Knud Reimers (May 20, 1906 – 1987) was one of the most important Scandinavian yacht designers of the 20th century.
Knud Hjelmberg Reimers was born in Århus, Denmark and educated as a shipwright in Germany at Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in the twenties, a yard building large sailing and motoryachts at the time. He worked as apprentice at Abeking & Rasmussen in (Bremen-)Lemwerder under the supervision of .[1] [2] His first employment was in Stockholm at the design studio of the famous naval architect Gustaf Estlander. When Estlander suddenly died at the age of 54 in 1930, the 25-year-old Reimers bought his design practice. He promptly sold six 22m² Skerry cruisers to the Detroit Yacht Club. He later drew plans for the great 75m² Skerry cruiser Bacchant (II) that furthered his reputation as a designer of fast cruisers and racers.
Reimers most celebrated construction is the Tumlare which was designed in the early 1930s (1933 from a majority of sources; No. 1, 'Aibe' was built the next year for Bengt Kinde), and became a popular class worldwide. Examples are to be found all round the Baltic, in the UK, North America and Australia.[3] [4] After owning the Tumlare Zara, Adlard Coles bought a 32' 'Large Tumlare' Cohoe, with which he won the RORC's Transatlantic Race from Newport, Rhode Island of 1950.[5]
Reimers went on to design cruisers, offshore racers and a large number of exclusive sailing and motor yachts. Reimers boats are available in numerous countries worldwide and boats are still built to his designs. His drawing archives are at the Maritime Museum in Stockholm.[6] Reimers also designed Motor yachts, e.g. Orwell Class, 25’, (Yachting World 1938)[7] and Swedish Express, 50’, (Yachting World 1938).[7]
Reimers was also a lecturer, and produced films of races like the Tall Ships Race, Bermuda Race, Fastnet Race and Atlantic Race. Knud Reimers argued that in offshore race sailing, the final test is to create boats that can travel at sea in any weather, and said (loosely translated): "The boat is the means to reach the treasure beyond the horizon".[8]
Reimers designed numerous yachts for the metre Rule and square Metre or Skerry cruiser rule classes; they are known variously by length in metres or (more often) feet, and also often by their square metre rating etc. which together with the re-use of several names may justify this table as an attempt towards clarifying the confusing variety of naming conventions.
| Year | Class or Boat Name | LOA Ft | Beam Ft | Builders Name | Number Built | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1933 | 27feet | 6feet | Various | "At least 200"[9] "Some 600"[10] | [11] 20m2 | ||
| 1934 | SCHARENKREUZER 30SQM | 40feet | 7feet | Various | [12] | ||
| 1934 | HOCCO | 27feet | 6feet | [13] 28m2 on a Tumlare Hull for sailing on lake Geneva | |||
| 1934 | 5½ S9 Blåsut | 35feet | 6feet | Williams, Motala | [14] Nordisk Kryssare 5½ S9 Blåsut[15] [16] Similar 5.5m Nordic Cruiser here[17] | ||
| 1936 | Bacchant (II) | 62feet | 9feet | [18] (cf 1937 ‘Bacchante’ 42’6" given at ASQMA;[19] cf also NMM in Cornwall);("75m2" [20]) -original Bacchant was an Estlander 30m2 design, 1928 | |||
| 1937 | STORTUMLARE ("Large Tumlare") aka ALBATROSS [21] | 32feet | 7feet (2.3m given at[22]) | – | Numerous Examples on the web; 30m2[23] | ||
| 1937 | Havsornen | 52feet | 11feet | Holms Batvarv | Seems to have been designed jointly by Reimers and Tore Holm[24] -Built in Holms' yard and often attributed solely to him | ||
| 1939 | Siska | 50feet | 8feet | – | Knud Reimers 40m2 boat modified for the Sydney-Hobart Race [25] | ||
| 1941 Onwards | SCHARENKREUZER S22 | 37feet | 7feet | [26] – | 36’ given in 22m2 | ||
| 1948 | Agneta | 82feet | 13feet | Yawl | |||
| 1940 | Squall | 25feet | 5feet | Yawl | |||
| 1955 | UDELL one design | 36feet | 6feet | 11 in North America[27] | [28] Note: a one design sub-class of the 22m2 class [29] named after Clare Udell[30] Chicago YC[31] 1953 | ||
| 1955 | C(H)AMELEON CLASS | 29feet | 6feet | Various | ‘2 dozen built for 1956’ | [32] [33] cf forum on classicboat.co.uk | |
| 1960 | 35feet | 9feet | Vasteras Fiberplast | ca. 100 | BACCHANT III a one design yawl | ||
| 1964 | Bijou | 40feet | 7feet | e.g. I. Beck & Sohne, Bodensee | classic 30 m2 built in southern Germany. cf Bijou II in N America[34] | ||
| 1964 | 27feet 28’ given in[35] | 7feet | Fisksatra Varv | ca. 200 | Supplied in kit form and fitted out to a variety of interior designs[36] | ||
| 1972 | S 30 cf also S30-93 | 41feet (40’/12.3m in (???)) | 8feet | AB Fisksatra varv, Sweden; Crown Yacht, Sweden | '305' according to -111, built between ‘30s and ‘90s, are listed at | 30 sqm The project name was originally Gota 30 which was later changed to O 30 and finally to S 30. Types A30 and S30; Sometimes Swede 41/ S30: aka Skerry41 30m2/ 41ft Loa | |
| 1975 | 52feet 53’ | 10feet | Crown Yacht, Sweden | 35[37] | designed at request of some of Stockholms Royal Swedish Yacht Club members[38] 55m2 aka SWEDE 52 (52' 6" loa) | ||
| 1982 | JUBILEE S40 | 47feet | 8feet | Tufa Marin.[39] | 9 | designed to celebrate Remiers' 50th anniversary as a yacht designer, 4 boats in Germany and 5 in Sweden.[40] 40m2 | |
| 1986 | SK 30/40 | 40feet | 7feet | Jansson & Zarin | 7 | 30m2/ 40 ft Loa | |
| 1993 (posth.) | S30-93 | 41feet (40’/12.3m in (???)) | 8feet | AB Fisksatra varv, Sweden; Crown Yacht, Sweden | '305' according to -111, built between ‘30s and ‘90s, are listed at | 1993 updated version of S30, with increased sail area by extending the boom and increasing the foretriangle: at this stage the original was termed 'S30 classic' -see also |
Sensa is given as a 5m class; 6m designs are mentioned; a number of individual boats to Reimers' designs are listed on the Australian square metre association website,[19] e.g. Wings 44’, 1938/ Joyous- plans 1958/ Lady in Red: similarly, Jibslist[32] mentions the 41' GOTA (original project name for the S30) and the 42'8" SCHARENKREUZER 40S.
Landfall / Flicka- in April, 1937, Reimers ordered the first 4 Albatross to be built by Oscar Schelin, Kungsors Batvarv, Sweden. They were finished in March, 1938. #4 was named Landfall by the buyer and shipped to Texas.[41] February, 2017, this remarkable boat is 79 years old, has had 10 owners and four names; she is (2017) being restored as Flicka in Port Hadlock, Washington.