Obituary: Eight glasses for Sirius founder Peter Schmidt

Schmidt was known among customers and in the boatbuilding industry as a real lateral thinker, who not only developed many popular cruising yachts from 1970 onwards, but also the deck saloon concept in the 1980s. Born in 1940, he grew up in a time of great upheaval, during which he experienced the reconstruction of Germany first-hand. His story is a typical post-war story, but at the same time it is anything but ordinary.

Sailor since his youth

Peter Schmidt discovered his passion for the water at an early age. As a teenager, he swapped a guitar for the skeleton of a canoe, which he made buoyant again with old newspapers and linseed oil and then set sail with a centreboard and mast - an improvised vessel that soon paved the way for his first real sailing boat.

Peter Schmidt initially took a different career path. He trained as a car mechanic at Opel Mausner in Celle, followed by an apprenticeship as a wholesale merchant, after which he worked in sales. After a brief stopover in the industrial paint trade, however, he was also drawn to his true professional passion: sailing.

From hobby to profession

The hobby eventually became a vocation. At the end of the 1960s, when GRP was replacing traditional wooden boat building, Peter Schmidt looked for a yacht for himself for the Baltic Sea - and found none that met his expectations. Instead, he contacted the Herbert Klein boatyard to realise a bold idea: The mould for a new, larger boat was to be created from the upside-down hull of his existing 24-foot boat - without damaging the original, the proceeds from the sale of which he needed to finance the prototype.

What sounded like a daring endeavour at the time - and undoubtedly was - became the cornerstone of a remarkable shipyard story. Dr Jüs Segger drew deck and rigging plans and the Waran cruiser was born. Friends and sailing colleagues marvelled at the developing project and advised him to turn it into a business model.

Foundation stone of the shipyard

Shortly before the trade fair in Hamburg - back in January - he happened to get a stand space that had just become available and set himself the personal goal of selling four boats at the trade fair. If he succeeded, he wanted to take the plunge into self-employment. By the end of the fair, 17 boats had been sold and the foundation stone for Sirius Werft had been laid.

In Lachendorf near Celle, a first production hall and a residential building were built with friends and a lot of sweat. In 1971, the first Sirius designed by Heribert Streuer replaced the Waran series. The Sirius 26 was followed by the 23 and a short time later by the 24. When capacities were no longer sufficient during the subsequent boatbuilding boom, production of the Sirius 26 and later the first Sirius 31 and 33 was transferred to the Grell shipyard in Lübeck and the foundation stone for today's production in Plön was laid in 1977.

Introduction of the deck salon concept

Peter Schmidt led the Sirius shipyard with great perseverance and a keen sense of the market and made a lasting impression with his extraordinary ideas. In particular, the deck saloon concept he developed in 1988 bears witness to his visionary thinking: initially ridiculed and jokingly referred to as the "Kanickelstall" by his own boatbuilders, the high superstructure with its many windows on the hull of the speedy 31 yachtsman initially seemed unusual. However, Peter Schmidt was quick to recognise the needs of those sailors who did not want to "sit in the cellar" even when in port - and created a new category of yacht that brought the saloon, galley and inside steering position into the light and combined the comfortable interior with all-round visibility with the cockpit.

Over time, the superstructure was integrated more and more harmoniously into the lines of the ships, functionally well thought out and at the same time aesthetically developed. The last pure sailing boat was launched in 1991 and was followed by the successful 32 DS and the 36 designed by Georg Nissen, which later grew into the 38 DS. A bold idea thus became a trademark that will forever be associated with the name Klaus Peter Schmidt.

Recipe for success to this day

More than 55 years after the foundation of the shipyard and the construction of around 900 yachts, deck saloon yachts are still being built at the Sirius shipyard today - inspired by an ingenious concept and its consistent further development. These yachts enjoy worldwide recognition for their outstanding quality, their individuality, their sophisticated design and the consistent realisation of the unique deck saloon principle.

In the mid-1990s, Peter Schmidt initially handed over production management to his son Torsten, who took over the shipyard completely at the end of 2000 and continues to run it successfully to this day. Father Schmidt remained a sailor and tinkerer through and through throughout his life, sailing all the models himself year after year and was also very successful in regattas on the dinghy cruiser scene, up to the title of German vice-champion.

Connected to the end

Even in retirement, Peter Schmidt remained closely connected to the shipyard, sailing and the water and spent eight years on long voyages with his own Sirius 38 DS. He enjoyed excellent health right to the end and always needed projects to keep him busy. Schmidt followed what was happening at the shipyard from a distance, but always with a watchful eye - and certainly with the odd critical comment.

Shipyard founder Schmidt leaves behind not only family and friends, but also a life's work that is widely recognised among yachtsmen. His curiosity, his entrepreneurial skills and his unconventional manner characterised German yacht building in its most important phase. He was a man who did not simply build yachts, but made dreams of comfortable sailing, travelling and living on the water a reality - and enjoyed it himself.