The Competence Centre for Boat Crime (KBK) of the Baden-Württemberg Water Police is searching for a well-known sea cruiser from 1919, the "Prosit III". A co-owner had reported the disappearance of the ship to the criminal investigation department in Augsburg, suspecting theft or embezzlement. The rather striking yacht was reportedly last seen at the Real Club Nautico in Valencia, Spain.
The yacht, designed by Max Oertz, was commissioned from the Neptun shipyard in Rostock in 1914, but its completion was delayed by the outbreak of the First World War. Construction was finally completed in 1919 and the "Prosit III" was transferred across the Oder to the Akademischer Segler-Verein (ASV) in Berlin.
ASV crews undertook challenging voyages with the initially gaff-rigged 15-KR yacht, which caused a sensation, particularly in the 1920s and 1930s: across the Baltic and North Sea, around England and Scotland and as far as northern Norway. It was not until 1968 that the club ship was replaced by a new one, the fourth "Prosit".
Most recently, the yacht, which is now rigged as a slip with an aluminium mast, was apparently mainly sailed in the Mediterranean, where it was also stored ashore for long periods a few years ago.
The ship data
Year of construction: 1919
Designer: Max Oertz
Hull length: 18.00 m
Width: 3.70 m
Draught: 2.10 m
Displacement: 18 tonnes
Engine: Mercedes OM636, 2 x 40 hp
Anyone who can provide information on the whereabouts of the "Prosit III" is asked to contact the Competence Centre for Boat Crime in Constance, either by telephone (07531/5902-300) or by e-mail: KBK@polizei.bwl.de.
