Here we present a selection of articles from 100-year-old issues of *YACHT*. Issue 7/1926 featured a report on the anniversary of the Akademischer Segler-Verein Berlin. Founded as a student fraternity, the ASV was the first sailing club of its kind and is now one of Germany’s oldest sailing clubs.
Even if, in everyday life, the 40th anniversary, is overshadowed by the approaching half-century and receives little attention, the Academic Sailing Club has every reason, at this turning point in its history, to take out the logbook of the last 15 years and leaf through it thoughtfully. For this journey has been no mean feat, and the storms that have raged across our homeland have battered the Academics’ little ship far more fiercely than that of any other sailing club.
Right up until the outbreak of the World War, the Academic Sailing Club’s fortunes had been on a steady upward trajectory, culminating in the spring of 1914 with the commissioning of a new, large and seaworthy student cutter from the Neptun shipyard in Rostock. Indeed, what is even more significant is that the construction costs for the cruiser had been almost entirely raised, so that the students could look forward with confidence and hope to the sporting delights that the new sea cruiser would bring them.
Then the World War broke out, and thoughts other than sport and games filled the young men’s minds. Those who were not conscripted into the army signed up as volunteers, and so it came to pass that, after just a few weeks, the whole merry band had scattered to the four winds – not a single one remained behind. Even the few older members, whose technical professions still kept them in the Reich capital, had little time to attend to the club’s affairs, and so the A.S.V. would probably have faced a very bleak future had it not been for an extraordinary member, Mr Wichards, the Government Architect, had stepped in decisively. Not only did he manage the club’s financial affairs in an exemplary manner, but he also maintained personal ties between the members through an extensive exchange of letters and parcels.
We know from the letters sent from the front that, despite all the hardships of war, our young sailors held out the hope that, once peace had been declared – as they used to say at the time – they would be able to resume their studies and take up the joy of sailing once more. But the struggle lasted too long, and only five members of the old active membership gathered once more at the clubhouse near the university in the winter of 1918. Fate had claimed the lives of eighteen hopeful young people, and of the survivors, many had lost their courage or no longer had the means to resume their studies.
The five steadfast members, however, were not discouraged by their small numbers, nor by the empty coffers, nor by the onset of inflation, and indeed they succeeded in restoring the society’s activities to their former level in less than two years. Their success was due in no small part to an attractive promotional tool that, fortunately, was at their disposal: the new club yacht had, despite all concerns, been slowly fitted out during the war and was completed in the summer of 1919. All the wishes and lessons learnt during the numerous voyages of the second student cutter, the ‘Prosit II’, had been realised by Director Barg in the elegant form of this 18-metre-long steel yacht. It was the indispensable elixir that the A.S.V. needed for its revival, for the Academy’s members had always regarded sea sailing as the very heart and touchstone of their entire sporting educational programme.
The fact that the surviving fraternity had succeeded in carrying the old sporting spirit over to the new student body became immediately apparent during the transfer of the ‘Prosit III’ from Rostock to Berlin, which – due to various obstacles, including a blockade of the Baltic Sea – could not take place until mid-December. Battling a stormy easterly wind, the crew navigated the completely ice-encased ship to Swinemünde and, in a blizzard, across the lagoon to Szczecin.
With true zeal, the Prosit was put to use in sailing instruction in 1920. Even the Sunday guest cruises on the Havel, which had previously been so popular, were discontinued; instead, the novices were put to work trimming the sails, whilst the more experienced members tried their hand at the tiller and expanded their knowledge of the waterways by diligently sounding the depth with the lead keel. This success was reflected in a vigorous resurgence of offshore sailing: over six years, 14 offshore voyages were undertaken, some of which were day and night trips during which a great many nautical miles were covered, resulting in a total of around 12,800 nautical miles being sailed. Stockholm was visited on several occasions; one voyage went to Finland and another to the Norwegian fjords. On these voyages, the financial difficulties were often even greater than the navigational ones, as inflation usually made it impossible to replenish provisions abroad. As much bread as possible was taken on board and carefully preserved en route by exposure to the sun and airing. On several occasions, the crew only managed to reach a safe German port at the very last moment before famine broke out.
On these voyages, the command and operation of the Prosit were entirely in the hands of the active members, and it is certainly a testament to the high standard of sailing training that has once again been achieved when non-sailors, after three years’ training, are able to sail a yacht flawlessly to the Norwegian archipelago with a crew comprising, in some cases, inexperienced sailors. Admittedly, the results of the training are not entirely consistent – some people never quite get the hang of it.
Despite the sea voyages, however, competitive sailing was not neglected. The A.S.V.’s four nimble one-design dinghies provided the opportunity for countless internal regattas and small one-on-one contests, and the educational benefits became clearly apparent both through the participation of the old special-class yacht ‘Gaudeamus III’ in open regattas and through the involvement of numerous individual club members as crew members on class yachts. Above all, however, the ‘Prosit III’ achieved fine successes in the Pommernwoche in 1922 and the Ostdeutsche Woche in 1924. Although her shallow draught actually put her at a disadvantage compared with her competitors, she brought home six first prizes, plus a starting prize, and, sailed with panache, was usually the absolute fastest boat in the regatta.
One new initiative that proved very popular was the Old Boys’ cruises, which were designed to allow them to relive their fondest memories of their youth without hindering the younger members’ independence on their own trips.
Owing to its unique composition – consisting solely of young members who changed every four to five years – the Academic Sailing Club was exposed to particular dangers during the World War and in the dire straits of inflation. Yet, thanks to its seemingly eternal, annually renewed youth and the high sporting spirit that animates them, it was carried safely through all these dangers. For us older members, too, the undaunted cheerfulness of the young was a real source of comfort during all those difficult times, and we are now happy to grant them the pleasure of occasionally knocking back a hearty glass, in the good old student tradition, on the basis of the stable mark: Here’s to the A.S.V. – may it continue to ‘Vivat, Crescat, Floreat’ for the next ten years!
Meisner
Would you like to have a browse through old issues of YACHT? You can find all issues from 1904 to 1981 in the digital yachting archive.