Report: These are the boats sailed by the players in the leisure boat industry

"The sellers of the newest boats sail the oldest boats" - this or something similar could be the result of our survey. The favourites include unique one-offs such as "Gloria" and, above all, long-established boat types. When Peter Kohlhoff, Gesa Thönnessen and the many other characters are not in the office or at work, they also prefer to spend their time on the water. But which ships do the makers of the German companies sail on the Elbe, the Mediterranean and the like? We spoke to a wide variety of people in a survey and present a selection here. You can also read the first part of the overview here. We also reveal this in a separate article, which ships the YACHT editors sail.

Torsten Conradi: "I'll never give them away"

The designer was able to realise his ideas of the ideal boat himself and had the individual structure glued together from wood almost 40 years ago.

It goes without saying that a former regatta sailor, world champion in the three-quarter tonner and, above all, a renowned yacht designer is not allowed to sail a boat off the peg. Torsten Conradi is travelling with a very special boat. He designed his "Esta" himself and had it built at Gerd Wegener's shipyard in Hamburg's marina. It is moulded from spruce and mahogany. The 11.38 metre long boat was built according to the International Offshore Rule (IOR rule) in the golden age of yachting, when the fields in Northern Europe were large. IOR means a sloping stem, a narrow stern and also: it is complicated. The 7/8 rig with double backstays requires expert hands in strong wind jibes. "Esta" served for the first 10 or 15 years as a regatta boat on the North Sea and Kiel WeekConradi, his wife, two sons and two daughters then went on long cruises from their home in Heligoland to the Baltic Sea. Today, the boat is still in family hands.

Stefan Matschuck: Something different

The trained sailmaker and rigger usually travels with modern and sporty yachts such as "Saudade" or "Outsider", mostly on regattas. By chance, the Hamburg native and his long-time cockpit colleague Bo Teichmann from Kappeln came across the canoe stern yawl "Wenda", built in 1899, and took over the maritime treasure on a whim. The design comes from Albert Strange from the USA, an expert in small, mostly two-masted yachts. The two owners use the 25-foot-long centreboard for relaxed daysailing on the Schlei - as a balance to their jobs and regatta sailing.

Peter Kohlhoff: Glamour and "Gloria"

According to the company itself, the approximately 12 metre long retro one-off from the equipment expert from Kiel. From its home port of Strande, the dinghy cruiser-like, but extremely stiff, single-deck boat serves as a family boat. Kohlhoff's daughters Emma and Ida were already on board as babies, while his sons Max, Paul and Johann grew up on the magnificent boat, which also serves as the company's floating test laboratory, and now sail it themselves, some of them with their own children. Kohlhoff is also the proud owner of the Swan 47CB "Matilda", which has found its home in the Mediterranean after being restored under its own management and transferred to its own keel. The managing director still enjoys working on both ships himself and has recently carried out various paint jobs.

Gesa Thönnessen: Frisian tart

The "Johanna von Oevelgönne" is already over a hundred years old.

Built as an open transport boat, the "Melkbootje" was once used to transport milk through the Dutch canals. In the 1960s, superstructures and extensions were added on board. Gesa Thönnessen, the boss of Toplicht, took over the "Johanna" in 2011 together with her cousin. Together they renovated the little gem and sailed it on the Elbe and Baltic Sea. Today, Thönnessen forms a family crew with her partner and their children. Oevelgönne museum harbour is their home port, but "Johanna" is moored in Flensburg.

Marcus Schlichting: Danish silver salmon

The scion of the former Schlichting shipyard has been sailing on the "Silberlachs", a Bianca 27, since he was five years old. His father bought the ship as a new boat in Rudkøbing in 1970 and from then on it went on family summer cruises in the Baltic Sea every year. From an early age, Marcus Schlichting stood alone at the tiller at night. Today, he usually sails the boat with his sister. The boat has now been moored in Travemünde's Passath harbour for 55 years. Now a GRP classic.

Martin Menzner: GRP instead of aluminium and wood

The discrepancy could hardly be greater. The designer stands for wonderful wooden boats (Woy 26, LA 28, BM 40) on the one hand and high-performance aluminium cruisers (Pure, BM) on the other, but privately sails a standard class boat of the J/80 type made of GRP. And very successfully at that; Menzner dominated the class in Germany for years. Eleven German championship titles and twelve Kieler Woche victories in a row can be attributed to the Schleswig-Holstein native, who also uses his J for daysailing.

Heiko Zimmermann: Regatta, recreation and relaxation

In his spare time, Heiko Zimmermann sails a Beneteau First 36.7, built in 2001. Previously, the organiser of two boat shows had a First 27.7 and a 20 dinghy cruiser. Both were moored on the Elbe, while his current "Yella3" is in Eckernförde. "The sailing club there has a buoy field with 33 buoys, one of which is mine. At the weekend, however, we often moor at the jetty and enjoy the company there," says Heiko Zimmermann. Whether Silverrudder, Brassfahrt or Kieler Woche - Zimmermann can also be found at various regattas on the Baltic Sea. Nevertheless, the First is primarily for recreation and relaxation. "As I'm self-employed and organise my own boat shows, it also often serves as a remote office for me, so I work from on board," he explains.

What else does he appreciate about his First? "I have three children, and when my two daughters sail with me, for example - they are now 32 and 21 - it's also really nice to have three cabins," says Zimmermann. In June, he was on board for three weeks at a time for the first time, something he had never done before, he says. "We actually wanted to go to Anholt and on to the archipelago, but the weather was so bad last summer," says Zimmermann, "but on a summer cruise like this, the main thing I want is no stress, so we just travelled along the coast." In the end, they ended up in Aarhus and travelled back across the Little Belt.

Click here for the first part of the overview >>