This year everything is different for the Whitsun trip, when they meet as usual on the Friday before the weekend in Heeg in the Ottenhome harbour. For 50 years, the owners have been gathering with their Fams, a backdecker with a centreboard and a small cabin, in the Netherlands, in Friesland to be precise. For 50 years, they have spent a weekend sailing together across canals and lakes, laughing and talking shop.
For almost as long, Karl-Heinz Rieck held his experienced and protective hand over his family's colourful group as the trip leader of the very active class. This spring, however, the head of the family, the godfather of the class, passed away unexpectedly. So now Whitsun trip number one without Karl-Heinz.
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The mood is subdued, lacking the light-heartedness of other years. The participants are routinely slipping in and rigging up. However, the participants refrain from the usual flippant remarks. "I was honestly worried about how it would feel, how the ride meeting would go on. But Sophie did a great job," says Andreas Delfosse. He sailed Fam for a long time, but has since switched to another small cruiser. But he is still attached to the class, and the Whitsun trip is a must, even without his own Fam.
Sophie-Charlott Ebert continues Rieck's work
The aforementioned Sophie-Charlott Ebert is in her mid-thirties and has taken on the role of the sailing fam community. As the new cruising warden, she gets stuck in, solves problems, manages everything from caravan parking spaces to missing shackles and also sets the pace on the long weekend. In real life, she is an equal opportunities and diversity officer at the University of Wuppertal. At the Fams, she sometimes jumps in at the deep end and fishes for the lost glasses of an older fellow sailor. For Sophie Ebert, this is an affair of the heart: "The enthusiasm with which Karl-Heinz introduced us to the topic of Fams, his commitment to the class, the Whitsun tour: all of this simply had to continue. There was no question about it for me."
Andreas Delfosse adds: "That's the way it is with us: one person helps the other, very down-to-earth. Without much talking. And while Karl-Heinz was always absolutely strict - the helmsman's meeting was at nine o'clock and we were on the water at half past nine - Sophie does things differently. The helmsmen's meeting became a helmsmen's meeting, and the departure time was sometimes postponed due to the weather. She set the tone straight away. That's a good thing!"
New owners are also integrated immediately, the Fam is a classic beginner's boat. In addition to the old hands who take part every year, there are always some sailors who are taking part for the first time. In this way, experience and a breath of fresh air complement each other and the class never becomes stuffy or too traditional.
The newcomers take advantage of the simplicity and protection offered by the class association and people like Ebert and Delfosse, who are happy to share their experience with the boat, to take their first steps on the water in this safe environment. It's easier to switch from your home lake to an area like Friesland, where there's a lot of traffic and where the lakes can be a bit bigger, when you have the combined experience to make sure everything runs smoothly.
Sailing fun starts at a few hundred euros
Some owners outgrow the class after a certain time, but many simply stick with the Fam, which is Germany's best-selling dinghy cruiser after all. "Because the people here are so normal. I think that's the reason. We have people with very little money and some with a lot. Sailors with a lot of experience and others with very little. But it simply doesn't matter."
Ebert, herself an experienced sailor, describes it like this: "Of course I want to really step on the gas when the wind is nice. But that's not the point of the Whitsun trip. Here we wait. Out together, home together!"
So the Whitsun trip will continue, the mood of the participants is becoming more relaxed. Karl-Heinz Rieck has managed to pass on the fire for the GFK-Jolli, his legacy has been passed on. He would like what he sees there. The little backdecker with centreboard is a leveller. You can't have less status on the water. The owners report in unison that they simply love their ugly duckling, calling it "courage to be ugly".
Sailing fun, including an active class association, starts at just a few hundred euros. Trailer, outboard motor, and the sailing holiday home is ready. A cake stand or a cockpit tent, square, not very aesthetic but practical, creates additional living space on board.
The wealth of ideas knows almost no bounds
Although there are class rules, each of the 2,000 or so Fams that have been built is a little different. Many owners have improved and tinkered themselves, often under the guidance and advice of Karl-Heinz Rieck.
A knowledge database with tips and tricks as well as drawings for all kinds of spare parts can also be found in the class repertoire. "I sewed a cake stand with blinds and holders for fairy lights. This has created a very cosy living space on board," reports the cruise attendant.
And so, on Saturday morning, a colourful fam armada sets off from Heeg to Workum. It is only a short sailing day. It's ideal for familiarising yourself with sailing, getting to know the group and the water. "It's not about ambitious sailing," says Andreas Delfosse. "We just want to be together with the boats. Cruising takes centre stage. And the people, the cosiness and the team spirit," says Delfosse.
This becomes apparent when the doors to the toilet building in Workum lock automatically at 9 pm on the dot. Inside, mobile phones are still charging, there are cool boxes connected to the power supply and other important items are still in the building. Access to the toilet is necessary. And this is how the class organises itself: "With combined forces, boat hooks and good ideas, we managed to get the doors open again without damaging anything," grins Delfosse. A fender in the door prevents further mischief.
Birth of the fam
The Fam saw the light of day in 1969. A back deck made of polyester with glass fibres, or GRP for short, which was still a new material at the time. The idea came from the regatta sailors Uwe Mares and Hubert Raudaschl. The boat is light - a Golf is sufficient as a towing vehicle -, foam-filled and therefore unsinkable, and it offers space for a family. Hence the name. It was initially built by the Klepper company. The boat was an immediate success.
At the boot in Düsseldorf, there was a queue to sign a purchase contract. A few small changes followed, a forecastle box and a rubbing strake were added, and at some point the centreboard mechanism was changed from wire rope to spindle. This required a centreboard crank and about 80 revolutions. This also became the name of the class association's magazine: "Centreboard crank".
The company Bootsbau Gruben on Lake Constance manufactured the Fam from 1980 until the shipyard gave up building a few years ago due to its age. Anyone wanting a new Fam today can order one from Hein in Elmshorn. The moulds now belong to the class. However, there are usually good used boats on offer, because as a typical entry-level boat, there are always owners who earn their first cruising merits on the Fam and then soon look for a larger boat. The whole thing can then be sold again to the next novice without financial loss. The sheer number of boats built also ensures a constant supply of used boats.
However, the Famas community, as the Fam sailors call themselves, ensures that people often just stick with it: "We are happy to welcome people, everyone can join in, no one is left alone. Newcomers are given a mentor on request. They then always stay close by on the water. That provides security," says Delfosse.
In Langweer, the bakers invade like cockchafers
The class is also always on hand to answer technical questions. Spare parts are manufactured and repair instructions are created. They help each other. When a rudder broke during a Whitsun trip a few years ago, a new one was quickly made using all available means. The trip was saved.
Everything goes smoothly this year. After a barbecue in Workum and, by all accounts, long technical discussions into the early hours of the morning over a glass or two of red wine, the journey continues the next day. The destination is Langweer. So out of the Workumer Trekvaart and back to the Heeger Meer via the Gaastmeer. There, the Famas sail a few extra laps for the fun of it, even though the wind remains quite light.
The route then continues through the Johan Friso Canal towards Langwerder Wielen. This involves crossing the busy Prinses-Margriet Canal. Here too, the Famas look out for each other. "Watch out there, the commercial vessels are fast and quiet," was the comment made by the sailing officer at the helmsmen's briefing. But everything goes well.
In the harbour of Langweer, the little back deckers drop in like cockchafers. "I had already driven up to organise everything with the harbour masters. Of course we were registered, but the harbour is usually designed for large steel motor yachts. But we managed it perfectly," reports Delfosse. Even when an accompanying boat had engine problems, the Famas were not thrown off course. They join forces to guide it into a box and finally repair it.
Active regatta scene too
Three to four fams fit on one berth, which is cosy. And the cockpit can accommodate up to ten people. "That's what I think is so great: you can have a great party in the huge cockpit. A glass of wine, good people. Those are great moments. However, you have to remember to close the self-draining hatches beforehand, otherwise everyone will get their feet wet," says Ebert.
Once again, the evening is long and the night is short. We chat, talk shop and enjoy the simple life on the Fam together. Of course, the Fam is not just a cruising boat. The class also has an active regatta scene and is a national class recognised by the DSV. Organising regattas is therefore a fixed task of the class association. Here too, the Fams meet at several races a year at various locations in the country and compete for the best.
The class remains true to itself, the equipment rules are simple: Dacron sails, a normal hull and no frills keep the costs in check and the races fair. Here too, the Fam offers a great opportunity to enter a class that offers good sport at an affordable level. And of course fun and cosiness after the races.
It all works because the Fam is so easy to trailer. Not even a crane is needed, a slip ramp is enough. The mast is then quickly set up and the boat is ready for the water. "We used to always take our Whitsun trip to Sloten. But the slip ramp there was removed. Since then, we've been at Ottenhome," says Delfosse.
Meeting at Whitsun since 1974
The class association was founded in 1970 and members have been meeting at Whitsun in Friesland since 1974. That alone is remarkable. Nevertheless, the design, which still inspires very loyal followers after five and a half decades, is the real star: "The Fam is underestimated. People have travelled with her on the Baltic Sea. I've heard that one of them has even been to the North Cape with it. That's extreme, of course, because she can capsize like any dinghy cruiser. And then it's not easy to right her again," says Ebert, adding: "Sailing the Fam is really great. The better you get, the more fun it is. You can really push her to the limit, she almost feels like a laser."
Everything goes well on the Whitsun trip 2024, nobody capsizes. We return to Heeg on Monday. Most of the participants leave. The others traditionally combine the meeting with their holiday. They simply stay in Friesland.
However, everyone is united by the realisation that the fortunes of the Whitsun trip have been successfully handed over to the next generation. Next year we will continue, again from Heeg, again through Friesland, again with a lot of love for the somewhat ugly Backdecker.
