The “Nobile” racing cutter: Traditional sailing is really hard graft here
Karolina Meyer-Schilf
· 21.06.2026
On this ship, nobody wears sailing shoes. Instead: hiking boots. Trekking shoes. Work boots with steel toe caps. Nor is there any lazing about on this ship – it’s all about work, and that’s clear from the outset. This ship is the racing cutter ‘Nobile’. A gaff-rigged cutter with a steel hull and impressive dimensions: the mast soars 34 metres into the sky, the boom measures a whopping 22 metres, and the jib boom stands at an impressive eleven metres. Up to 510 square metres of sail area are set on the ‘Nobile’ – by hand. And when doing that, it’s definitely better to wear work boots.
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The “Nobile” has arrived in Rostock for the Hanse Sail. Alongside the 22-strong crew, 28 paying guests are gradually coming on board to spend a day on this traditional sailing ship. Torsten Riehmann is standing by the gangway, conscientiously ticking names off a list. He is a member of the ‘Friends of Traditional Sailing Ships’ association, which operates the ‘Nobile’. The ship is, however, owned by the town of Wolgast.
This project has its origins in a job-creation scheme. When, shortly after German reunification, the historic Wolgast Peene shipyard was wound up and its workforce reduced from over 4,000 to 800, the Jobcentre launched an unusual programme: Master shipbuilder and designer Detlev Löll drew up plans for three different large sailing vessels. The intention was not to build them from scratch, but rather to convert suitable decommissioned vessels. This led to the creation of the topsail schooner ‘Fridtjof Nansen’, the brig ‘Roald Amundsen’ and the ‘Nobile’. A total of 240 former shipyard workers were involved in the project.
From fishing trawler to traditional sailing ship
By this point, the “Nobile” already had an eventful history. In 1919, she was launched in England as the two-masted fishing lugger “Kathleen”. Several collisions and even bombardment by German aircraft during the Second World War did little to damage her steel hull. After the war, she was sold to Norway. Renamed the ‘Jødnafjell’, she was also used there for coastal fishing. In 1985, she changed hands once again. Her masts were removed, and from then on she served as a dynamite carrier.
Finally, in 1993, Detlev Löll came into the picture. “I sat down, drew up the design – and then set about finding the right hull.” Through a shipbroker, Löll found a total of 16 suitable vessels in Norway, which he went to inspect. In the end, the “Jødnafjell” was the one.
How a cargo ship became the Nobile
The key factors in his choice were, “firstly, of course, the price. And in terms of the hull, it had to be a sailing vessel, with a strongly cambered bilge, an overhanging stern and a straight stem.” He found all of this in the old dynamite freighter. It cost 60,000 Deutschmarks at the time, and Löll paid for it himself up front. What’s more, he also sailed the ‘Jødnafjell’ under its own steam from Norway to Wolgast.
The ‘Nobile’, as she was christened following her refit, was the final project of the job-creation scheme. The original plan, under which an association was to operate all three traditional ships, is reflected in their different designs: “The ‘Nobile’ was actually intended as a training and instruction vessel for the others,” says designer Löll. After all: “The ‘Fridtjof Nansen’ and the ‘Roald Amundsen’ have more complex rigging. Most people, after a week on board, know how to pull a line, but not why.”
It’s different on the ‘Nobile’ – here, you can learn to sail properly in no time. ‘That’s why the rigging is kept fairly simple, so that you can get the hang of it all in a day or two.’ At the same time, sailing on the ‘Nobile’ is intended to foster team spirit: “We want to make it clear to people that they can’t achieve anything on their own here, but that it takes eight to ten people pulling on the mainsheet to get the sail in,” explains Löll.
A big project, a major refurbishment
According to the club, the ‘Nobile’ carries the largest gaff sail in Europe. It takes 40 minutes just to set the topsail – though this includes fastening the safety strap and raising the staysail. Lowering the sail takes even longer. To ensure that the old ‘Jødnafjell’ could support the rigging at all, a number of modifications were necessary. “We reinforced the hull, fitted frame frames and welded in stringers,” says Löll. In addition, around 20 per cent of the outer plating had to be replaced and a centreboard case fitted.
With the centreboard fully lowered, the “Nobile” has a draught of 6.20 metres. “But we only do that when we’ve got particularly boisterous groups of young people on board,” says skipper Reimar Beckert. It takes 90 turns of the winch to raise the centreboard again. “It’s a great way to wear the kids out,” says Beckert with a laugh.
The 32-year-old is a helmsman on a merchant vessel; he regularly spends two months on board sailing between the Baltic Sea and the Bay of Biscay, followed by two months off. “That schedule is ideal for me because it means I can do a lot of sailing in between,” says Beckert.
What he enjoys most is manoeuvring in tricky situations – a passion he can indulge to the full on the ‘Nobile’. The 38-metre-long vessel, with a displacement of 100 tonnes, is a challenge for more than just its jib boom. Although it is powered by a 300 PS diesel engine, it has no bow thruster. And even without its 510 square metres of sail area, the racing cutter offers plenty of surface area for the wind to catch.
Docking with pinpoint accuracy
So even docking in Rostock is a precision job. The wind is blowing towards the quay, and the colossus moves at a snail’s pace. Everything is perfectly fendered; the angular outriggers are even secured with car tyres: “Our outriggers always cause a panic amongst small craft moored alongside,” says Beckert with a grin. He steers into the stern line; the gigantic spherical fender is flattened between the stern and the quay wall. Time and again he gives it a nudge, then it’s done: the “Nobile” turns round and sets course down the Warnow towards the Baltic Sea.
After the safety briefing, the day visitors spread out across the deck and marvel at the glittering river. During the Hanse Sail, things are in full swing; there’s sometimes barely two arm’s lengths’ space between the countless ships. Out on the Baltic Sea, the crew and guests finally get what they’ve been waiting for: sailing action.
Everyone has to lend a hand to hoist the enormous gaff-rigged mainsail. Over the past few days, however, there has been a strong wind, and the sea is still quite rough. It immediately becomes clear that the ‘Nobile’ is getting soaked. The freeboard is low, and the sea regularly floods the deck through the scuppers. The fresh wind requires one reef in the mainsail; apart from that, only the jib is hoisted, whilst the flying jib and topsail remain lashed down. Nevertheless, the cutter is making a good seven knots, and the first day-trippers are feeling seasick due to the choppy sea.
An abrupt end to the day’s sailing
Later, some of the guests are lying on deck under cosy woollen blankets, trying to shake off their seasickness. The others are enjoying the sun, the exhilarating sail – and the food that some of the crew have conjured up below deck in the cosy galley in the meantime. There’s spaghetti Bolognese and, later, coffee with homemade sheet cake.
Captain Beckert has handed the helm over to his helmsman and is also enjoying the day’s sailing – until he notices that something is wrong with the rigging. After a quick glance up the mast and along the backstays, he hurries to the bow. There he discovers the problem: the fitting for the waterstay at the end of the jib boom has broken.
In a calm voice, he gives the order: “Lower all sails!” Meanwhile, a team secures the loose stay with a chain hoist. It remains unclear for the time being how the massive fitting could have broken. It had only been specially remade at the shipyard last year and fitted by experts.
The charm of imperfection
The “Nobile” is heading back to Rostock. Once there, the crew will have to set about finding a new fitting. The next major voyage is due in a few days’ time, so a replacement is needed by then. It’s a difficult task: “The parts we need are hardly available off the shelf anywhere,” says Torsten Riehmann, explaining the problem faced by every traditional sailing vessel. “Most of it has to be made to order, so the search begins to find someone who can do it.” Sometimes other traditional sailing ships have a suitable block or fitting to spare, and they help each other out, says Riehmann.
Much of the work is also carried out by the crew themselves, particularly during the winter when the ‘Nobile’ is taken to the winter storage facility in Hamburg-Finkenwerder. Many club members spend time there regularly during the Christmas holidays to get the racing cutter back into shape. Every two years, the “Nobile” is taken out of the water. Not only does she receive new antifouling and a fresh coat of paint, but the thickness of the steel is also checked using ultrasound. During the last winter storage period, a new wooden deck was also fitted to the stern.
Of the club’s roughly 150 members, between 50 and 70 regularly sail on the ‘Nobile’. “Many come to the winter storage facility just to tinker,” says Torsten Riehmann, “that’s the best bit for them!” And there’s always something to tinker with on the ship. It’s just not exactly low-maintenance. But that’s precisely what gives it its charm.
Technical specifications of the “Nobile”
- Type of vessel: Gaff-rigged cutter
- Year and place of manufacture: 1919 in Lowestoft
- Year/place of conversion: 1994/95 in Wolgast
- Overall length: 38.50 m
- Width (including outriggers): 6.60 m
- Max. draught (centreboard): 6.20 m
- Wing area: 510 m²
- Weight: 100 t
- Machine: 6-cylinder Caterpillar, 300 PS
The article was first published in 2027 and has been revised for this online version.
