BoatbuildingSelf-build: Visit to Germany's most ambitious garage

Fridtjof Gunkel

 · 31.01.2022

Boatbuilding: Self-build: Visit to Germany's most ambitious garagePhoto: YACHT/J. Zier
Five years after the first material package was opened: Jan von der Bank in his BM 31 Classic
The first boat of a new breed is currently under construction in Schleswig-Holstein: Jan von der Bank is building a retro classic sports boat. Report from the site visit

Screenwriter and book author Jan von der Bank is approaching his goal, estimating that after around 3,000 hours of work he will need another 500 before it floats: The sportily equipped retro classic made of wood with the positive yacht stern, the porthole superstructure, vertical stem and extendable bowsprit. YACHT visited the former Contender world champion and cruising sailor in his DIY garage.

And there he met a highly detailed one-off together with an all-round happy self-builder who could have built the boat in half the time, "but simply had too much fun with all the nice little things".

A taster? Clicked-on wooden covers for the shrouds, seacocks that can be controlled by Dyneema ropes, constrictor clamps that can be operated from several points in the cockpit. A feast for the eyes, too, with a sheer white coachroof, perfectly varnished mahogany surfaces and a huge cockpit. De facto sports boat on the outside, neo-classic on the inside with a cosy atmosphere that makes use of classic elements.

Workshop report and interview in the new YACHT, issue 4, which you can read Order directly or as digital magazine can be downloaded here.

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Fridtjof Gunkel

Fridtjof Gunkel

Deputy Chief Editor YACHT

Fridtjof Gunkel was born on Helgoland in 1962; he started his sailing career there in the Opti and quickly switched to keelboats. North Sea Week, Cowes Week and Kiel Week were early stops, followed by many years in the Admiral's Cup scene on the cuppers “Container” and “Rubin” World Championships and international regattas in the Starboat, with the mini-maxi “SiSiSi” and various tonner yachts as well as participation in the Whitbread Round the World Race were further formative stations, flanked by extensive cruising trips. Fridtjof Gunkel joined YACHT back in 1985 as part of a traineeship, where he later became Head of the Test & Technology department and then Deputy Editor-in-Chief around 25 years ago. He is also responsible for the regatta and sports section. Fridtjof Gunkel privately sails a performance/cruiser moored on the Baltic coast, his favorite areas are the eastern Swedish archipelago and Brittany.

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