Since 1908 the Skerry Cruiser has been launched in various classes from 15 to 150 m2 of measured sail area. Admired for its elegance and agility, it was soon appreciated outside Sweden as well. Due to his international contacts, Knud Reimers developed a 22 sqm class boat for a client in Chicago in 1953. Soon, a fleet followed.
Udell 22, a short example of the 22 sqm class
The Skerrycruiser maximizes speed by maximizing length, and the sailors from Chicago Yacht Club were eager racers. To the surprise of the local sailors, Reimers designed a fairly short boat, tailored to the choppy water pattern on the shallow Lake Michigan. First it was complained that “Reimers would not listen”. Soon it was understood.
Principal data of the Udell 22
Length overall
26.25 ft / 11.05 m
Length waterline
27.25 ft / 8.31 m
Hull speed
7 kn
Beam
6.42 ft / 1.96 m
Displacement
4,600 lb / 2,087 kg
Ballast
2,400 lb / 1,089 kg
Draft
4.50 ft / 1.37 m
nominal sail area
235 ft2 / 21.83 m2
S.A. / Displ. Ratio
13.63
Seven boats were built in wood by Kungsörs Båtvarv in Sweden, constructed of mahogany planks on oak frames, and shipped to the US. Four boats have followed since 1967 in the then new boatbuilding material, fiberglass, in Florida at Creekmore Boats. This became the 22 m2 One Design class named Udell.
Udell 22 Windjack on cover of Chicago Yacht Club Magazine November, 1959 – Source Chicago Yacht Club Archive
The Chicago Yacht Club documents 15 Udell 22 championships from 1962 to 1976 with boats named Auf Wiedersehen, Eclipse, Focus, Grail, Kona, Krista, Ondine, Skipjack, Valkyrie, Vinst, and Windjack. Below is an attempt to document the fleet. Identified sail numbers are marked bold.
Belmont Harbor at the Chicago Yacht Club, now Pewaukee near Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Fibreglass boat by Creekmore Boats. White superstructure
Udell 22 National Championship 1991
In 1991 the Chicago Yacht Club hosted a national championship for the class being developed for some club members, which existed at Belmont Harbor. The Udell class consisted of ten beautiful 22 square metre one designs. The class was an official U.S.Y.R.U. National Class but had never before held a national championship regatta. “The regatta was somewhat limited because of insufficient winds to get the Friday evening race off and too much wind to sail the Saturday afternoon race. The championship was decided in a blustery, wet race on Saturday and a race under ideal conditions on Sunday.”
It is remarkable that there was a small fleet regularly racing on Lake Michigan, which became the template for the modern Cruising Square Metre Boat variants with slightly risen freeboard and a little more comfort below deck: in particular, the S30, followed by the Swede 55 and Jubilee S40, and boats by other designers.
For the windy waters of shallow Lake Michigan with short and steep waves, Reimers designed a rather short 22 sqm boat measuring 36 × 6.56 ft (11 × 2 m) with a raised freeboard and a stretched cabin. In 1963, this became the American Udell 22 One Design. A little later, in 1967, Reimers revised his plans for GRP series production with a slightly raised cabin. It is obvious that Reimers used this concept to develop the S30 with a higher cabin superstructure. Even the windshield-like spray cap at the end of the the cabin appears in his S30 design a few years later.
The Udell 22 is one of several attempts to create a one design class, manufactured at favourable costs, largely compliant to the Swedish Rule or as cruising offspring.
the Nordic 22 m2 Class since 1922
various Mälarboats of 15, 22, 25, and 30 m2 since 1930
the 15 m2 Neptun Cruiser since 1938
the 30 m2 Bijou-Type for Lake Constance since 1967
various Crusing Variants since the Seventies.
Udell 22 Sources
This article is largely based on The World of Square Metres. The Square Metre Rule – 100 years. Facts, History, and Reports from all over the Globe. Svenska Skärgårdskryssareförbundet (SSKF), Stockholm 2008, ISBN 978-91-633-3069-8 (English): ↑ pages
Photo on top by Robert Christie: Udell 22 with sail number 10, built in fibreglass in 1967. Published November 1, 2025, updated March 12, 2026.→ Subscribe to the newsletter, and you won’t miss future articles.
