The design of the yacht, which will be unveiled in a fortnight at the Twelve-man European Championship to be christened in Flensburg, was designed by Johan Anker ( see YACHT classic 1/2015 ), but was never built. The team led by shipyard boss Oliver Berking has made up for this over the past four years. At Robbe & Berking Classics the imposing new building has now been launched.
In his speech, Berking gave an insight into the genesis of this special design and thanked the client on behalf of the fan community of all metre yachts:
"Johan Anker, the great Norwegian master of lines, drew your boat in 1939. It was never built due to the outbreak of war and Anker's death in the spring of 1940. Now you have made it possible for this great design to be launched exactly 75 years after the originally planned date.
All of Anker's experience and knowledge went into this boat. And he had a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge. He was 68 years old, and it was his last twelve of no less than 20 that he drew and the penultimate boat of his life. Drawn according to a formula, the International Rule, which produced such elegant, wonderful and fast yachts and which he had played a major role in creating as a young man 33 years earlier, in 1906 in London, and which he had shaped significantly throughout his life. He was a shipyard owner, he was a brilliant designer and he was an equally brilliant sailor.
Congratulations and thank you very much. The sailing world must thank you for your decision to have this yacht built, for your courage and the heart and soul you have put into it."
Berking had previously, as he told NDR television himself tracked down the plans and looked for a client so that this anchor design no. 434 could be built at his shipyard as the first new wooden twelve-oared boat in 50 years. Originality was the top priority, even though stainless steel frames and modern adhesives and paints were used. However, the visual impression is probably the same as what Johan Anker's shipyard would have delivered during his lifetime.
Specification "Johan Anker 434":
Length overall 21.65 m
Width 3.60 m
Draught 2.64 m
Sail area as measured 174 square metres
