Swede 55 can be enjoyed as it was built in the 1970s. Believe it or not and even if some do-it-yourselfers may find it difficult: you can simply sail this boat as it is – with one exception: Unfortunately, the yard did not consider an important issue at the time, anchoring. A secure anchor that you can easily deploy and …
Anything flat-hulled with long overhangs, made of wood, ideally with a glossy finish? This is how a sailor usually answers this question. In principle, that’s true, since the open design class launched in 1908 for racing in the Stockholm archipelago initially left a lot of freedom. Only the sail area was limited. If you wanted to win with a Squaremetre …
Not long ago, an American contacted me regarding the purchase of a secondhand Swede 55. As a former 55 owner he was familiar with the boat. Enthralled by the 55, he found a particular boat on the eastern seaboard of the US and sought advice whether to inspect it at all or not. He booked advice to find an answer …
September 21 Richard invites me for an afternoon aboard his Swede 41 Sleipnir. After he left me the tiller for three unforgettable hours on Fehmarnsund, I must warn you straight away: Never sail this one, as this sailing Elysium is a dangerous, momentous experience. Not so much due the heel or for being so close to the sea. The problem …
A customer wants a jockey pole for his S 30 cruising square metre boat for spinnaker sailing at closer angles. Together with matching eye plates to hang on the side of the mast this is no big deal. The boom and fittings are requested from the leading mast builder Seldén via the Hamburg agent Herman Gotthardt. Seldén probably supplied the …
In the spring of 1930, the 22-square-metre skerrycruiser Vigilant stands on a ramp on the Medina River of the Isle Of Wight in the south of England. Apart from the lead keel, the rudder and the rigging, the boat is finished. It was designed by the famous regatta sailor and shipyard owner Uffa Fox (pictured right). It was built aboard …
Swede 55 has two smaller sisters, the S40 and S30 cruising variants of the classy square metre boat. Here is an opportunity to buy a well-kept and well-equipped S30. Comprehensive sailing wardrobe with several light wind sails for Lake Constance. Dark blue hull with teak deck. Extensive refit by reputable Lake Constance yard in 2003: superstructure painted white, teak deck. …
It towers 18 metres into the blue and is ten percent larger than the previous mainsail from the Swiss sailmaker VM Sails, which was unfortunately delivered with too short a foot luff in the nineties. Five battens, two of them continuous at the very top, stabilise the new mainsail. The autumn before, sailmaker Arnd Deutsch and I had discussed a …
Is it sensible to race with a Twelve? This 22 m metre long upwind powerhouse with tremendous ballast ratio, driven by 240 Square metres? If you are sailing another Twelve – shure. With Swede 55 it seems pretentious. We will see the recently restored vintage 12 metre yacht Anita only briefly as her sails are sheeted in. Hence we enter …
Does a blog post covering a single sail make sense? I think so, as sailing Swede 55 is mostly about upwind pleasure. For a long time I sailed Gamle Swede with an old jib. It was too small and really out of shape. Believe it or not: It was made by Canon in 1979. For that long you can use …
