"'Troll' sailing makes you happy!" Brigitte Lehmann sits at the tiller and beams with the sun. It is a picture-perfect sailing day. A fresh south-westerly wind is blowing towards the crew, who have set off from Arnis to sail up the Schlei towards Lindaunis.
Yet "Troll" is truly no cruiser. The pointed-rigged ship was launched in 1925 at the "Reichswerft" shipyard in Kiel, as the former imperial shipyard was called in the year of construction, and was developed for comfortable cruising by its designer, naval architect Harry Wustrau, who headed the yacht construction department there. The fact that the sea cruiser is still being used by its owner, the Lehmann family, almost a hundred years later for precisely this purpose and looks as if it was launched a hundred days ago is a story that tells a lot about luck, but even more about hard work, perseverance, willingness to make sacrifices and deep affection.
The space on offer can hardly be guessed from the outside
It began for the Lehmanns when their third child was announced in 1989. But there was no berth for the new crew member on the vessel they were using at the time. The search for a larger family boat led to "Troll". The ten-metre-long hull is a good three metres wide, 1.70 metres deep and weighs around ten tonnes when equipped. It was built from 28-millimetre-thick planks of pitch pine and bent oak frames and houses a teak interior.
At the time, the classic is not a shiny, painted classic car, but simply a pretty old ship, moored in Glückstadt on the Elbe and immediately appeals with its aura of unconditional solidity and the space below deck, which can hardly be guessed from the outside. When the Lehmanns move in, their daughters are five years, two years and three months old.
For ten years, "Troll" served as a family ship, then its owner began to restore it
Over the next ten years, "Troll" conquered the hearts of the Lehmanns and became a member of the family. The ship is their home at weekends and during holidays and takes them from their home port of Maasholm to the waters of Denmark and the coasts of western Sweden.
Happy family time on the "Troll"
"It was a happy time," says Dirk Lehmann with a smile on his face. After manoeuvring "Troll" out of the harbour under engine power and through the narrow fairway past Arnis, the sprightly 70-year-old has set the 50 square metres of mainsail cloth and then the 25 square metre headsail on the archaic masthead winch. Large sail areas that need to be handled just as much as the backstays when it's time to set sail.
"The motivation for me was relaxation," says Lehmann, who was travelling a lot on business at the time. But the weekend belonged to his family, and they travelled with him to the boat. "I always tried to organise it so that we were on board on Friday evenings." His greatest good fortune is that his wife and three daughters are just as happy there as he is. "For us, there was only the boat," says Lehmann, referring to the fact that he didn't go on land holidays.
For "Troll", these years were a time of hardship. "The ship was no gem," says Dirk Lehmann looking back and recounts summers with lots of water in the bilge and winters in open storage, when the paint froze on the brush and the sleet mixed into the antifouling. At some point, the owner realised that something had to be done if the boat was to remain a member of the family, faithfully and dutifully fulfilling its duty year after year.
It was high time for the "Troll" to be restored
The solution is found by chance. The Lehmanns are on a summer voyage with "Troll" in Grenå. They are due to set sail early the next morning, the wind is favourable for western Sweden. The three girls are standing on deck brushing their teeth when two wooden masts approach the harbour and the meticulously maintained spreader gaff ketch "Stella" comes in, which they wave to and take alongside.
The owner is delighted with "Troll" and his crew. In conversation, he learns about the concerns regarding the preservation of the yacht and arranges contact with Stephan Ernst-Schneider and Niels Engel, who rent out storage space for traditionally built yachts in Grödersby and support the owners in word and deed with maintenance and restoration work.
"Until then, we had only ever sailed. They were marvellous summer trips, but always with lots of adventure. Sometimes the engine worked, sometimes it didn't. We could handle it and found it as normal as the water in the ship. But it was high time to think about something for our 'Troll'," says Lehmann, because that wouldn't have worked for much longer.
"If we hadn't had Grödersby, the boat would no longer exist," he continues, recounting the autumn of 2000, when he first immersed himself in a world where old boats were valued as classics and master boat builder Niels Engel joined him to take stock and determine what needed to be done to "Troll" so that the Spitzgatter could also find a home in this world. What Lehmann did not realise at the time was that this Rees was the start of 14 years of restoration work.
Weekends in the shipyard instead of on the water
"Four frames were broken amidships and we started repairing them in 2004," says Lehmann, recounting how he very carefully began to uncover the damaged areas. At some point, however, the entire interior is next to the boat and the hull is completely empty.
Lehmann has no plan and no budget. "But then we grew with the ship," he says, describing what has now happened in 14 years. From then on, the family spent the weekends at the in-laws' house in Maasholm while father Lehmann worked on the boat. What he can't manage is continued by Niels Engel during the week.
At home, Dirk Lehmann, inspired by the preservation of the "Troll", begins to explore the history of his classic. And in doing so, he realises what a jewel of yachting history he has in his care.
The "Troll" is a jewel of yachting history
"Troll" was launched in Kiel in 1925 as construction number 600 and was sailed on the Elbe and Baltic Sea as the "Sturmvogel" by its first owner under the banner of the Hamburg Sailing Club until the outbreak of the Second World War. In the middle of the war, the ship came into the hands of the Hamburg Bruhn family, who named it "Troll" and saved it through the war. "Troll" was sold once again in her native Elbe region until the sea cruiser came to the current owner family in 1995.
During his research, Dirk Lehmann received valuable photos from the 1930s from one of the former owners. They show the gaff-rigged ship sailing through happy times in black and white. The skipper's cap as white as the shirts and the tablecloth of the coffee table in the cockpit. The stern is still a little higher in the water because the old engine is lighter or more duty-free spirits are stowed in the forecastle - who knows today.
A yacht from the pen of Harry Wustrau
However, the story of how the "Troll" was built at the former Imperial Shipyard in Kiel has been handed down. Naval architect Harry Wustrau ( see portrait below ) headed their yacht construction department after the First World War and became one of the most important German designers of the time. The circumstances of these years, which were characterised by the consequences of the war, inflation and the global economic crisis, led to the development of small, stable vessels for water touring and cruising.
Wustrau himself has been sailing since his earliest youth out of a deeply felt passion
Wustrau, who had previously been professionally responsible for larger tonnages, had been sailing himself since his early youth out of a deeply felt passion. Now he not only provided the corresponding designs, but also the book "From canoe to small cruiser", in which he described the "design, construction and handling of small yachts and boats".
Shortly after the end of the First World War, the shipyard class "Frohsinn" and her larger sister "Lilly" were created on his drawing board. These designs, created for "in-line construction", were presented in YACHT as early as 1920 as "new yacht types". "Four vessels of this type have already been completed and delivered over the summer, and a number of other boats are now in the works."
YACHT described the construction and timbers as first-class, and the designer saw his work as the ideal family boat
Series production was intended to save money, and the boats could be built as "Frohsinn" with nine metres and "Lilly" with ten metres. The hulls were simply spaced further apart for the construction of a "Lilly".
Goal: A cosy ship without risk
Wustrau writes about the ship in his book: "The wish was to create the most cosy vessel that the owner could sail alone with his wife and young children without a paid hand in any Baltic Sea summer weather without any particular risk." Wustrau considered a cockpit of two metres in length, optionally self-draining, to be just as essential as "headroom of at least 1.90 metres" and "five comfortable berths, ample cooking facilities and galley as well as comfortable washing facilities and laundry on board".
In terms of sailing, his aim was to "design a ship that was as sharp and fast as possible". The naval architect also chose the sails carefully. "It is dimensioned in such a way that, thanks to the lateral plan cut far forward, it is possible to sail without a foresail in any wind force; with the mainsail alone, 'Frohsinn' drops under all circumstances, even with a tight sheet, and can perform all manoeuvres."
The ideal family boat
According to Wustrau, it is fair to say that this type of vessel has created the long-sought ideal of the cheap, spacious, absolutely seaworthy family boat, whose interior is really comfortable enough for four to five people to live on for weeks.
Frohsinn" and "Lilly" also received top marks from the critics. "The building materials comply with the regulations of Germanischer Lloyd for the highest class of seagoing yachts. As the Reichswerft still has large stocks of first-class timber, this can be used for the buildings. The construction work is first-class, the shipyard has a core of old-established boat builders."
In Grödersby, owner Dirk Lehmann is emulating them almost a hundred years later. And so, over years of painstaking work, the old Spitzgatter is being transformed piece by piece into what enthusiasts today consider a classic yacht.
Various frames are replaced as well as the mast foot, parts of the beam stay, the sling and the stem and sternpost. Bulkheads are repaired, the engine foundation is renewed and moved, and the teak deck is refurbished. The planks of the outer skin are re-calcified and the bracing is largely replaced. Lehmann builds a skylight and covers the superstructure roof with canvas. He renews the saloon floor using old oak timbers. The entire interior is refurbished and reinstalled, upholstery is replaced and the galley is modified. In between, the ship is regularly put into the water to prevent the hull from drying out.
The 100th birthday of the "Troll" is in sight
The family supports their skipper in his endeavours. During these years, the daughters grow up and become more and more independent, but to their father's delight, they keep a lively eye on what is happening on the "Troll".
Even when the ship is back in the water like new after 14 years of restoration, the family is on board together. What's more. Since last summer, daughter Sophie, who was once the reason for the purchase, has taken over the management of the ship herself and sails her own voyages in rotation with her parents.
The Lehmanns want to celebrate the centenary of their floating family member in style. A foretaste of this last summer was the award of the Restoration prize of the Friends of Classic Yachts in Laboe. Without all the support, says Lehmann with his wife in his arms and the prize in his hand, he would not have lasted the 14 years.
Naval advisor Harry Wustrau
Born in Berlin in 1878, Wustrau learnt to sail there from his father. After leaving grammar school, he studied shipbuilding, became active in the Academic Sailing Club and was involved in designing smaller dinghies and yachts, which were built for friends at Berlin shipyards. After graduating, Wustrau joined the Imperial Shipyard in Kiel, where he worked until 1912. During this time, he founded his family, with whom he also sailed, and - together with Admiral Barandon - the Kiel Yacht School.
From 1913, Wustrau worked on the DSV technical committee in favour of small and inexpensive boat classes in order to establish sailing as a popular sport. From 1913 to 1917, Wustrau worked in the Imperial Navy Office, and in 1918 he became head of the yacht building department at the former Imperial Shipyard in Kiel. In 1933, Wustrau took over the shipbuilding training programme at the Mürwik Naval School. At the outbreak of war, he became unfit for service after suffering a stroke. Harry Wustrau died in March 1945, his most famous design being the "Gorch Fock".
Technical data "Troll"
Ex "Petrel"
- Year of construction: 1924
- Shipyard: Reichswerft Kiel
- Design engineer: Harry Wustrau
- Length: 10,05 m
- Width: 3,06 m
- Depth: 1,68 m
- Displacement: 9,61 t
- Ballast: 4,0 t
- sail area: 75 square metres
- Motor: Volvo Penta 2003
