- In 1944, Carl-Eric Ohlson built his first boat himself: "Ansy" is still sailing today
- Unfortunately for the boat builders, American customers ordered the boats painted in colour
- The Ohlsons had a medal boat at every Olympic Games from 1952 to 1968
- Ohlson yachts are still at the forefront of regattas on the US East Coast today
- The Ohlson Project - Digital Museum for the Ohlson Brothers
Text by Lutz von Meyerinck
In 1951, brothers Einar and Carl-Eric Ohlson registered their yacht design office in Gothenburg under the name "Ingenjörsfirman Bröderna Ohlson AB". However, the two had already been successfully designing yachts in various national competitions for many years and had delivered plans for all kinds of individual constructions, both sailing and motor yachts.
One of the first truly resounding projects was the design and construction of the 5.5 metre "Hojwa". It won the bronze medal at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki with Carl-Eric Ohlson as a crew member. This success made the brothers famous worldwide.
Einar and Carl-Eric Ohlson grew up in Hälleviksstrand in the north-west of Orust. The village, like many communities on the west coast, was home to a fleet of merchant ships that sailed cargo between the harbours of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The brothers' father, Oskar Ohlson, was the owner of one of these ships. He sailed his cutter "Irex" himself. Originally, however, the family came from Kungsviken, also in the north-west of Orust.
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Orust has long been the centre of boatbuilding on the west coast. Clinker-built boats were already being built there before the turn of the millennium, as archaeological investigations have shown. Owning a boat was the most important prerequisite for all kinds of work, from hunting to transporting goods, people and animals to fishing. And as agricultural yields were always scarce in this region, people made boats as a sideline.
As early as the Middle Ages, this led to the construction of fishing vessels and cargo sailing boats, a trade that was recognised far beyond the region and even by the Norwegian royal family. A centre for this boat building had established itself around Kungsviken. The knowledge and skills of boat and shipbuilding were retained locally and passed down from one generation to the next.
In the mid-1930s, the Ohlson brothers were apprenticed to their uncle, the boat and ship builder Hjalmar Johansson
The founding of the Royal Swedish Yacht Club GKSS in Gothenburg in 1861 created a need for new vessels for sailing and ensured a further upturn in boatbuilding in the region. At the same time, shipyards and suppliers such as sawmills and metalworking companies benefited from the advent of electrification.
In the mid-1930s, the Ohlson brothers were apprenticed to their uncle, the boat and ship builder Hjalmar Johansson. He had moved his shipyard from Kungsviken to Långedrag, now a suburb of Gothenburg, in order to be closer to the customers of the two local yacht clubs GKSS and Segelsällskabet Fram. In 1929, Johansson built the first kite there according to Johan Anker's new plans.
Design competitions played a major role in sailing in Sweden. The results were raffled off in the lottery. A good example of such competitions is Johansson's Flory design from 1924, a Koster boat that was followed by many other Koster designs.
Hjalmar Johansson enjoyed a good reputation, and Einar Ohlson also learnt how to develop and calculate line cracks from him. During the war, he worked at the Gothenburg Shipbuilding Research Institute, testing model hulls in the 300-metre-long test tank and learning how to optimise hulls on models. He later utilised this experience and the possibilities of the Gothenburg test tank in many of his designs. From 1941 he worked for Götaverken in large shipbuilding and from 1943 studied shipbuilding at the Gothenburg University of Applied Sciences in the evening.
In 1944, Carl-Eric Ohlson built his first boat himself: "Ansy" is still sailing today
In 1943, the brothers took part in another competition with a design for a Koster boat. Although they only came second, their design for the 18 square metre Båt caused a sensation and became the basis for the K6-Koster. Carl-Eric Ohlson built the first boat, "Ansy", at Johansson in 1944. "Ansy" is still sailing today, as are many other K6s. Other Kosters followed, such as the 22, 28, 32 and various designs of smaller boats for the needs of the members of the sailing clubs on the coast around Gothenburg.
In the post-war economic boom, the GKSS intended to interest broad sections of society in sailing and in 1949 commissioned the Ohlson brothers to design a seaworthy open keelboat. It was to be cheap to build and smaller than the Star boat. The result was the GKSS EKA skiff in 1950.
It quickly became widespread. Almost 1,300 boats were built over the years, many by father and son Willy Halvardsson Båtbyggeri and Oskar Arvidsson Båtvarv, the later Najad shipyard in Henån. Based on this success, the brothers registered Ingenjörsfirman Bröderna Ohlson AB with the registry court in 1951.
For the upcoming 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, the Ohlson brothers, Eric Hanson, Birger Jonsson and Folke Wassén started developing a boat for the 5.5 mR class newly developed by Charles Nicholson in 1949. When the International Yacht Racing Union decided in favour of the 5.5 mR boats, the 6s lost their Olympic status. The new boat "Hojwa" did so well off Helsinki that the crew brought home a bronze medal.
Due to the good international reputation of the 5.5 mR boats, the office ventured to design a 35-foot, and later 36-foot, sea cruiser
The success was a media event, but above all it brought the Ohlson brothers new design and construction contracts. By the 1956 Games in Melbourne alone, they had developed around ten boats. One of their boats also won a medal there. Lars "Lasse" Törn and crew won gold with the "Rush V", designed by the Ohlsons and built by Oscar Schelin in Kungsör. Even after these games, new orders came in for the office and the Ohlson brothers' designs were in high demand. The list of clients from this period reads like a "who's who" of the sailing world.
In addition to developing the plans, the brothers were able to offer a complete programme because, with contacts to the four shipyards around Kungsviken, some of which were run by relatives, they had the excellent boatbuilders they needed to deliver first-class racing boats.
In addition to the shipyards around Kungsviken, many of the new 5.5s were built at Oscar Schelin's shipyard in Kungsör. The Swedish daily newspaper "Dagens Nyheter" ran the headline "Kungsör the world's Olympic armory in racing" before the games in Naples in 1960, and "Aftonbladet" wrote in 1962 that King Constantine of Greece had ordered a 5.5 from the Ohlson brothers. Even the then Soviet Union placed an order in 1962. For foreign clients in particular, it was a real additional service to have design and construction supervision, including testing in the test tank, supplied from a single source in the form of the design office.
Due to the good international reputation of the 5.5 mR boats, the office ventured to design a 35-foot, and later 36-foot, sea cruiser. During a trip to the USA, Einar Ohlson had recognised the need for such ships there. And Ohlson was also correct in his assessment: Sweden was extremely attractive to American clients.
Unfortunately for the boat builders, American customers ordered the boats painted in colour
While boatbuilding in Sweden had not been affected by the war, many of the important techniques used in yacht and boat building had been lost in the USA during the switch to wartime production. In addition, the strong dollar in the 1950s and 1960s made the construction of yachts in Europe very interesting for the Americans; top quality was available for a good price.
The Ohlson 35 was offered in several versions, as a sloop or yawl and planked in mahogany on oak. She had harmonious lines, and the ship, which was developed purely as a cruiser, immediately gained a reputation in the USA for being fast. "The Racing Machine" won silver at regattas for years.
The boats were built in series, and the orders kept the Gustavsson brothers' shipyard in Brattås and the Martinsson shipyard in Svineviken around Kungsviken busy, as 145 of these boats were built there by 1966. The shipyard only received the basic drawings, in which the modifications intended for the respective owner were noted. The boat builders had a photo album in which the construction details were illustrated accordingly.
American engines, heaters and other equipment were installed on request. Unfortunately for the boatbuilders, the Americans always ordered the neatly built hulls painted in colour. They would have been painted for Swedish owners. But only three boats remained in Europe.
George O'Day, himself a successful sailor and customer of the Ohlson brothers, was responsible for sales in the USA until the end of the 1950s. He sailed to gold in the 5.5 at the 1960 Games off Naples. After this success, he wanted to go his own way commercially. Richard "Dick" Sheehan offered himself as the new representative for further marketing in the USA. Sheehan ordered several boats for himself, which allowed him to have a say in improvements and designs. He sailed the boats very actively and very successfully in major regatta series. He also had a sales office on Virgin Island for the wealthy clientele there.
Over time, various designs were created to offer the boat in different materials - wood, steel, aluminium and later plastic
Through the collaboration with Sheehan, several large ocean-going yachts were developed after 1964. The first of these designs was for a 41-foot vessel. The development of this design has been passed down in many details and anecdotes. Even before the first design was created, a new design was produced, in which the originally planned long lateral plan was divided into a longer fin and a rudder on a skeg.
Dick Sheehan must have brought in Peter De Saix, who was working on the test tank at the Davidson Laboratory, who suggested a completely different rudder design, but this was not built. If you look at his proposal, you can more than guess Einar Ohlson's displeasure with the drawing.
Sheehan also asked Alan P. Guerney's office in New York for an alternative design for the interior. Over time, various designs were created to offer the boat in different materials - wood, steel, aluminium and later plastic. The first boat was welded in Corten steel by Frans Maas in Breskens in the Netherlands. Sheehan then ordered another one for a customer, which was built in double planked wood by Poul Molich in Hundested.
The next boat was again welded in Corten steel in the Netherlands and finished in Sweden. All the boats went to the USA and were successfully sailed there in regattas on the east coast and in the SORC. One of the steel-built boats, "Phoenix", later crossed the Atlantic again to Gothenburg, where the crew planned to visit the designer.
From 1967, further offshore yachts were designed, a 44-foot sloop and a 45-foot yawl. The latter was delivered to the Hennessey family in California. The hull was welded in aluminium at Royal Huisman in Vollenhove in the Netherlands and also built in Sweden. However, the boat was not in their possession for long, but was sold to the Great Lakes, then came to Hamburg, was extensively overhauled by the Walsted boatyard in Thurø, Denmark, and today sails for a German owner.
The Ohlsons had a medal boat at every Olympic Games from 1952 to 1968
In addition to the many 5.5 metre R-boats and sea-going yachts, a number of other individual and class boats were developed in lengths up to 34 feet for Swedish clients. Carl-Eric Ohlson presented the classically built Nordisk-Kryssare sea cruiser in 1963. Based on this design, more than 30 boats were built by various shipyards in Sweden in the following years.
For the 1964 Olympic Games off Enoshima, various 5.5 mR boats were again redesigned. If you count from 1961 alone, their number totals 21. In Enoshima, the helmsman of an Ohlson boat was on the podium again, Lasse Törn won silver with "Rush VII".
But the spirit of the times was working against the 5.5. The dispute came to light in 1966 after the World Championship off Copenhagen. The series was sailed in strong winds. The eventual winner Paul Elvstrøm sailed "Web III", William Berntsen's Olympic boat from Enoshima 1964, to a commanding first place. On the one hand, he knew the area very well, he had prepared himself extensively, and on the other hand, the strong wind suited him. Five Ohlson designs were among the top six boats in the ranking - namely in places one to four and six, which simply coped better with the strong wind than the latest designs.
But the class was heavily criticised, particularly in the American sailing press. In the magazine "One Design and Offshore Yachtsman", Jack Knight and Stuart Walker openly criticised the "amateurish" crews taking part, who had great difficulty controlling the boats on the gangways with the modern boats with their small keels and attached rudders. They also questioned the general safety of the boats after the Finnish participant had gone deep with his "Chaje III". In their opinion, the 5.5 should be stripped of its Olympic status. The criticism was certainly exaggerated and should be seen against the background that it came from the USA, where the 5.5 was not so widespread anyway. However, this foreshadowed further developments.
Overall, however, the Ohlson firm was the most successful design studio of the Olympic era of the 5.5s
Robin Aisher and crew sailed the new Ohlson boat "Yeoman XV" at the 1968 Olympic Games off Acapulco. Aisher was a loyal customer of the Ohlsons. He won bronze, but for the 5.5, it was all over as far as further Olympic participation was concerned. The class was out and the number of new builds dropped significantly. After 1964, around eight to nine boats were built by Ohlson, the last of which was the "Oleg" built by Egger in Switzerland in 1974.
Overall, however, the Ohlsons' company was the most successful design studio of the Olympic era of the 5.5s; at all Olympic Games from 1952 to 1968, the Ohlsons had a crew with one of their boats on the podium. And a total of 57 designs were delivered.
But as soon as the business with the 5.5s ceased, sales of designs for series boatbuilding really took off. In 1967, a lengthened version of the Ohlson 36 was traditionally planked at Bröderna Gustavsson in Brattås. However, this Ohlson 37 was probably the last wooden boat imported to the USA from the hands of the office.
According to the final invoice, the ship was built at a base price of 22,500 US dollars. It still sails very successfully in regattas on the US East Coast today and is therefore nicknamed "That damned blue boat". The last traditionally built Ohlson also followed at some point for Swedish account. The 34 "Josephine", also built in 1967, also remained a one-off.
In order to serve the important US market, various rigs were also offered again
In the same year, however, there was a turnaround in favour of the rapidly spreading construction material GRP. Once again, Dick Sheehan was probably the driving force behind the development of a replacement for the Ohlson 35 and 36 models, which had not been built since 1966. A new design was needed, which was similar to that of the Ohlson 45.
The result was the Ohlson 38, and the office was able to draw on its long experience in project management to realise this design. The hulls and, if required, decks and superstructures were laminated at Tyler in Tonbridge, Kent. At the time, Tyler was probably the largest contract manufacturer of GRP in the world.
The quality delivered was sensational, as Willy Paulsen from M&P reported. The fine layer of the hulls was not coloured in the underwater area, so that you could see through it as if it were glass. Only the edges of the glass fibre mat were coloured so that their position could be seen afterwards.
In order to serve the important US market, different rigs - sloop and yawl - were again offered. The stern shape could be designed according to the owner's wishes. The deck and superstructure could be ordered in either wood or GRP, which was also in keeping with the spirit of the times. Various sail plans helped to measure the boat according to CCA or IOR.
Nearly all of the wooden fittings were made with hulls built by Tyler at Svinevikens Båtvarv, Bröderna Carlsson & Söner. Three boats were built in Germany at Matthiessen & Paulsen in Arnis, two of them in wood. Most of the boats built in Sweden were sold with a plaque from Bröderna Ohlson AB.
The plastic hulls were built at Olsöner in Kungsviken, which later became the Malö shipyard, and many boats were built in the United Kingdom, first at Alexander Robertson & Sons in Scotland and then at Tyler itself until the early 1980s. A total of 128 boats were built. This design was again very successful.
Ohlson yachts are still at the forefront of regattas on the US East Coast today
Several ships have already sailed around the world. Tragically, the German "Ole Hoop" was lost during its second circumnavigation off Cape Horn in 2001.
The yachts on the US East Coast are still at the forefront of regattas, as they were in 1976 in the Observer Single-Handed Transatlantic Race (OSTAR), in which Robertson's Golly under Clare Francis won the Ladies Trophy as the fastest yacht sailed by a woman. The regatta is impressively described in the book "Come Hell or High Water".
The market for sailing yachts changed at the end of the 1960s. In many Western European countries, ever larger sections of the middle class discovered sailing as a leisure activity, and the demand for smaller sailing yachts grew accordingly. New boats had to be designed for this, and the construction material GRP allowed series production on a completely different scale than before.
Einar Ohlson designed several boats from 22 to 35 feet in quick succession to meet this demand, especially those up to 29 feet, which were built in large numbers many hundreds of times.
The company was regularly represented with its boats at boat shows in Germany. They were advertised extensively in the YACHT magazine. But the construction of classic sailing yachts had given way to plastic series yachts, which was also a very lucrative business for the designers.
Einar Ohlson could not let go of his passion and continued to work in his office into old age. It was not until 1999 that he finally stopped working. He died five years later.
The Ohlson Project - Digital Museum for the Ohlson Brothers
The Ohlson Project was launched in 2018 by Christina Stenberg, née Ohlson, Gothenburg, and Lutz von Meyerinck, Hamburg. The aim of the project is to revive and preserve the work of the Ohlson brothers in a digital museum through reports, photos and other documents (www.ohlsonyachts.com). A large number of interested parties around the world are working together on this project. The members of the register at the Veteranbåtsarkivet in Stockholm made a special contribution to the success of the project by scanning all the existing drawings of the Ohlson brothers' designs. They are also shown on the Ohlson project website, as are several video films on various topics relating to the Ohlson brothers' work. There is direct contact with owners and interested parties via the project's various social media channels.
