"Think of a picture. A wide sea. A sailing ship sets its white sails and glides out onto the open sea. You see it getting smaller and smaller. Where water and sky meet, it disappears. Someone says: now it has gone. Another says: it's coming."
With these lines from Peter Streiff, the relatives of Hermann H. Schaedla said goodbye yesterday in large obituaries. A fitting image for a man who shaped boatbuilding like no other and who, despite all his business acumen, always remained a sailor, a passionate water sportsman and ship lover.
The staff at Abeking & Rasmussen also bid farewell: "With courage, pioneering spirit and entrepreneurial responsibility, he shaped the development of the shipyard for more than 50 years," it says in its obituary. "His humanity, openness and straightforwardness remain a role model for us."
The heavy legacy of grandfather Jimmy
His grandfather, Henry "Jimmy" Rasmussen, had once left him big shoes that were not easy to fill. Born in Svendborg, Denmark, in 1877, the boatbuilder was already an institution during his lifetime. At the Vulkan shipyard in Bremen, where he was greatly supported by Alfred Schöne, he perfected his knowledge and skills, as well as his negotiating skills and ability to drink. At the age of 30, he founded the "Abeking & Rasmussen boatyard" in Lemwerder with his friend Georg Abeking, right in the middle of the sailing euphoria triggered by Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Rasmussen drewand built yachts similar to Nat Herreshoff, William Fife or - to stay at home - Max Oertz in Hamburg. By the third year, there were almost a hundred boats! The construction number book, which was meticulously kept, became more and more extensive: it contained many metre-class yachts, but also coastal cruisers, nationals and archipelago cruisers.
A&R's production boats, including the Concordia Yawls, are legendary. Elizabeth Meyer, who had one herself but became better known as the owner of the J-Class "Endeavour", once described the A&R boats as "wonderful creatures of the art of boatbuilding". "Jimmy" died in 1959 - leaving behind a life's work like very few of his time.
Almost impossible for the grandson to follow in his footsteps. And Hermann Schaedla was certainly a different type. Not a founder, not grown up as an entrepreneur like his grandfather, but catapulted into an existing organisation. He also came on board in difficult times. And as a family career changer. But what he created from A&R, how he developed the company, was unrivalled.
It is not easy to categorise him in terms of family ties alone. The brother of Henry Rasmussen's second wife, Hans Schädla, fell in love with Anna-Ragnhild, Rasmussen's daughter from his first marriage. The two moved to the USA and had a child - Hermann Schaedla.
He grew up in California and studied at Stanford. As a young man, he wanted to visit his grandfather, flew to Germany and promptly accepted an apprenticeship as a boat builder. However, a draft notice forced him back to the States, where he served in the Navy. When Henry Rasmussen died in 1959, he handed over the then impressive business to his grandson as the main shareholder - who was blindsided.
The challenge for the "junior"
At the age of 25, he was in charge of almost 700 employees. Of course, he was not alone. There was a good management team, including shipyard director Horst Lehnert, an experienced man.
Schaedla initially experienced an eventful phase. Although the post-war years were over, the reconstruction brought Germany a long-lasting boom phase. But the men's sport of sailing gradually developed into a popular sport. And the era of plastic boat building was just around the corner.
Enough upheavals and challenges for a novice to steer a ship as large as A&R onto a flat. Especially as a fire destroyed large parts of the shipyard in 1962. But Hermann Schaedla, the American who always kept his light US slang, navigated with skill.
He gradually transformed the shipyard into a specialist in the heavy sector. He expanded the technological know-how and built up expertise in aluminium boatbuilding and fibre composites. Under his leadership, A&R supplied DGzRS lifeboats, specialised naval vessels and, increasingly, superyachts. Although this meant that A&R moved away from its roots, it remained true to itself as a supplier of top quality and sophisticated designs.
The technological development of the shipyard
To pick out individual boats from the extremely broad catalogue seems almost absurd and will always remain incomplete. But it does at least give an idea of the development of the shipyard under Hermann Schaedla's leadership. From 1948 until the 1960s, A&R built the Hansa dinghy, the first production boat of the post-war years. Three "Rubies" by Hans-Otto Schümann came from the Weser, several "Germania" for Krupp, including the last "Germania VI", which is still sailing today, and later maxis such as the "Extra-Beat" for Fiat boss Agnelli or "Hetairos", a retro classic in XXL format.
Until the very end, Hermann Schaedla, who had transferred the management of the shipyard, which had since become a public limited company, to his son Hans three years ago, could still be seen at regatta events and sailing get-togethers. He was particularly fond of classic yachts. "He didn't like standing still," wrote the Weserkurier in an obituary yesterday, quoting a motto of the restless spirit: "The good Lord has put a head on our shoulders so that we can think.
Hermann Schaedla died suddenly and unexpectedly on Monday, leaving behind a huge gap. Like his grandfather "Jimmy", he had been at the helm of Germany's most prestigious yacht shipyard for half a century.
Jochen Rieker
Herausgeber YACHT
