Chestnut brown mahogany, copper coloured underwater body, modern inclined transom. Advanced keel fin and an effective rudder blade. All topped by a serious spar. This boat has been in its first version the nightmare of Square Metre Boat sailors at Lake Constance in the eighties.
Contra as a modern 30 sqm Skärgårdskryssare
At that time, Dr. Klaus Müller from Überlingen, had successful naval architect Friedrich Judel design a 30-square-metre-boat and had it built by the Michelsen yard in Friedrichshafen from moulded mahogany. This was frightening to the sqm boat scene on Lake Constance. The designs of the bearded Friedrich Judel and his colleague Rolf Vrolijk built their reputation on Admiral’s Cup racecourses, at that time the sailing Grand Prix.
Initially, the boat had a class-compliant keel with an attached rudder and a sqm boat rig with 3/4 headsail height. Friedrich Judel explained his design in a businesslike manner: “The boat should appeal to sailors who love the classy sqm boat lines but want more comfort aboard. So the deck was raised by 30 centimetres. We try to compensate for the resulting disadvantages (stability, wind resistance) by optimising the lines and keel shape so that this design is comparable in performance with the considerably lower conventional 30s. In order for the boat to be approved for regattas, the design was submitted to the Swedish Square metre boat association for classification, which was granted. The boat is built strictly according to the regulations. All components are dimensioned so that the weight and centre of gravity comply to conventional wooden construction.”
A true 30 sqm boat or not?
In other words, not a flat-bodied racer from the 1920s with elegant overhangs that nostalgics and Lake Constance sailors are familiar with, appreciate and love. Instead of the charming spoon bow, there is a modern one. The couter is wider and lifted lower out of the water. Above it is a modern yacht with the side view of a Cupper. Now, whether this is a sqm boat cannot be decided based on the looks. The dimensions simply have to comply with the rule of 1925. Swedish designs by Arvid Laurin, Peter Norlin and Håkan Södergren or by Ian Howlett in England are examples.
The keel is also different. It is not part of the hull in the conventional S-shaped form, but sits at a right angle under the U-shaped hull, just like a modern boat. However, Contra weighs about half a tonne more than a typical Lake Constance Thirty of the Bijou type with the same sail area. This is due to the 30 cm raised hull with the same wall thickness of at least 18 mm and the prescribed rib spacing. This makes light wind sailing difficult.
The so-called Contra Affair
As an eager character and ambitious owner, Müller has the boat prepared by two top Flying Dutchman sailors, Eckart and Jörg Diesch. There are two different stories about the debut. According to one, Contra sailed up and away from the fleet of conventional 30 sqm boats. Other observers recall that Contra was by no means as declassifying as feared. So the advantages or disadvantages of the Judel design could have been watched and evaluated over the course of several sailing summers.
The International Association of the 30 m2 boat does not have this composure. Instead of seeing a revitalisation and enrichment of the class through a different kind of design, they fear a battle of materials. Müller seems to have fuelled this fear with his full-bodied announcement that he will start with a sweepingly faster Thirty. To protect the local Bijou-type, which has been the standard class on Lake Constance since the beginning of the 1970s, and the fleet of classics, the building regulations were changed in 1985. Contra is excluded from racing. Müller does not accept this. He has spent a lot of money on a boat that conforms to international rules and is claiming the substantial amount 170 thousand Deutsche Mark in damages. The dispute is fought out to the bitter end with some stubbornness and truly German thoroughness.
Friedrich Judel recalls: “We did not promise Mr Müller a generally faster boat. The speed simulations at the time showed one or two advantages. But there were also negative sides. That Müller picked out one of the advantages and peddled it was probably not so clever in retrospect.”
Dispute up to the Federal Supreme Court in Karlsruhe
The legal dispute is conducted through three instances in Tübingen, Stuttgart and then up to the Federal Supreme Court in Karlsruhe. It becomes so abstract that only those with legal knowledge still understand what it is all about in the very end. On 12 March 1990, the German Supreme Court BHG decides the so-called “Square metre boat verdict” (BGHZ 110,323 ff.). It became the subject of a 401-page habilitation by Mathias Habersack at the University of Heidelberg in 1995. That so-called Square Metre Boat verdict has since become the subject of examinations for prospective lawyers regarding association law.
In order to conclude the financial aspects, the case now goes back to Tübingen via the Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart. There, 85 thousand marks in damages and a personal claim against Heint Wagner-Wehrborn as president of the association responsible at the time, or alternatively the liquidation of the class association, are threatened. After a tough struggle for a settlement, the Class Association pays 35 thousand marks, financed by the remaining members. Many square metre boat sailors leave the association at that time. It is remarkable that Heinz Wagner-Wehrborn, who was largely responsible for the absurd and ruinous legal dispute, remained Honorary President of the International Association of the 30 m2 boats.
Consequences of the Contra affair
The Contra Affair is momentous for the 30 sqm class until today. Whether the 30 sqm boat is a construction class or a one design is answered unclear by the Class Association. In its statutes, it refers to a construction class, but only admits new boats of the Bijou type. Recently, it has also made the admission of classics to race on Lake Constance more difficult with relaying, silencing and bureaucratic hurdles. At the European Cup of the Thirties, held every two years alternating in Sweden or on Lake Constance, all 30 sqm boats are exceptionally allowed to race in local waters. Just for that event for a few days, otherwise not.
Contra 2.0
Müller tunes Contra with a long double spreader spar of a 40 sqm boat with runners and check stays and a modern keel. The blueprint for the fin is a result of a towing tank survey for an ambitious Cupper project by Judel/Vrolijk. A scaled-down version is being made for Contra with a 5-axis milling machine. For health reasons, Müller has to part with his sailing toy after a while with a very heavy heart. That boat, which was only allowed to show what it could do briefly on the 30s regatta courses.
Data Contra as a 30 sqm boat
Length over all
12.20 m
Length waterline planned
8.80 m
Beam
2.50 m
Beam waterline
1.76 m
Draft
1.50 m
Planned displacement
2.7 t
Real displacement
≈ 3.1 t
Ballast
1.3 t
Nominal sail area (mainsail ∆ + 85% of headsail ∆)
30 m2
Mainsail
20.4 m2
Headsail ∆
11.3 m2
Main luff, P measurement
11.48 m
Main foot, E measurement
3.55 m
Headsail Hight, I measurement
8.70 m
Headsail Base, J measurement
2.60 m
Cabin height
1.55 m
Hull 5 layers cold moulded mahogany
Deck foam cored, teak covered and plywood
Stainless-steel keel fin with lead
Design No. 305 by Friedrich Judel, Judel/Vrolijk Design 1983/4
1. engine: converted small motorbike petrol Zündapp two-stroke engine
2. engine: 2 Cylinder four-stroke petrol Yamaha F 15 Engine with Saildrive 330 in a separate box behind the rudder (permitted on Swiss lakes & Lake Constance), installed 2008, 50 kgs
11 kW / 15 hp
Data due to IMS certificate by Manfred Dommermuth 20/9/1988, 1999
Photo on top by Alexander Lutz: Contra at Michelsen yard/Friedrichshafen. Publication of drawings, courtesy by Friedrich Judel. Enquiries welcome via E-Mail. Pubished December 23, 2022, updated July 28, 25.→ Subscribe Newsletter and you won’t miss future articles.
