Reading Time: 5 minutesAdvantages and disadvantages of the slender and long Square Metre Boat, the development of the so-called Skerry Cruiser, and how beam is measured since 1925. A brief look at the compromise between minimal water resistance in light wind and the ability to carry sail in a fresh breeze. Rapid Skerry Cruiser development in the 1910s The slimmer the boat, the …
Reading Time: 5 minutesWhat is a Skerrycruiser or Skärgårdskryssare? Anything flat-hulled with long overhangs, made of wood, ideally with a glossy finish? This is how most sailors answer this question. In principle, that’s true, since the open design class launched in 1908 for racing in the Stockholm archipelago or Skärgård initially left a lot of freedom. Only the sail area was limited. To …
Reading Time: 6 minutesWhich profile is ideal for the rudder blade, different to the Swede 55 keel fin? What was common in advanced boat building in the 1970s? What is used today? Which shape helps to avoid the stalling effect? How you determine the ideal profile for your boat. Following the first article on suitable bushings for the rudder bearing and the second …
Reading Time: 5 minutesWhatever moves on a boat wears out and eventually needs to be repaired. Even the rudder blade. After stopping the noise at my Swede 55 with suitable bushings as described here, I noticed that it was still rattling. The question was why. So I dismantled it in the fall and loaded it onto the luggage rack of my car to …
Reading Time: 6 minutesEverything that moves on a boat wears out over time and will eventually need to be repaired or replaced. Here’s the story of old and persistently replaced rudder bearing bushings until a suitable solution was found. One of the issues that occupied me for some time on board my Swede 55 was the rudder, specifically the guide of the rudder …
Reading Time: 6 minutesAn overlooked and notoriously underestimated topic is the weight of the boat. How heavy and thus under-rigged is it? Will it sail in light winds at all? And how much extra load, provisions, and luggage can it handle? Five examples. Concrete mixer or sailboat? Today, cruising boats are considered floating weekend condominiums. All the comforts are repeated aboard that we …
Reading Time: 4 minutesBuying a boat is a risky step. Dreams, emotions, the desire to do something completely different are big, fuelled by a kind of midlife crisis and some money. Some even do it without a midlife crisis and little money. So let’s look at the knockout criteria when buying a boat. A boat is perceived as promise and a placeholder for …
Reading Time: 5 minutesHeadsail furling has obvious advantages. For cruising, where convenience and safety is paramount, the cloth is removed from the cockpit when wind picks up, before mooring or in an emergency. Further, this winding technique, which is in use now for decades, conveniently adjusts the sail area. This is interesting for charterers, beginners, the occasional sailor, small crew or an older …
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe advantage of modern cruising square metre boats or Skärgårdskryssare like S30, Jubilee S40 or Swede 55 is that they come in durable and nearly maintenance free fibreglass. You simply enjoy your precious time aboard. Added to this is the well-thought-out construction of the largest model. The deck and superstructure of Swede 55 were made by Fisksaetra Varv as an …
Reading Time: 2 minutesEvery sailor admires the Vindö cruising boats from the Swedish west coast. Vindös are seventies compromises worth looking at, made of a rock solid and easy-care fibreglass hull with a teak deck and a handsome mahogany superstructure. A tempting mix of practicality with the traditional look and feel aboard. The Dream of Lasse Ristikankare. In the 1980s, Finnish wooden boat …
