Reading Time: 5 minutes→ Artikel auf Deutsch Whatever 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 …
Reading Time: 6 minutes→ Artikel auf Deutsch Everything that moves on a boat eventually wears and needs to be taken care of. The story of old and persistently replaced rudder bearing bushings until a suitable solution was found. One of the issues that bothered me for some time aboard Gamle Swede was the rudder, specifically the guide of the rudder shaft in the …
Reading Time: 6 minutes→ Artikel auf Deutsch An 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. Cement mixer or sailboat? Today, cruising boats are considered as floating weekend flats. Whatever we appreciate …
Reading Time: 2 minutes→ Artikel auf Deutsch Are you still bobbing around or sailing already? Easygoing Square Metre Boats answer this question in their way. These beautiful light air windmills make something out of nearly nothing. About thirty boats, from classic 15 square metre boats to a modern cruising 55 are sailing the Slim & Tender Race (Schlank & Rank Regatta) off Fehmarn …
Reading Time: 5 minutes→ Artikel auf Deutsch Headsail furling has obvious advantages. For cruising, where comfort is paramount, the cloth is removed from the cockpit when wind picks up, before mooring, or in case of an emergency. Further, this winding technique, which is in use now for decades, conveniently adjusts the sail area. This is interesting for charterers, all new to the sport, …
Reading Time: 3 minutes→ Article in German It rises 18 metres into the sky and has ten per cent more sail area than its predecessor from Swiss sailmaker VM Sails, which was delivered in the mid 1990s with a foot that was slightly too short. Five battens, two of which are continuous at the top, stabilise the sail. In the fall before, sailmaker …
Reading Time: 4 minutes→ Artikel auf Deutsch Until this vividly remembered Friday, end of May 2019, it is clear aboard Gamle Swede that we will meet a Twelve-metre class only at the start of the race. Then this 22 metre upwind sailing machine, powered by 240 square metres, is gone. No sailor will take that pack with dull presumption, so we prepare modestly …
Reading Time: 4 minutes→ Article in German As sailing Swede 55 is mostly about upwind pleasure, a post about a single sail, this time a new jib, seems reasonable. For a long time, I sailed Gamle Swede with a worn-out and way smaller-than-specified jib. It was made by Canon/Västervik in 1979. For that long, you can use polyester cloth, also known by the …
