The founding of the cruiser division
In January 1911, a "Call for the foundation of a German Cruiser Yacht Association" appears in YACHT. The purpose of the association was to collate the experiences of its members for the benefit of yacht voyages. All interested parties should send their addresses to the editors.
On 19 March 1911, a total of 56 gentlemen meet at the Hotel "Central" near Berlin's Friedrichstraße railway station. The harbour cities of the north and Berlin are well represented among them, but there are also interested parties from Bavaria and the Rhine. The meeting appoints Dr E. Mylius, author of the first German manual for cruising yachtsmen, "Der Küstensegler", published by Wedekind in Berlin in 1904, as its founding chairman.
It was decided to eliminate the many difficulties suffered by tourers in almost all German and foreign harbours. Volunteer helpers in every harbour town on the coast and inland are to provide association members with the necessary information about berths and anchorages, provisions and repair facilities free of charge. They are supposed to know the harbour, pilotage and customs conditions in order to support the German sailors as "a kind of consul".
The new association should also focus on "training the next generation" and "chartering cheap touring yachts". And reliable boatmen are to be engaged in all harbours to supervise and maintain the association's yachts.
The first organisation representing the interests of cruising yachtsmen was born. A competition for seaworthy yachts was held in the very year it was founded, the first "Baltic Sea Handbook" was published in 1914, and by 1915 the organisation already had over 500 members.
Kreuzer division merges with DSV
The outbreak of the First World War brought the activities of the cruiser division to a virtual standstill. Nevertheless, contact was maintained with the members and also with the German Sailing Association, which showed increasing interest in cruising. At the end of 1917, it was decided to join forces and the German Cruiser Yacht Association became the Cruiser Division of the DSV.
After the war, the association's work was initially difficult due to the economic and political situation. Nevertheless, the cruising department continued to promote the interests of its members, especially when it came to reducing bureaucratic hurdles with harbour administrations and authorities and reducing the amount of paperwork involved in yacht trips. The DSV office took on more and more day-to-day tasks, published information on cruising and sold books and charts. In 1922, the cruising department organised its first cruising competition.
Early achievements of the members of the Kreuzer department
Even in the early years, a few adventurous sailors ventured into faraway places with their yachts. Captain Carl Kircheiß was the first German circumnavigator to return to Hamburg in December 1927, having set off almost two years earlier with his 22-metre yacht "Hamburg". Hans Domizlaff, who sailed his yacht "Dirk III" to Hammerfest in the far north of Norway and to the Faroe Islands, was also one of the pioneers of cruising sailing. In 1931, Ludwig Schlimbach's crossing of the Atlantic on the "Störtebeker I" attracted a great deal of attention to German sailing.
During the National Socialist era, the DSV, including the cruiser division, was subordinated to the political system like many other sports organisations. Instead of elected leaders, "leaders" selected by the NSDAP now determined the work of the association. In 1938, the cruiser department organised the "German Baltic Sea Regatta", which covered 380 nautical miles from Warnemünde via Bornholm to Kiel. One hundred sea cruisers from Germany and abroad took part. However, this was the last major event of its kind for the time being. With the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, sailing came to an almost complete standstill.
The revitalisation of the cruiser division
In the post-war years, a few brave sailors soon ventured back onto the water, but it was not until the summer of 1950 that German yachts were allowed to sail outside the country's borders again. In 1953, the Cruiser Division held its first annual meeting after the Second World War and set priorities for future work: the expansion of bases, the reduction of harbour fees and the publication of a harbour handbook.
A few years later, sailing had a new icon: Rollo Gebhard. Born in Austria, he crossed the Mediterranean single-handed in 1956 on his 5.50 metre Hansa dinghy "Solveig". A year later, he sailed alone through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and into the Indian Ocean. With "Solveig II", a 5.60 metre long boat, he crossed the Atlantic in 1963. When he arrived in New York, Gebhard was greeted enthusiastically. The newspapers ran pages of reports and he appeared on TV shows.
In 1964, the cruiser division of the DSV had around 1,500 members. At the same time, the German Motor Yacht Association became a co-operative member of the DSV. This made it possible for motor boaters to join the cruiser section for the first time. Just one year later, the organisation set up its "Mediterranean Information Centre".
The cruiser division benefits from the water sports boom
Wilfried Erdmann made headlines at the end of the 1960s: He was the first German to sail around the world alone. This was followed by the water sports boom of the 1970s. Most boats and yachts were no longer made of wood, but of glass fibre reinforced plastic (GRP). This meant that the boats could be manufactured much more cheaply, which gave broad sections of the population access to water sports. On the initiative of Hans-Otto Schümann, three-time Admiral's Cup winner, the Club der Kreuzer-Abteilung (CKA) was founded in 1971. Its aim was to introduce sailors without traditional club ties to organised water sports.
The concept proved successful: the CKA developed into the largest club in the German Sailing Association. The cruiser section also grew rapidly: in 1977 it already had 9,000 members, by 1982 there were more than 15,000. In 1979, the cruiser section launched the "Clean Chartering" project. This campaign was intended to protect members from falling for dubious boat hire companies. The DSV's cruiser division experienced its greatest popularity in 1998 with a total of 25,000 members.
The cruiser department specialises in
However, a dispute arose in the same year. Some of the board members of the cruiser division at the time wanted independence from the German Sailing Association, while others wanted to continue working as usual. No agreement could be reached, and the cruiser division lost around 3,500 members in one fell swoop.
Wilfried Erdmann once again caused a sporting sensation in 2000/2001. He sailed solo and non-stop around the world - but this time against the prevailing wind directions. Only four sailors worldwide had managed this feat before him.
But normal recreational athletes are also achieving great things in the new millennium. For example, Manfred and Heidemarie Brandes, who sailed a 4,000 nautical mile trip from Rostock to Norway and across the Arctic Circle into the Barents Sea on their nine metre yacht in the summer of 2009. In March 2010, they were honoured with the Commodore Prize of the DSV's cruiser division.
The cruising section of the DSV takes account of this new desire to travel further afield. It provides its members with the necessary area information on its website. The more than 200 bases and area representatives offer advice and assistance on site at home and abroad. The training and further education courses organised by the DSV's cruising department are popular and often booked up quickly. Anyone who simply wants to know how to guide a yacht safely at sea and back to harbour can book a skipper training course.
Today, the Kreuzer division has around 16,000 members.
