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Can you design, build and sail a 49-foot boat offering just stoop height below deck? Yes you can, if you are a Swede and more focused on sailing than amenities below deck. And what a pleasure it is edging this 55 m² Skerry cruiser windward, sitting on the ergonomically shaped coaming with small deflections on the tiller. The sensation of dinghy feeling aboard a 15 m racer. This is the nearly forgotten essence of sailing.

Håkan Södergrens 55 m² Skärgårdskryssare

And what a feast to watch this sled in ideal conditions in smooth water. The wedge-shaped cabin with the sleek windows is familiar from modern boats. And who else sloped the transom from the aft deck to the breakaway edge like Håkan Södergren? At the beginning of the 1980s, this 55 was built as en riktig femtifemman, a real 55 square metre boat.

Håkan Södergrens modern 55 square metre boat design. Drawing with principal dimensions, sail plan and rudder attached to the keel — Rudder blade attached to the keel according to the sqm boat rule

Upwind fun machine

A few years earlier, Fisksätra Varv had stopped building the S30 and Swede 55 cruising version derived from the classy square metre boat. These were family-friendly cruising boats with concessions to on-board life, thus no true sqm boats. However, 304 S30s and 27 Swede 55s were quite a success. Södergren’s 55 according to the 1925 sqm boat rule was an attempt to extend this. This article describes the early development of the class since 1908 and the finally revised Skerry Cruiser Rule of 1925.

Full headroom in open hatch

To answer the commonly asked comfort question straight away: There is full standing height in the open sliding hatch, otherwise stoop height below the cabin roof. Onboard toilet and galley yes, four berths plus two in the saloon, plus an inboard engine. Whatever is possible on a 15 m file with a width of 2 ½ m and is really needed on board. You push the 5 tons from the berth, turn her into the wind and start heading towards your sailing nirvana. There is room for wine or a beer in the bilge, a comfortable double bed under the skylight in the front and, of course, a cooker for the morning coffee. Sanitary needs are taken care of in the clubhouse or in the water around the berth, somewhere in the beautiful Swedish skerries.

Cabin layout and deck plan of Håkan Södergrens modern 55 square metre boat/Skärgårdskryssare design. — Four bunks plus main cabin: Basic amenities for a couple or a family

First new 55 sqm boat since 1934

The 55 sqm class is not well known in German-speaking countries and also internationally. The smaller examples, the 15s, 22s, 30s and 40s classes became a lot more successful. One exception is the 55 sqm Sonja from 1920, which is a full two metres wide at 15 metres length and is eagerly sailed in classic regattas on the German Baltic coast.

Per Thelander’s valuable source, the book Alla våra Skärgårdskryssare (All Our Square Metre boats) from 1991 documents around 50 boats of the 55 class in Sweden and Finland, most of which were built in the 1910s and 1920s. The last classic 55-sqm type was built in 1934 as La Liberté according to plans by Erik Salander. With a length of 16.30 m and a beam of 2.53 m according to the sqm rule of 1925, it is an exceptionally beautiful example.

GRP sandwich with Divinycell foam

Södergren’s 55 was built as a small-series manufactire in Åkersberga, northeast of Stockholm, from GRP in sandwich construction with a core of Divinycell. Jan-Erik Nystedt was responsible for the interior fittings. A contemporary, low-maintenance plastic boat with a well-insulated hull, deck, and cockpit.

Håkan Södergrens modern Skerrycruiser downwind with two spreader rigg and modern sloped transom — In the eyes of many sailors Södergren’s most beautiful boat – Foto Håkan Södergren

Principal rigging data

Mainsail luff, P measurement	15.30 m
Mainsail foot, E measurement	5 m
Headsail luff, I measurement	11.40 m
Headsail base & spinnaker pole length, J measurement	3.45 m

Data Södergrens 55 m² boat

Length over all	14.95 m
Length waterline	10.65 m
Beam	2.54 m
Draft	1.75 m
Displacement planned/actually today	5.3/≈ 6 t
Ballast	2.8 t
Mainsail	43 m²
Genoa 165%	33 m²
Genoa 150%	30 m²
Genoa 130%	26 m²
Jib	21 m²
Spinnaker	92 m²
Håkan Södergren Design No 32 of 1982

As far as known, four or five boats were built, among them Carina with sail number S 47, launched in 1984 for Kjell Wallin in Lidingö near Stockholm. Another one known so far is sail number S 49, rigged by Göran Eldholt as Cheeta and called Gäddskräcken II in the hands of the second, now Danish owner.

The fleet

Launched Sail number	hull colour	Name	Located	Remarks
1984 S 47	white	Carina	Stockholm Archipelago	separate spade rudder
1984 S 49	white	Cheeta, Gäddskräcken II	Stockholm Archipelago, now Öresund/Denmark	separate spade rudder
unknown	white	Siesta	Nivå/Öresund, Denmark	separate spade rudder

For the sake of boat handling in narrow ports, a separate freestanding rudder was added. This modern 55 m² boat is an example of what can be done with modern and easy-care materials within the well-thought-out rule of 1925. You simply sail it, without the burden of sanding and painting intervals.

Do you know more?

Your remarks regarding the whereabouts of these rare boats, experience under sail, cruising, living aboard, race results and photos are welcome. Kindly help to improve or update his article with your remarks sending an E-Mail.