"Timpe Te": Comeback of the leading actress from "The Riddle of the Sandbank"
Lasse Johannsen
· 14.09.2025
"If another seagull shits in the boat, we'll sink!" When Arthur Davies and his co-sailor Carruthers pushed off from the jetty in the dinghy of the "Dulcibella" in the late summer of 1904 to row the luggage of Carruthers, who had just arrived - consisting of a complete diplomatic wardrobe in wardrobe trunks - on board, his crude comment was as apt as it was astonishing coming from a noble Foreign Office employee from London. But it is true. The "Dulcibella" is so small that the suitcases only fit inside when dismantled into their half-shells. And yet the clinker-built gaff cutter conveys strength and solidity. The Red Ensign at the stern looks authentic against the backdrop of Flensburg's city centre; a trip across the North Sea is conceivable with this boat.
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The scene marks the beginning of the film adaptation of Erskine Childers' crime novel "The Mystery of the Sandbank". The TV production, which is unusually close to the setting, comprises ten 50-minute episodes and caused quite a stir in the mid-1980s, not only among sailors and coastal residents, and is still remembered as extremely gruelling by those involved today.
Filming lasted seven months at the time, beginning in the summer, extending through the autumn and only ending when the North German winter had transformed the Wadden Sea coast into a truly inhospitable place. Much of the filming is done on the water. They show Davies - alias Burghart Klaußner - and his companion Carruthers - alias Peter Sattmann - sailing through tideways and prickly channels, dropping anchor in the various island harbours or falling dry on sandbanks.
The work, which authentically reflects the period of the original novel, still enjoys cult status among sailors today; many fans have fallen in love with the secret protagonist "Dulcibella".
Rebirth of the "Timpe Te"
This is what happened to twelve-year-old David Friedrich when he saw the "Riddle of the Sandbank". Born in East Frisia, he was living with his family in South Tyrol at the time. To alleviate his longing for North Sea waves, he watched the series, and from then on the "Dulcibella" sailed in front of his inner eye, so to speak; he couldn't get rid of her. Today, an adventurous restoration story later, he is sitting at the tiller himself. And sails - across the Flensburg Fjord, just like the two Englishmen.
As in the film, this story begins on a late summer's day on the Flensburg Fjord. David Friedrich is now 19 years old, has not only restored the boat, but has also finished school and started university. He wears a lifejacket and beret, looks up at the sky where the stiff north-westerly wind is pulling the clouds to shreds and sets about hoisting the sails. The "Timpe Te", the real name of his little diva, is moored at the jetty of the Flensburg Classic Yachts Club.
"You have everything here that you have on large workboats," says Friedrich, and his eyes light up. "Gaff sails, staysails, flyers, topsails, backstays," he lists, adding with a mischievous expression: "I'm passionate about it, but you also have to master it."
Handling the monstrous gaff rig is indeed a task for advanced sailors. Piek- and Klaufall want to be operated at the same time, the main boom projecting over the stern dances under the killing sail, the air space below - actually the traditional place for the helmsman's head - meanwhile belongs to the solid wooden double disc block for the mainsheet. Then the jib and jib go up and kill. But once the motorless "Timpe Te" is on course, the restlessness gives way to a well-balanced dynamic, which results from the interplay of the wind and the waves that play with the spiritedly parrying boat.
Many owners, many tasks
Anyone who has seen "The Riddle of the Sandbank" will remember: minutes of sailing scenes in this suspenseful espionage thriller seem like a quiet open fire for long stretches. The camera plays with the perspectives created by the enormous rigging, the sail surfaces and the shimmering wood, which always gives off a different image depending on the wetness and incidence of light.
David Friedrich is also immediately captivated by the scenes. As a twelve-year-old, he sits at his desk in the mountains, sketches the boat of his dreams and browses the internet, where he comes across the article "Des Rätsels Lösung" (The Riddle's Solution). It appeared in the "The special boat" section of YACHT 17/2010. The boy learns who owns the film boat and makes contact. His wish came true in 2015. Restorer Reiner Boje, who has been looking after the "Timpe Te" since 1991, shows the boy his boat.
It was already 70 years old at the time. As a wedding present for his daughter, the owner of the Husum shipyard had once laid the keel of the seven-metre-long hull in the post-war year of 1946. Two years later, the "Timpe Te", modelled on the fishing vessels of his Mecklenburg homeland, was launched there, still with a simple high rig and without an engine at the time. The hull consists of oak planks on oak frames. Internal ballast and an iron keel bolted underneath ensure weight stability.
The "Timpe Te" served as a second owner for the Hallig teacher from Oland, then for many years she was at home in Borsfleth at the mouth of the Störmündung, where she was given the monstrous gaff rig with the Borsfleth heraldic animal in the sail and once even sailed to England. The later production manager of the film version of the novel is the fourth owner, and after further changes, Reiner Boje.
More far-reaching need for action
"At our first meeting, I asked Reiner Boje if there were any plans of the ship, I would like to build it later," recalls David Friedrich, who was planning to do an apprenticeship as a boat builder at the time. He was completely taken aback by Boje's spontaneous reply. "He told me: 'You can have it if you really want it'."
Boje, who has been running the ship for seven years, likes the idea. A young idealist would take care of his ship in future. Another two years passed, during which David Friedrich developed a concept for how he could save the boat. In the meantime, Boje and his boat builder had carried out a comprehensive survey on site and identified a profound need for action. "Reiner was worried," says Friedrich. "He didn't want me to overreach myself, but he also didn't want the 'Timpe Te' to miss an opportunity."
"It was clear that my family would move to Flensburg in 2017," says David Friedrich looking back - the ideal location for the project. "Everything I could prepare from my desk before the move, I did." Friedrich contacted shipyards and the Flensburg classic boat scene, organised a berth and workshop and investigated transport options. He sets up a website where he reports on the boat and the plans, and presents the project on a crowdfunding platform. He then travelled to Neuendeich for a second time. This time the purchase is finalised. The Kielschwerter rolls overland to its new home port, where it is unloaded at the Südermarkt and pushed the last few metres on the harbour trailer into the backyard of the current family home.
Enthusiastic community action
Someone who has been in the boat since then is also on board today. Olde Sprekkelsen sits upwind on the dyke, supports himself with wide legs on the lee side of the washboard and skilfully operates the jib and jib sheet. The North German stoically ignores the incoming water like an old salt hump. This summer of sailing on board the "Timpe Te" is his first ever.
"I met David when he moved to Flensburg," says Olde Sprekkelsen, who was immediately interested in the project at the time. "I then advertised it among the students." It was the start of an enthusiastic joint endeavour. The pictures taken during this time show smiling faces. But the beginning was not so funny. "At the beginning, we had a lot of boat builders who turned us down," says Friedrich, who is not prepared to dismantle the hull into its individual parts. "It wasn't financially feasible and it wasn't what we wanted to do," he says.
After a long search, he finally found a boat builder who understood what the young owner wanted, that the boat should be maintained and repaired and, above all, sailed again as soon as possible. "He accepted compromises and showed us how to do it."
Longer work than expected
The beginnings are tough. The "Timpe Te" has to be gutted and a centimetre-thick layer of tar has to be removed from the underwater hull. All the superstructures and large parts of the outer skin are removed. It looks less and less like a sailing boat, standing there in the backyard of the Südermarkt. But the young crew continues to work under the guidance of the owner, who has just come of age.
The list of tasks is long and colourful. The engine, a 14 hp built-in diesel, flies off the boat, never to be seen again. The entire bar deck is regrouted. A new lower end is attached to the mast. Frames are glued, planks replaced, the stern bows repaired. The vibrations under the engine have done a great job, three floor cradles have to be replaced. It soon becomes clear that the self-imposed goal of sailing in summer 2018 cannot be realised.
However, this realisation does not dampen the commitment of the tireless helpers. Full of vigour, a new rudder head is built, the tiller is scarfed, the rig is stripped, blocks are oiled and spars are painted. The underwater hull is painted with yacht primer and antifouling, the outer skin is given a new shine with long oil boat paint. Finally, the fixtures are put back in place, and in autumn 2018 the time has finally come: the "Timpe Te" hangs in the crane at Flensburg Harniskai. It goes into the water.
Fun dominates on the "Timpe Te"
Eight years after her last season, the former leading lady first has to soak herself for two days before she can go to the berth, where she is finally rigged up again. "Sailing with her for the first time was exciting," recalls Olde Sprekelsen, whose initial enthusiasm is still evident a year later. "I had a lot of respect," he says, who is only at the beginning of his sailing career. "But since I realised that nothing explodes straight away if you get it wrong, it's really fun!"
This obviously dominates on the "Timpe Te" anyway. Because even when a mighty downpour pours down over Flensburg and the boat lays heavily on its side in the gust belonging to the front, the young men keep calm and sail unperturbed back to the tip of the harbour, where the extensive sailing wardrobe is confidently tamed and the small centreboard is skilfully brought to the jetty.
It's not just the "Timpe Te" that has found a new home here, at the Flensburg Classic Yachts Association. "The boat was a meeting place for the entire circle of friends throughout the summer," says David Friedrich, who clearly enjoys it. And so the previous owner's wish to get young people interested in sailing and working on a traditional wooden boat through his "Timpe Te" has actually come true.
Technical data of the "Timpe Te"
- Shipyard: Husum shipyard
- Year of construction: 1946-1948
- Length hull/total: 7,50/9,50 m
- Width: 2,30 m
- Depth: 1,20-0,60 m
- Weight: 2,5 t
- sail area: 45 m²
The riddle of the sandbank
Erskine Childers and his 1903 spy novel
Childers was born in London in 1870 to a British-Irish family, grew up in an educated middle-class family, studied law and became a clerk in the British House of Commons in 1895. Four years later, he fought for the Empire in the Boer War. After returning home as an invalid, he wrote the spy novel "The Riddle of the Sands", in which he predicted an imminent invasion of German troops on the coast of Great Britain. In the novel, Childers, a keen sailor, has his hero Arthur Davies explore the German Wadden Sea in his small sloop "Dulcibella". It is modelled on Childers' yacht "Vixen", with which he had travelled the North and Baltic Seas. Inspired by the success of the book, he wrote military works, became an ardent supporter of the Irish independence movement through this work, became an activist himself and was finally executed in 1922.
The German film version from 1984
The recordings for the later TV series "Das Rätsel der Sandbank" were made in 1984 as a joint production by Radio Bremen and Multimedia Berlin based on a script by Rainer Boldt. The main roles are played by Burghart Klaußner as the British single-handed sailor Arthur Davies, Peter Sattmann as his companion Carruthers and Dietmar Muehs as the German naval officer von Brüning. For the sailing audience, however, "Timpe Te" plays the main role, as the small pointed gunboat represents the "Dulcibella" described in the novel, with which the two Englishmen explore the Wadden Sea to the displeasure of the German military - at a time when the alleged duck hunt has long been out of season. The film crew spent months working hard to film the script, with the sailing scenes on "Timpe Te" taking up a lot of space. It helped that actor Burghart Klaußner has been sailing himself since childhood.
The boat portrait was first published in 2020 and has been updated for this online version.
