Anyone who, whilst strolling along the Kiel Fjord, catches sight of a sleek classic whose natural-finish hull gleams like mahogany and whose silhouette is dominated by a monstrous gaff sail, is almost certainly looking at the ‘Örn’. Following an extensive restoration, this historic First Rule six-sailer is once again sailing with the rig it carried when it was built in 1911. For the past three years, the First Rule six-oared boat has been sailed on this historic Olympic course by its owner, who had the gem restored to its original condition as it was when built. Since then, “Örn” has been the oldest surviving six-oared boat in its original condition. And Matthias Diemer is full of praise for his boat.
It’s the same this morning; it’s still March, but Diemer has already rigged the boat so as not to miss a single day of sailing. Now he is sitting on deck, his legs dangling in one of the two deep cockpits, which give anyone sitting there on a bench the feeling that they have slipped into the boat itself. The proximity to the water rushing past adds to the experience, especially when, as on this early spring day, regular gusts ripple the water in front of the bow and, moments later, surge into the mighty mainsail.
More classics:
- “Germania III”: How a 1936 Olympic yacht regained its speed
- ‘Scarabee’: The construction of a new yawl in the spirit of Herreshoff and S&S
- The “Königin” cruise ship: a 90-year-old classic stays on course
- The 1975 ‘Argo’ archipelago cruiser: a Lake Constance classic is back on the water for young people
Then ‘Örn’ glides very gently across the water right down to the stern, picking up speed with almost no audible sound until the wake building up astern has come so close to the helmsman that he could almost touch it. “We only need to reef when the wind is consistently blowing at more than 20 knots,” says Diemer, a beaming smile on his face.
Slowly, he eases off the mainsheet a little and points to the upper third of the leech. This opens up so much that the pressure is almost completely released from the sail without it flapping. His enthusiasm for the new-old rig is genuine. The Six sails with hardly any less headwind than a high-rigged Second Rule. It can keep up on all other courses, and when the wind is light, it even has advantages thanks to its larger sail area.
From the 7/8 rig back to the gaff rig
Diemer speaks from many years’ experience. When he acquired ‘Örn’ in the early 2000s, the boat had a 7/8 rig. However, this did not correspond to the original. The six-oared boat was designed by Henning Haglind in accordance with the first version of the metre rule from 1906, which specified a gaff rig.
The “Örn” was built in 1911 at the shipyard in Smedsudden, in the Kungsholmen district of Stockholm, for the wholesaler Otto Ameln, who intended to use it to compete in the Olympic sailing competitions held there the following year. ‘Örn’ was well sailed with Olof Mark at the helm, but not well enough for the Olympics. Nevertheless, the name – Swedish for ‘eagle’ – continued to feature on many start lists in the Stockholm regatta scene from then on. And in the early 1930s, it appeared in the newly established six-oared register. This register indicates that around this time, the gaff rig was replaced with a 7/8 rig, following which ‘Örn’ was assigned its current sail number.
However, this marked the end of the First Rule six-sailer’s regatta career. For ‘Örn’ no longer complied with the class rules. Converted into a cruising yacht with a cabin superstructure and tall rigging, this attractive metre-class yacht was nevertheless well looked after for many years, meaning she continued to sail in Sweden for a long time to come. Until, in the 1990s, ‘Örn’ came into the hands of Diemer’s previous owner, who set about restoring her to her original condition. Whilst the superstructure was modified to match the current deck layout, the rig remained unchanged.
A historic fuselage under close scrutiny
Diemer was first made aware of the historic boat by a friend; he was immediately taken with it and joined an owners’ association. The doctor, who was working in Berlin at the time, eventually became the sole owner and sailed ‘Örn’ from Lauterbach on Rügen, where a friend looked after the boat’s upkeep. Even back then, Diemer enjoyed the boat’s superb sailing qualities and grew very fond of the six-oared vessel. When he moved to Kiel, ‘Örn’ was moored within walking distance of his flat, ready for a day’s sailing at any time, and was used more and more frequently.
Happiness seems unclouded during these days. Until one day, damage to the wooden mast becomes apparent; it is beyond repair. It is the year 2020. And with the decision to fit a new rig, a whirlwind of thoughts begins to spin in the owner’s mind. Because, with the photos of ‘Örn’ from its early years fresh in his mind, the thought occurs to him to carry on the previous owner’s work and transform ‘Örn’ into the Olympic boat from that year.
Diemer seeks expert advice from Andreas Krause and has the hull structure assessed first. This is because, with a gaff rig, the hull would have to withstand the pressure from a considerably larger sail area. However, the owner’s ‘body search’ of his beloved vessel causes the relationship between owner and ship to enter a difficult phase. It quickly becomes apparent that substantial work is required. At the Dick shipyard, ‘Örn’ is taken apart under the watchful eye of Uwe Baykowski and put through a thorough inspection. It turns out that the wooden keel has rotted and several planks, along with numerous frames, need replacing. This is hardly surprising for a lady well over a hundred years old, and yet Diemer has to ask himself whether he wants to – and is able to – save ‘Örn’ professionally. “It became my own personal Elbphilharmonie,” he says, looking back, though today he can laugh heartily about it whilst “Örn” sails him across the fjord. At the time, his main priority was to ensure that the necessary restoration would not become a long-term DIY project for the owner, but rather a job for professionals – not least because Diemer wanted one thing above all else: to be back out sailing soon.
Historical materials and modern equipment
Whilst the shipyard sets about restoring the hull, the decision is made to use the original rig. Felix Diemer, the son, begins searching for documents relating to ‘Örn’ in Swedish archives, whilst designer Juliane Hempel, an expert in the rigging of classic metre yachts, sits down at her computer, and timber specialist John Lammerts van Bueren promises to supply the finest Sitka spruce from his stock; the mast on which “Örn” now spreads its wings was originally intended to be a piano keyboard.
The owner spends a great deal of time in the workshop of master boatbuilder Till Grabowski, who crafts the laminated spars according to Hempel’s plans and discusses the fittings at length with Matthias Diemer. “Stainless steel only became common in yacht building from around 1920 onwards,” says Diemer, who at the time made a conscious decision to use galvanised iron. Together with Grabowski, he tinkered away until all the fittings were secured to the gaff, mast and boom without screws, with the exception of the end fittings on the main boom. “I spent many hours poring over old books to find out how they used to do it,” he explains. “It was great fun.”
To ensure he can get the most out of the ‘sailing Steinway’ later on, Diemer turns to the sailmakers at North, where Bertil Balser uses a computer simulation to plan the gaff sail to be sewn. And to fit his six-oared boat with standing and running rigging, he consults experts at the Kiel-based supplier Kohlhoff. “I wanted to create a symbiosis between the boat’s original condition and state-of-the-art sailing equipment,” says Diemer, who opts for conventional materials for the standing rigging and high-tech materials for the running rigging. After all, he’s no traditionalist. Whilst he wanted to preserve a piece of cultural heritage with the ‘Örn’, his main aim was to sail it – and as fast as possible.
How the ‘Örn’ is sailed today
At the helm of the six-seater, it becomes clear just how successfully those involved have pulled off this project. The proverbial two fingers on the tiller are enough to stay on course; the boat glides as if on rails until the next gust approaches. And then it becomes apparent that the massive spreaders of the rig are much lighter than they look. “As light as balsa, as strong as carbon,” says Diemer with a smile, referring to the masterpiece created by boatbuilder Grabowski, timber expert van Bueren and rigging specialist Hempel.
The designer still remembers very well how difficult it was to draw up a sail plan for the “Örn”. “We only had two old black-and-white photographs,” Hempel recalls. Her experience with similar projects proved helpful, as did the fact that the mast position on ‘Örn’ had never been altered. However, during the eagerly awaited sea trials, the fantastic sailing characteristics of ‘Örn’ still took them completely by surprise, according to Hempel.
To trim the new-old rig, the owner has devised a number of ‘Mimiken’ – working halyards made of Dyneema – which he quickly attaches with clamping handles wherever they are needed. Diemer uses them whilst underway and trims the mainsail on every tack until it is perfectly set. He doesn’t need winches for this. In any case, none could have been fitted to the mast because of the rings on the mainsail. There are still three left on deck from the previous owner, but only two of these are used for the jib sheets. Diemer has even got rid of the genoa tracks. He prefers to work with barberhaulers, which he threads through simple eye bolts in the deck. This allows him to adjust the halyard points much more precisely.
Such thoughts are woven into every detail. And when the keen sailor talks about how he got his sea legs on his grandfather’s gaff-rigged Spitzgatter ‘Lotte’, and how he later learnt to sail fast with Berend Beilken on the ‘Champagne’ and ‘Diva’, it becomes clear that his life with ‘Örn’ brings together the two worlds in which he grew up as a sailor. Above all, he enjoyed working with the experts, because without exception they had all taken great pleasure in being part of the revival of this historic metre yacht.
A classic without an engine
There’s not much sign of spring on the Kiel Fjord yet. The sun is struggling to break through today; the clouds ahead are bringing rain, so after a trip into Möltenort Bay and another into the Hörn, we head back to the old Olympic Harbour, where ‘Örn’ is moored. Stowing the gaff sail takes little effort; in fact, not even a halyard is needed. And as its upper leech is secured to the gaff, the sail is also easy to handle. Riding the fading momentum, we head into the harbour entrance and paddle the final few boat lengths to the berth.
“I refuse to take a motor on board,” says Matthias Diemer, whose only regret is that this deprives him of the chance to sail single-handed, “unfortunately, I can’t manage that with this boat”. But an engine – even a small electric one – would destroy the magic that currently comes from sailing in the traditional way. “It’s incredibly fascinating,” says Diemer, “if only because of the silhouette of the gaff sail. You hardly ever see that sort of thing these days.”
And as he arrives at the berth and lifts the incredibly light main boom into its support on deck, the owner finds himself lost in thought: “Here on board, you get a glimpse through the crack in the door. A glimpse back to the time when ‘Örn’ was built. But the spirit in which she was sailed can now only be imagined. The sailors back then were already 40 years old, so they must have been born around 1870.” And whilst he lovingly places the wing of his little eagle, fold by fold, between the main boom and the gaff, and talks about the past, the observer sees above all the present – the joy that ‘Örn’ is able to bestow today, just as she did back then, and the appreciation this little metre-class yacht receives. And the fact that, even after more than a hundred years, it is still sailed with enthusiasm.
Technical specifications of the 6mR yacht S 40 “Örn”
- First Rule, built in 1911
- Designer: Henning Haglind
- Shipyard: Smedsuddens Boatyard
- Length / Beam / Draught: 10.40 m / 1.80 m / 1.25 m
- Displacement: 2.9 tonnes
- Mainsail: 41.59 m²
- Jib:12.57 m²
- Genoa: 20.58 m²
- Gennaker: 56.00 m²
Book recommendation
Maintenance and repair of classic yachts mediates in Step-by-step guides and illustrations providing practical knowledge for boat owners who wish to plan the maintenance of historic boats professionally or to better assess restoration work.
More classics in YACHT classic
Are you interested in the world of classic yachts, traditional boatbuilding and the history of sailing? Then read more about it in our special edition, YACHT classic.
How much modern technology can a historic boat accommodate without losing its original character? Join the discussion and share your views in the comments.
Lasse Johannsen
Deputy Editor in Chief YACHT