Since 1908 the Skerry Cruiser has been launched in various classes from 15 to 150 m2 of measured sail area. Soon he was appreciated for the sailing fun and his elegance beyond Sweden. The 40 sqm class in particular was eagerly sailed in Germany in the 1920s, the 30 sqm class in England and on the East Coast of America in the 1930s. Due to his international contacts, Knud Reimers developed a 22 sqm class boat for Chicago in 1953. Soon, a fleet followed.
Udell 22, a short example of the 22 sqm class
The Skerrycruiser maximizes speed by maximizing length, and the sailors from Chicago Yacht Club were eager racers. They wanted a winning design, a long boat. To the surprise of the local sailors, Reimers designed a fairly short one, tailored to the choppy water and wave pattern on the shallow Lake Michigan. First it was complained that “Reimers would not listen”. Soon it was understood. Note the fairly modern and long superstructure and the spay caps resembling a kind of windscreen. The Udell 22 was soon favoured by local architects, perhaps this is what they wanted.
Principal data of the Udell 22
Length overall
26.25 ft / 11.05 m
Length waterline
27.25 ft / 8.31 m
Hull speed
7 kn
Beam
6.42 ft / 1.96 m
Displacement
4,600 lb / 2,087 kg
Ballast
2,400 lb / 1,089 kg
Draft
4.50 ft / 1.37 m
nominal sail area
235 ft2 / 21.83 m2
S.A. / Displ. Ratio
13.63
Seven boats were built of mahogany planks on oak frames by Kungsörs Båtvarv in Sweden, and shipped to the US. Due to the appreciation and constant racing on the Class off Belmont Harbour, Reimers was asked to develop drawing for series manufacturing in glass fibre, the then new boat building material, in 1976. Apparently, four boats were built in Florida by Creekmore Boats. This became the 22 m2 One Design class named Udell.
Udell 22 Windjack on cover of Chicago Yacht Club Magazine November, 1959 – Source Chicago Yacht Club Archive
The Chicago Yacht Club documents 15 Udell 22 championships from 1962 to 1976 with boats named Auf Wiedersehen, Eclipse, Focus, Grail, Kona, Krista, Ondine, Skipjack, Valkyrie, Vinst, and Windjack. Some boat names remind on the strong bonds to Germany and Europe. Below is an attempt to document the fleet, with identified sail numbers marked bold. As you can see, there are still some gaps that I hope to fill with the help of sailors with more knowledge. Kindly send an E-Mail with your remarks.
Belmont Harbor at the Chicago Yacht Club, now Pewaukee near Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Fibreglass boat by Creekmore Boats. White superstructure
Udell 22 National Championship 1991
In 1991, the Chicago Yacht Club hosted a national championship for the class which existed at Belmont Harbor. The Udell class consisted of ten beautiful 22 square metre one designs. The class was an official U.S.Y.R.U. National Class but had never before held a national championship regatta. “The championship was decided in a blustery, wet race on Saturday and a race under ideal conditions on Sunday.”
It is remarkable that there was a small fleet regularly racing on Lake Michigan, which became the template for the modern Cruising Square Metre Boat variants with slightly risen freeboard and a little more comfort below deck: in particular, the S30, followed by the Swede 55 in 1975 and Jubilee S40 in the early eighties, and cruising versions by other designers.
For the windy waters of shallow Lake Michigan with short and steep waves, Reimers designed a rather short 22 sqm boat measuring 36 × 6.56 ft (11 × 2 m) with a raised freeboard and a stretched cabin. In 1963, this became the American Udell 22 One Design. A little later, in 1967, Reimers revised his plans for GRP series production with a slightly raised cabin. It is obvious that Reimers used this concept to develop the S30 with a higher cabin superstructure. Even the windshield-like spray cap at the end of the cabin appears in his S30 design a few years later.
The Udell 22 is one of several attempts to create a one design class, manufactured at favourable costs, largely compliant to the Swedish Rule, further as cruising offsprings.
the Nordic 22 m2 Class since 1922
various Mälarboats of 15, 22, 25, and 30 m2 since 1930
the 15 m2 Neptun Cruiser since 1938
the 30 m2 Bijou-Type for Lake Constance since 1967
various Crusing Variants since the Seventies.
Udell 22 Sources
This article is largely based on The World of Square Metres. The Square Metre Rule – 100 years. Facts, History, and Reports from all over the Globe. Svenska Skärgårdskryssareförbundet (SSKF), Stockholm 2008, ISBN 978-91-633-3069-8 (English): ↑ pages 272
Photo on top by Robert Christie: Udell 22 with sail number 10, built in fibreglass in 1967. Published March 1, 2026, updated March 15, 2026.→ Subscribe to the newsletter, and you won’t miss future articles.
