessel is turned free of damage in the narrow basin with the help of a quietly humming electric drive and sticks its never-ending nose out of the entrance, it offers even insiders an unreal sight - brand new and yet from another time. This is because "Gustaf" is the first newbuild to be officially classified as a 75-series archipelago cruiser in almost a hundred years. It was built here, in Radolfzell on Untersee, at Josef Martin's boatyard.
He sits at the helm. And when the sails are set, the skerry easily lies on its side without any noticeable movement and pushes its eight tonnes silently through the water. Martin's crew also includes designer Juliane Hempel. Neither of them has ever associated the name "Gustaf" with an elegiac mood. This is because a few days ago, after the project's final spurt, it was measured and approved as a class-compliant boat by the technical committee of the skerry cruiser classes. What sounds like a formality to outsiders was actually, as Hempel explains, a tightrope act.
The limits of the archipelago cruisers have been exhausted
On board, she explains the special features of this extreme skerry cruiser. "The designer Gustaf Estlander pushed all the limits of the measurement rules in the design," says Hempel. And that such a design cannot tolerate a single error during construction, because otherwise, in contrast to other classes where the measurement tolerances are greater, class conformity cannot be achieved.
Gustaf Axel Estlander, a Swede by choice from Finland, set himself up as an architect at the turn of the century. His penchant for designing and sailing fast regatta boats was initially a hobbyhorse. When the skerry cruiser classes were introduced in 1908 ( see explanation below ), he is a man of the first hour, at the drawing board and at the tiller. Ten years later, he lives solely from and for yacht construction.
Exhausting the skerry cruiser formula became his trademark. From the early 1920s, Estlander had the most extreme of his designs built at the Pabst shipyard in Berlin-Köpenick, of which he was a partner. For this reason, many of Estlander's cracks are labelled in German, including that of "Gustaf". Juliane Hempel found the treasure in a small Swedish private archive.
Long, narrow - and superstructures like telephone boxes
The turn is initiated on the "Gustaf", which has become a boat. Three co-sailors are busy; no more should be needed to handle the large skerry cruiser. While his co-sailors operate the genoa sheet and backstays, Josef Martin lays the tiller. "My client dreamed of an original skerry cruiser that would be around 18 metres long," recalls the shipyard manager at the start of the project. Aesthetics were also an important criterion - not least the superstructure.
These are considered a problem area for the very old archipelago cruisers. "Soon after the class was created, the boats became a caricature of themselves," says Juliane Hempel. "Ever longer and narrower, and superstructures like telephone booths, so that the enclosed space conformed to the rules."
Estlander, with his extreme designs, was not entirely uninvolved in this development. In 1925, the Schärenkreuzerverband reacted with a new measurement rule: the boats became wider, and more attractive superstructures were seen again. The plans for "Gustaf" were drawn up two years after the new rule was introduced. The fact that they were realised 90 years later began with the realisation that there was no suitable restoration object on the market.
Josef Martin therefore suggested to his customer the idea of looking for old plans according to which no ship had yet been built. And he turns to Hempel with this idea.
Realising the plans became a challenge
"I then got in touch with Torkel Sintorn, the head of the technical committee for the skerry cruiser classes," explains the designer. Together they searched the relevant museums, but without finding anything. It was not until shortly before their departure, on the day before Christmas Eve 2014, that they came across the plans for the 75 skerry cruiser from 1927 in a small private collection.
The pencil marks in the background are conspicuous. It is not known whether this was a preliminary draft of a more moderate design. When the find reaches Josef Martin, he realises why the ship was never built: the project is a real challenge, even with today's means.
The expert therefore instructed Juliane Hempel to reconstruct the entire ship on the computer. "What I had were four drawings, the line plan, the building set and the measurement table," says Hempel. "All the wooden components were created three-dimensionally on the computer, the sterns including the spars, the steel frames with forging angles and holes for the planks."
In order to determine their exact position, Hempel measures each individual plank on the computer. And this step also has its pitfalls. "The plank pattern has to be harmonious, it mustn't sag fore and aft." The course of each individual slat for the moulded frames was also designed on the computer. This is because they have to be curved so that they fit snugly against the uneven hull and still run plumb from the side of the boat to the keel.
Construction under the eyes of the Technical Committee
The order is also exotic for the shipyard team: the construction method is intended to correspond to what was customary in Estlander's time - and therefore represents a journey back in time. "We built everything by hand and on foot, just like back then," says Josef Martin. "However, unlike in 1927, we glued the joints of the planks from khaya, made the deck from plywood and had the steel frames of the composite construction made from a rustproof alloy," explains the shipyard manager, "and everything was done in consultation with the Technical Committee." The team travelled to Lake Constance three times to inspect the construction: Torkel Sintorn, who heads the committee, designer Bo Bethge, who has already checked all the drawings, and boatbuilding luminary Thomas Larsson, who keeps an eye on the practicalities and measures every wooden part and every bolt.
We built everything by hand and on foot, just like back then"
The fact that the Swedes regularly warn of the pitfalls of the extreme design during their visits does not reduce the stress levels of those involved. "The surveying rules for skerry cruisers are very complex," explains Juliane Hempel. She knows that if the ship does not manage to lie exactly in the waterline when being measured, there are no compensation options, unlike with metre yachts, for example - one construction error or a mistake on the computer, and the chance of measurement and classification is lost once and for all. "We have had sleepless nights," admits Hempel, who is not known for exaggerating.
The lines of Estlander, the handwriting of Martin
But the worries are unfounded: Archipelago cruiser "Gustaf" floats exactly where it is supposed to on the day of the survey, right down to the millimetre. And its journey through time has now arrived in the present at the latest. It has spanned 90 years. From the Stockholm design office of Gustaf Axel Estlander via archives into the computer age. Experienced a three-dimensional resurrection by the naval architect Juliane Hempel and was finally given shape by the Martin shipyard.
And who has had the greatest influence on this figure? A question to which there is no answer. The lines are Gustaf A. Estlander's: the traditional layout with a closed main bulkhead, the cockpit at deck level and design details such as the direction of the rods in the skylight or the vertical grooves in the superstructure bulkheads and cockpit walls. And yet the skerry bears Josef Martin's unmistakable signature: The high-strength hull, modern fittings, the shaping of numerous details and, last but not least, the ornamental moulding all identify "Gustav" as a genuine Martin construction.
He looks satisfied as the sails drop and he steers the skerry cruiser home to the dockyard harbour before the fog rolls in again. "Once in a lifetime," says Josef Martin, "you have such a great job."
He has mastered it.
Skärgårdskryssare - skerry cruisers: The Swedish answer to the international metre class
When the first international survey formula was being prepared in 1906, this development was met with scepticism on the Swedish coast - the planned heavyweights seemed too unsuitable for sporty cruising in the narrow waters between the archipelago. And they also seemed too expensive for Swedish sailors. In order to offer a national alternative, the "Kungliga Svenska Segelsällskapet Stockholm" set about creating a national regatta class in December 1907.
This resulted in the Schärenkreuzer. The result was announced in February 1908: there were seven different types with 22, 30, 45, 55, 75, 97, 120 and 150 square metres. Initially, the designers had a largely free hand. The result was extremely light boats with high rigs, initially gaff-rigged. Gradually, the class regulations were specified.
Technical data 75 square metre warping cruiser "Gustaf"
- Design:Gustaf A. Estlander, 1927
- Building yard: Joseph Martin
- Total length: 17,73 m
- Waterline length: 11,85 m
- Width: 2,70 m
- Depth: 2,10 m
- Displacement: 8,125 t
- Ballast: 4,120 t
- Mainsail:56 square metres
- Fock: 19 square metres
- Electric motor: 8 kW
