Bootswerft

"Bijou"
"Schärenkreuzer" Model Yacht 1:10
designed by
Knud H. Reimers
,

Length overall
Length L.W.L.
Forward Overhang
Aft Overhang
Beam extreme
Beam L.W.L.
Draft
Displacement
Sail Area

...

1240 mm (48.8"
887 mm (34.9")
145 mm (5.7")
208 mm (8.2")
218 mm (8.6")
180 mm (7.1")
140 mm (5.5")
5.3 kg. (11 lbs.)
0.3 m² (465 in²)

The timeless elegance of this Swedish designed attracted me to the construction

In honour of my late mother's 100th birthday I renamed this boat the "Marie Hofstetter"

This Swedish class was born about 1906 and perfected till about 1935

More than 100 years ago the discussions started in Stockholm, Sweden, and in 1908 the first "Svenska Skärgårdskryssare" rules were established which only referred to the sail area at first with 9 different classes from 15 to 150 square meters. "Svenska Skärgårdskryssare" means "Shoal Cruiser" referring to the protruding, or just below the surface, rocks off the coast common to the Baltic Sea. This was too vague and led to risky designs until the rules were tightened during the next decades and the final revisions were reached by 1935. This produced a classic elegant racing yacht with timeless beautiful and fast lines. Although the slim and long hull was under considerable stress the durability of these boats are remarkable.

In light wind the friction in the water is kept to a minimum while at increasing speeds the overhang portions of the design increase the hull speed and by stretching the waterline lift the centre portion of the boat. The most famous British boat of this class is probably the "Tre Sang". Shortly after WWI Hasler in Gosport bought the "Tre Sang" and sailed her in the next season for 2500 miles. Already at the voyage from Sweden to Bristol he noticed the manoeuvrability of the yacht even in gale force winds. Inspired by the "Tre Sang" the British designers made a swing from the heavy designs to the elegant, neat lines of this type of boat which was 13.15 meter long with a 2.20 meter beam.

The christening by my daughter at pond side	Even on land she looks timeless and elegant	Will she sail?	Just before
The maiden voyage starts beautifully and without a problem			She looks elegant on the water and sails well

This model I built is at a scale of 1:10 of the S-30 (30 square meters of sail) and shows the classic, sleek shape of the "Skärgårdskryssare". More than 300 S-30 were launched during the years. They sail in the waters off Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, England, The USA, and Australia where they are regarded as a robust and reliable touring boat and sometimes are used for lengthy voyages for this small boat as for instance across the Mediterranean. The designer, Knud H. Reimers (1906-1987) a Henry Rasmussen-student devoted his working life of 6 decades to this class and designed yachts between 11 meters and 22 square meters of sail up to 20 meters and 75 square meters of sail.

In 1928 L. Francis Herreshof experimented with this class of boat and was surprised about the manoeuvrability compared to the much heavier "R" boats. He designed a 30 square meter boat for one of his customers, Chandler Hovey's daughter Elisabeth who preferred admitted to having more fun with this boat than any other.

One of the most important ambassadors for this class of boats was Eric Lundberg of the Royal Swedish Yacht Club who in August 1929 finished first in all races off the coast of Marblehead in the Swedish-German-American races. No other guest ever achieved to win all 11 races before.

By the end of the 1930s the class was so popular that there were 24 in the USA, 18 in England, 13 in Switzerland, 100 in Germany and 500 in Sweden. By 1989 more than 1200 boats of this type were built.

The development of this class of boats stagnated until Knud H. Reimers at the end of the 1960s introduced the "Bijou" with a sail area of 30 square meters. This time the expensive wooden hull was built with glass reinforced plastic and the interior of some variations were built to accommodate six people on extensive trips.

Last modified on December 16, 2005