"The fact that our boat doesn't have a home harbour is perhaps rather atypical for a boat of this size," says Bernd Rekowski on board his "Lumme". The reason for this is that the 20-metre dinghy cruiser only goes into the water when a family summer cruise is on the agenda. Then, however, it is always in new areas that are easy to reach by road with the trailer boat. The rest of the time, the wooden boat is kept in a shed.
"That proved to be ideal for us," explains the 53-year-old architect. A wooden boat that usually stands in a hall: Horror images of a dried-out hull appear in the mind's eye. However, as the "Lumme" is moulded and glued, there is no such danger.
Own ideas and plans for the dinghy cruiser
The boat was built in 2003 by the Fricke & Dannhus shipyard. The client was a shipbuilding engineer who worked at the Meyer shipyard in Papenburg. He had a considerable amount of mahogany and teak wood at his disposal and many of his own ideas and wishes for his dinghy cruiser. This particular customer is still remembered today at the shipyard in Hüde am Dümmer. He wanted a more seaworthy and comfortable boat after many years of travelling with his wife in a 470 in the Wadden Sea. The dinghy cruiser was to allow him to sail to Helgoland on his own keel. Hence the boat's name "Lumme": the Lummenfelsen is located on Germany's only high seas island. Many species of seabird breed in this small nature reserve, including the guillemots that give it its name. "In the end, the first owners never sailed to the Heligoland guillemot rock," says Rekowski. In 2012, he came across an advert for the dinghy cruiser for sale on the internet and struck gold. It is the second family boat for Bernd and Hilgrid Rekowski.
Other interesting sailing boats:
The first one was purchased in 2005, when son Benedikt was just one year old. The BM dinghy was sailed on the Unterbacher See near Düsseldorf for seven years. Daughter Mara joined them in 2007. However, as the two children got older, the desire for a larger travelling boat grew.
Wooden boat building in a class of its own
A dinghy cruiser quickly crystallises as the object of desire, underlined by a cruise with a borrowed "Jolli" in Brandenburg: "not too big and rather moulded than built from wooden planks on frames, because it is less maintenance-intensive". But it has to be wood. Rekowski: "I can walk around the trade fair in Düsseldorf and not be touched in the soul by any of the standard yachts." The moulded, glued travelling boat, on the other hand, inspires the self-employed architect. Especially as "Lumme" is equipped to a much higher standard than the standard version due to the client's extensive ideas and wishes: wooden boat building in a class of its own.
The outline that Fricke & Dannhus uses to build its R dinghy cruisers "with harmonious lines and an optimised underwater hull" was drawn in 1999 by the internationally renowned Van de Stadt design office in the Netherlands. "We build the modern form-glued hull using positive moulds under vacuum pressure," says the shipyard, describing the production process. "We carefully select the longitudinally veneered mahogany and finish it with a high-gloss two-component varnish, which we apply seven times." "The hull of the 'Lumme' consists of four layers of three-millimetre-thick mahogany veneer. The superstructure, including the coachroof, is also moulded and glued," explains shipyard manager Jens Dannhus.
Many extras make the "Lumme" special
"This boat has many special features," continues the shipyard boss: "The underwater hull is reinforced with a laminate so that it is safe to fall dry in the mudflats. The centreboard box is reinforced so that a ballast centreboard can be used." The hull has been built around 30 centimetres higher than the standard version and the superstructure has been raised even further. This takes away some of the boat's elegance, but creates a lot of space below deck. "There probably aren't many 20-person dinghy cruisers that have a separate toilet room with a pump toilet and faeces tank like ours," says owner Rekowski happily. Passers-by have often mistaken his boat for a larger 30 dinghy cruiser. Four full berths, storage space including in the generous wardrobe on the port side and the pantry in a pull-out box complete the touring equipment. Large lockers around the self-draining teak cockpit hold lines, fenders and other equipment.
The "Lumme" weighs 350 kilograms more than the standard touring version, and its minimum draught increases from 20 to 25 centimetres. The easily adjustable draught thanks to the retractable centreboard and rudder blade and the easy-to-set mast open up a wide range of sailing areas for dinghy cruiser crews.
The dinghy cruiser is reliable in use
The first summer cruise with "Lumme" takes the Rekowski family to the Müritz and Nebelsee. They spent four weeks exploring the varied inland waters. "We were the only boat travelling on Lake Nebelsee," recalls Bernd Rekowski. "We tied the mooring lines around trees and made campfires on the beach in the evenings." In the first storm, the dinghy cruiser newcomers opted for the tactic of "sails down and outboard motor on". "Later on, we often just sailed away from the menacing dark clouds."
After the cruise, "Lumme" remains in storage with master boat builder Jens Christen in Waren an der Müritz. "We don't find any areas in the immediate vicinity of our home town of Düsseldorf worthwhile enough to have a permanent mooring there," explains Rekowski. "We want to cover a lot of ground and not constantly sail back and forth from shore to shore." They also see that friends with moorings in the Netherlands spend a lot of time in their cars so that they have relatively little time to sail their boat. "Lumme" will therefore only be picked up again in Waren in the summer of the following year and trailered just 30 kilometres further.
"We travelled down the River Peene towards the lake," remembers the now 17-year-old son Benedikt. "That was really adventurous." The family sails on Lake Kummerow and spends long periods on the Achterwasser. The Düsseldorfers love the quiet side of Usedom. As they sail across the Greifswalder Bodden, they encounter waves one metre high, "that was quite impressive". The trip ends in Stralsund and remains an exciting memory to this day.
The "Lumme" is a family affair
Since then, "Lumme" has mostly spent her extensive time off sailing in a hangar at the shipyard in Dümmer, which is around 150 kilometres from Düsseldorf. Six extended summer cruises have been sailed since 2012. As a self-employed architect and teacher, the parents have the opportunity to make extensive use of "Bene" and Mara's school holidays. For their trip to Sweden, the family travelled to and from the ferry between Germany and Trelleborg in a trailer. Father Bernd remembers the journey along the Swedish east coast from Kalmar to Nyköping as the most beautiful so far. "We actually wanted to go all the way to Stockholm, but we didn't quite make it," says Mara. The Rekowskis gain "ocean experience" on the crossing to the island of Öland.
Between the skerries, there are two or three groundings at the beginning, during which the GRP-covered wooden centreboard swings upwards in its centreboard box. But the crew quickly learns to read the wave patterns better and better and thus recognise rocks just below the water surface in good time. The shallow draught of the "Lumme" again offers plenty of freedom when choosing a route. In the evening, we anchor and collect blueberries on the shore.
If the family council decides by a majority in favour of a holiday in the south of France without a boat before the next summer holidays, everyone knows that "Lumme" will be fine indoors for a few months longer. Rekowski's "Jolli" will only be taken out of the hall again when all family members really fancy a summer cruise together. So in 2018 they will be sailing on Lake Constance. The mixture of nice places, the opportunity to sail longer distances and great water quality is particularly appealing to Mara. "Lumme" will then stay in a hall on site to sail on the Swabian Sea again in 2019. As Hilgrid Rekowski had previously injured her shoulder while skiing, the second Lake Constance cruise will not take place until 2020. "It was the perfect coronavirus-compliant holiday."
The electricity is produced on board
In terms of power supply, "Lumme" is self-sufficient. All lamps (including the position lanterns) have been converted to LED technology. A solar panel powers the lithium-ion batteries. A nice addition would be an electric outboard motor, which has less of a negative impact on the boat's trim than the current eight-horsepower petrol engine. "The first owner has probably dimensioned it rather generously in order to have a safety reserve in the Wadden Sea."
The Düsseldorf family finds the different perceptions of their "Lumme" interesting. "In eastern Germany, we have often heard appreciative comments about our beautiful wooden boat," says Bernd Rekowski. On Lake Constance, the family of four feels rather pityingly eyed on their relatively small dinghy cruiser.
The dinghy cruiser is a real all-rounder
It will be sailed again on the Steinhuder Meer on this late summer's day. Father, son and daughter have to set sail from the harbour of the Steinhuder Meer yacht club in Wunstorf. However, the sunny weather and good wind make up for the almost obligatory low water level of the lake west of Hanover. The mainsail rises quickly on the aluminium mast, the jib is furled and unfurled. The family does without a spinnaker. Bernd Rekowski calls "Lumme" a three-line boat: "We have a foresheet, mainsheet and mooring line - that's it. Instead of constantly trimming, we are more like travellers on the water. We travel to discover new things."
"This boat is and remains a hit for us," says the Düsseldorf architect happily. "It doesn't tie us down too much and we can explore a wide variety of areas with it. Fortunately, the whole family is always keen to try something new. Maybe we'll sail in the Wadden Sea one day. Or in the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany." Or even to the Lummenfelsen.
This article first appeared in YACHT 8/2022.
Technical data"Lumme"
- Designer: Van de Stadt
- Shipyard: Fricke & Dannhus
- Construction method: Moulded wood
- Hull length: 7.75 m
- Width: 2.50 m
- Draught: 0.25-1.65 m
- Weight: 1.1 tonnes
- Sail area: 26.0 m²
- Sail carrying capacity: 4.9
