illbruck yacht

Aboard the one and only German Volvo Ocean Race Winner

• September 9th, 2020
• Sailing Yacht

It was a hot summer´s day back in June this year when I visited Oliver Schmidt-Rybandt in Rostock at his “Speedsailing”-base near the city center. I went there to take a closer look at Dehler´s new 30 OD One Design which had already caught my imagination back in Cannes on her world premiere. Upon walking along the pontoon I noticed three large sailing yacht. True racers for which Speedsailing initially was best know for: Prior to becoming a Sales Agent for Dehler 30 OD this company was founded to keeping alive legendary racing yachts and offer a true racing experience to people. Their crow jewel of course is the GLASHÄGER, better know under her previous name, ILLBRUCK.

After Oliver showed me around on the Dehler 30 OD for more than two hours in detail, we walked back to the shore and came by the yacht. “Wanna take a look inside?”, he offered. Well, what a question? Of course I wanted! So I climbed aboard that 60 feet behemoth and instantly felt kind of being drawn into the amazing story of that yacht. For me as a German the name ILLBRUCK has a very special tone to it: She is the first, one and to date only German boat to ever win the Volvo Ocean Race. As I said: A true legend.

Inside ex-ILLBRUCK

The boat has been drawn as part of the one-design V.O.60-class and was built prior to the 2001 race. The campaign however was financed by German businessman Michael Illbruck who in turn is the son of Wilhelm Gustav Illbruck, a sailing legend and sponsor of Admiral´s Cupper PINTA who won the race in 1983. So, here we are aboard that classic. When I went down into what on other yachts is called the “saloon” it was almost like a magic moment: How many hundred times must have the crew of 2001/2002 Volvo Ocean Race come down and up the Kevlar-made “steps” of the companionway?

Down below the boat shines in yellow. The unmistakable hint of the boat´s prime material: Kevlar. Before the Carbon fibres became common sense in boat building it was a class rule of the V.O.60-boats to be built with Kevlar. This was the state-of-the-art stuff as it had a much higher impact resistance – back in those days there haven´t been any route-limitations for the crews, called “ice gates”, and so the boats were made as strong as possible to withstand possible impacts with growlers. The ex-ILLBRUCK weighs in 13.5 tons which is half the displacement of the Oceanis Yacht 62 ! Her bulkheads cling, making a strange sound when I knocked on it. Like being under some kind of tension. The strange yellow color of the unpainted, bare material instills a feeling of raw, naked power. Made for one sole purpose: Going fast.

The ILLBRUCK – now re-christened GLASHÄGER in honor for her new sponsor, a German mineral water brand – had the top-equipment available back in the days. The early 2000 years, sounds as if they had been passed by just the other day, in reality, that´s twenty years ago. In 5 years that will be a quarter century! A modern boat of her time, the pinnacle of yacht design and materials, today a slight scent of being antiquated – in the best sense of the word!

Unimaginable living conditions

Just like humans in a WW2 uboat , the crew of ILLBRUCK was not the primary concern when the yacht had been conceived. Everything on this boat seems to be envisioned and then made to make her go fast. Living conditions, human demands, comfort – these are words which did not play a single role in construction phase. Simple lightweight, slim and most certainly uncozy berths made of pipes plaster the hull walls.

A net makes the mattress. That´s it. A simple lashing can adjust the berth to the heeling and tack of the boat, that´s it. The crew probably had simple sleeping bags, most certainly wet and cold, a makeshift pillow, maybe the oilskin . There is no privacy here whatsoever, no cabins nor simple curtains or blankets. It must have been a hard trial being part of ILLBRUCK´s crew for sure.

I contemplate the water closet, cramped in a somewhat shadowy corner, half shadowed by a bulkhead, recessed into the hull. The ceramics would have been adjusted to counter the heeling as well and – although I cannot see one – I hope the crew would had made up for a blind, a curtain or something: As a guy obsessed with having at least two closed doors between me and civilization when taking a dump, this WC would most certainly have been my “Nope, thanks!” when being asked to join the crew.

A racing veteran

Apart from that, the ILLBRUCK has some pretty impressive features still valid. The nav station for example. Navigation back in the day already had been satellite-driven and digital, weather routing and evaluating weather data the digital way by means of a computer was available. So the navigator had his dedicated “nav station” in front of a screen rather than sitting on an old-fashioned chart table .

The Diesel-tank which makes up for the seating of the navigator are tilted in a way that when sailing heeled the navigator would sit upright. I took the seat and closed my eyes for a short minute: I tried to imagine the sound of the waves smashing against the hull, the flow of water alongside – ILLBRUCK´s speed record still stays at whopping 39 knots, which is 72 kilometres per hour. Just try to imagine the sound, roaring winds in the rigging from above, crashing waters from below. Around the world!

Carbon indeed was part of the boat. I spotted the typical matte-black color in form of the power train from the huge grinders to the winches. Again I tried to imagine the sound when two people turn the winches with full power and the clacking and cracking noise of the tubes transmit throughout the boat. It´s a loud awkward sound in normal cruising yachts, just think of it manyfold stranger on this racing machine!

Keeping the legend alive

Oliver is seemingly proud: Along with ex-ILLBRUCK the company owns two more V.O.60, which is ex-SEB (now OSPA) and ex-TOSHIBA (which is now ROSTOCKER). Three V.O.60 yachts identical in construction: The boats can be chartered and match raced under real conditions, skippered by the Speedsailing team. The spirit of racing lives inside the boats, the team around Oliver is creating this worldwide unique atmosphere of high-class offshore racing – and it´s just a one hour drive from my home town!

When I left Oliver after thanking him for his time, I looked back onto this proud fleet. Well maintained and often raced, these veterans of offshore racing are not rusting on a pier or being put on dry stand, de-masted, de-capitated. They keep the spirit alive and – by judging from the atmosphere I was able to grasp there among the Speedsailing-staff – they all love what they do in providing a unique experience. Sitting in my car, driving back home I make a not to myself: “Ask the boss if we could do a match race on these as a big event for our staff.” Maybe as a company´s birthday present.

ILLBRUCK at her big time has been under the command of legendary U.S.-skipper John Kostecki. The first, one and only German boat to ever win this highly well endowed race sported a crew of 12 people of which just one had been German. Nobody cared whatsoever: After setting up a world record of 484 miles in 24 hours and winning the toughest offshore race to date, the boat arrived in Kiel in 2002, being frantically greeted by a fascinated nation. I thought I had heard an echo of this down in her hull. What a chilling cool experience!

Thanks for the tour, Oli!

You might as well be interested in these articles:

Jeremy Beyou on his new CHARAL Open 60 racing yacht

Visiting a giant: Multiplast in Vannes

Merfyn Owen, Britton Ward & Marc Lombard on Class 40 designs

• BOAT OF THE YEAR
• Newsletters
• Sailboat Reviews
• Boating Safety
• Sailing Totem
• Charter Resources
• Destinations
• Galley Recipes
• Living Aboard
• Sails and Rigging
• Maintenance
• Best Marine Electronics & Technology

Illbruck Sets 24-Hour Monohull World Speed Record

• By Rachel Anning
• Updated: May 15, 2002

Illbruck Challenge goes into the record books after officially receiving ratification that they have set a new world record, for the greatest distance sailed in 24 hours by a Monohull. The record of 484 nautical miles was completed at 20:02 on April 30 during Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race and was confirmed by the World Speed Sailing Record Council.

On arrival in La Rochelle, skipper John Kostecki praised his crew, and put the record win down to perfect conditions and great teamwork: “It’s an incredible feat which we’re all really proud of. It was 12 guys on the boat with a real team effort, and people on shore helping to maintain and fix the boat. The crew was fantastic and did a great job, pushing the boat hard and making efficient sail changes. They kept the boat going fast. The goal was to win leg 7, but it worked out perfectly with the right conditions to break the record.”

The ideal conditions arose from 20-25 knots of wind and the added push of the Gulf Stream. As illbruck left Chesapeake Bay, the team immediately started to put miles on the competition. A slight course alteration seemed an advantageous decision, picking up stronger north-westerlies, while staying in the strong current. “The Gulf Stream gave us two or three knots of extra push. Our average speed was 20 knots over the ground, although at times we were a lot faster, to over 30 knots,” said Kostecki.

Out in the Atlantic, the crew didn’t have much time to celebrate, however, and had to keep on racing: “We talked about it for a few minutes but couldn’t celebrate till last night after finishing Leg 7,” joked Kostecki on arrival in La Rochelle. “It’s an incredible record to hold and I’m extremely happy and proud to be the skipper of this award-winning yacht. It’s great to have a sponsor like EDS involved with our sport and it’s fantastic they promote this record.”

The average speed of 20.16 knots, with many periods reaching over 27 knots, caused no problems for the crew as they alternated three spinnakers on the fast reaches: “At 20 knots we had a lot of water on the boat,” Kostecki continued. “When you are going that fast, the boats do get wet. Ninety percent of the time the boat is wet, although the crew are used to it. There were no breakdowns, technical problems, it all went smoothly. Going at 30 knots is quite impressive for a Volvo 60 and you know you’re going fast.”

Illbruck’s victory in this transatlantic leg awards the team a further 8 points. Neal McDonald, skipper of ASSA ABLOY, who finished the leg second, said: “illbruck sailed the perfect race. They were smarter and they arequick in these conditions. We sailed well but they are a hard act to beat.”

John Kostecki hopes so. With just two more smaller legs of the race remaining, he believes they’ll hold the record for some time: “You need ideal conditions like the Gulf Stream push to beat this record. “One of the new maxis being built, or 80ft sleds being built in California, or maybe one of the Open 60s actively racing could quite possibly break the record.”

For information e-mail Rachel Anning at [email protected] or log on to the Challenge Business’s website, www.challengebusiness.com/press/edsrecord.html.

• More: DIY Sailboat Projects
• More How To

3 Clutch Sails For Peak Performance

It’s Time to Rethink Your Ditch Kit

8 Ways to Prevent Seasickness

How To De-Winterize Your Diesel Engine

Bitter End Expands Watersports Program

Sailboat Review: Tartan 455

Miracle in a Bowl

Cole Brauer Completes the Global Solo Challenge

• Digital Edition
• Customer Service
• Privacy Policy
• Email Newsletters
• Cruising World
• Sailing World
• Salt Water Sportsman
• Sport Fishing
• Wakeboarding

Press Releases

• Press Release

Illbruck Victorious in Volvo Ocean Race

• Word Doc (.doc) 11.0 KB
• HTML (.html) 11.0 KB
• PDF (.pdf) 77.0 KB
• Text (.txt) 5.1 KB

Southampton, England, June 9, 2002 - An ocean race of epic proportions reached its final conclusion today (Sunday, June 9), after 32,700 miles of racing. Winners, losers, glory and defeat, this race has seen it all. A script for an ending such as this could not have been written better. Djuice, the boat that struggled all the way around the planet claimed victory in the leg while illbruck took the race in a convincing manner.

Starting a race as the clear favourite was a heavy burden, but illbruck lived up to the highest expectations right from the start. With a conservative approach illbruck took the early lead in the race even though disaster struck on the first day of leg two as the bow section filled with water and for some dramatic hours it was unclear whether the yacht was in danger of sinking. In an impressive team effort the crew around John Kostecki got the yacht going again in last place, but it took them just a few days to sail straight through the whole fleet on a middle course to reclaim dominance on the fleet. They were rewarded with a spectacular victory in Sydney end never returned the lead on the overall table.

The extremely well organized and developed sail program allowed illbruck to save four new sails for the ultimate leg and they went well armed into the final battle they won against Swedish archrival ASSA ABLOY.

The illbruck Challenge crew finished in Kiel to an enthusiastic reception from friends, family, illbruck employees and customers and the thousands of German sailing fans who have been following the team since the around-the-world race started on September 23, 2001. Sail trimmer and sail designer Ross Halcrow from New Zealand, the only crew member on board illbruck who ever won the America's Cup (1995 with Team NZL) exclaimed enthusiastically: "This welcome has been huge and double as big as whatever I have seen in the America's Cup."

Illbruck was the first German yacht to secure victory in a leg and in the overall race, but they are just continuing a strong German tradition in this race. Peter von Danzig sailed the first race in 1973/74 finishing 14th, followed by Walross III in 1981/82 and Schluessel von Bremen in the 1989/90 race. Inspired from the early competitors, professional sailor Timmy Kroeger sailed the 1993/94 race on Intrum Justitia (second) and 1997/98 on Swedish Match (third).

The first place on this ultimate leg of the Volvo Ocean Race is a big reward for the endurance djuice has shown in their difficult sail around the world. Stricken by gear failure on the first leg and slow boat speed in spite of endless hours of two boat sail testing in the remaining legs djuice managed a second place on the fourth leg to Rio as their second top result. Finally they have overtaken Scandinavian rival SEB, who they put to seventh place in the eight-strong fleet after the disastrous losses of their rudder and mast in the Southern Ocean.

Figures about the number of spectators vary from 50000 to 100000 and the boats on the Kieler Foerde were so tightly packed that one could have crossed the water on dry feet.

Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 2, 1708 GMT

PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL ETA PO

3 AART 54 31.12N 010 17.84E 12 229 11 158 12 09/06/02 18:22 55

4 ATOO 54 31.68N 010 18.88E 13 230 10.9 158 13 09/06/02 18:27 16

5 AONE 54 31.84N 010 19.16E 13 230 11.1 157 13 09/06/02 18:31 44

6 TSEB 54 39.84N 010 36.40E 26 223 11.1 145 26 09/06/02 19:56 32

7 TYCO 54 40.68N 010 38.12E 27 226 11 146 27 09/06/02 20:02 42

8 NEWS 54 41.12N 010 39.32E 28 227 11.1 144 28 09/06/02 20:08 41

Leaderboard

PS Yacht Points

1 illbruck 61

2 ASSA ABLOY 55

3 Amer Sports One 44

5 News Corp 41

6 Djuice 33

7 Team SEB 32

8 Amer Sports Too 16

PS - Position; DTF - Distance to Finish; CMG - Course made good; SMG - Speed made good; TFHR - 24 hours run; DTL - Distance to leader; DTL-C - Distance to leader change; ETA - Estimated time of arrival; PO - accumulated Points

ILBK illbruck Challenge

AONE Amer Sports One

ATOO Amer Sports Two

AART ASSA ABLOY Racing Team

NEWS News Corporation

TYCO Team Tyco

TSEB Team SEB

DJCE djuice dragons

Volvo Ocean Race Background

The Volvo Ocean Race is run every four years. It started in Southampton, England on September 23rd 2001 and finished in Kiel, Germany, on June 9th 2002. Over a period lasting some nine months, the Volvo Ocean Race will reach a broad audience around the world via modern communication technology.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

www.VolvoOceanRace.org

http://media.vemuk.com

• Website Support
• For Customers
• Privacy Policy
• Information Notice

THE ADMIRAL’S CUPPERS

Part 2 of “Ready about! – The racing years”

15 MIN READ

…and SORC series, the Sardinia Cup, the Australian Southern Cross Series and all the various qualifying events under the International Off shore Rule (IOR). To participate at this level represented the pinnacle of racing achievement, but there were also many opportunities for an exciting and satisfying season’s racing by participating in the individual races that contributed to team selection, or that formed part of the team event. For example, you could compete in the Newport–Bermuda Race or the Fastnet Race even if you were not doing so as part of a national team. The characters who owned Huisman-built yachts, therefore, had many opportunities to get to know one another as fierce or friendly rivals even if their home racing waters were as far-flung as the Baltic, the Southern Ocean and the formidable Gulf Stream off the east coast of Florida.

Willi Illbruck and Pinta

Although he subsequently became a national hero in his native Germany and a highly respected sailor on the international stage, Willi Illbruck had very little sailing experience when he first arrived at the Huisman yard in 1969 to discuss the purchase of a yacht. Wolter Huisman suggested the One Ton “Staron” design, a deal was struck, a yacht delivered and Wolter Huisman, together with his friend Eep Looman, went for an inaugural sail with the new client to show him the ropes.

Main photo at top: Illbruck’s third Huisman-built Pinta (to right in picture) represented Germany in the Admiral’s Cup in 1975 and won the SORC. As Traite de Rome, she competed twice in “The Whitbread”.

Left: Pinta owner Willi Illbruck became a great friend of Wolter Huisman and one of the most successful racing yachtsmen of all time.

From this small beginning, great things grew. Illbruck was soon infected by the racing bug and, with the experienced Eep Looman at his side, successfully competed in numerous North Sea and IJsselmeer races. By 1971 Willi was ready to move up a notch and asked Huisman’s to build him an S&S-designed 12.5 m / 41 ft Admiral’s Cupper. Illbruck’s determination and fast learning soon began to yield results, and he achieved wins in the Travemunde–Sandhamm, Flevorace and Houtrib races, a fourth place in the Channel Race and fi fth place overall in Cowes Week. The following year he won Cowes Week, came second in the Fastnet and North Sea races, and achieved third place in the Channel Race.

Illbruck was a formidable, yet charming, character and a highly successful entrepreneur. After his release as a Russian prisoner at the end of World War II, he began a small insulation business with his wife in 1952 – a business that grew to employ 3,500 people in twenty-five countries around the world. Wolter Huisman, always keen to learn from the entrepreneurs who became his customers, was full of admiration for the tidiness, organisation and good business practice that he saw at Illbruck’s headquarters. The two developed a close relationship.

As a skipper, Illbruck was exceptionally team-minded and focused on the best means of achieving success. He realised that ownership of Pinta did not automatically make him the best person to steer the boat; he always sought to play everyone in his team to the best of their talents, just as he did in business. At least five of his best employees regularly crewed on the current Pinta (the yachts never had a serial number) and his right-hand sailing man, Eep Looman, was recruited to work at Illbruck’s fast-growing industrial concern, where he ended up staying for the rest of his career. Illbruck always entered races in the name Team Pinta, so that recognition for success was shared among the entire crew.

Illbruck’s third and last Pinta to be built at Huisman was a 15.6 m / 51 ft Admiral’s Cupper, once again designed by Sparkman & Stephens. Launched in 1975, it was selected for the German Admiral’s Cup team that year, and they placed a creditable second. (Huisman built their second Saudade as a near-identical sister ship at the same time, but she did not make the Cup Team.) This third Pinta also won the SORC and came second in the Bermuda Race before she was sold and renamed Traite de Rome. Participating as the smallest yacht in the 1977–1978 Whitbread Round the World Race, she placed an impressive third. She also sailed in the 1981–1982 Whitbread, successfully completing another lap of the world, but was placed lower in the field.

In total, fifteen Pintas were built; the last one (campaigned by Willi’s son Michael) won the Volvo Ocean Race in 2002. Illbruck died in 2004 but his name lives on in sailing through the Willi Illbruck Racing Foundation.

Hermann Noack and Sabina

Achievement in ocean racing was a talent shared by Willi Illbruck and Hermann Noack – so much so that in 1983 both Pinta and Sabina were selected for the German team to compete in that year’s Admiral’s Cup. They won convincingly, with Sabina the top points scorer in the event and Pinta just three points behind.

Above: Sabina VI, a 12.1 m / 40 ft one-tonner designed by Jac de Ridder, was the last Sabina built by Huisman as its focus shifted towards larger, luxury performance yachts.

Right: Hermann Noack – highly successful sailor and artistic collaborator with sculptor Henry Moore.

In many other respects, however, the two owners were remarkably distinct characters from very different backgrounds. Hermann Noack’s family business was a fine art foundry, casting and finishing bronzes for leading sculptors and public works. The business was established by his grandfather, Hermann Noack I, in 1897, but by the end of World War II, the factory had been partially destroyed and things were at a very low ebb.

The foundry’s fortunes gradually began to improve as orders came in for the post-war restoration of important monumental bronzes that had been damaged during the war. The real breakthrough, however, was the long-term artistic collaboration established between Sabina ’s owner and the renowned sculptor Henry Moore, which made the foundry internationally famous.

Left:  Magnus Taurus, a bronze sculpture by Willem J. Lenssinck, cast at the Hermann Noack foundry in Berlin.

Artistic rather than pragmatic by nature, Hermann Noack enjoyed helming his Sabinas (which evidently he did very well) and was more than comfortable leaving the running of the yachts to his crew.

Noack acquired his first yacht, an 11 m / 36 ft steel Standfast, when he was just thirty years old. Subsequently he commissioned no fewer than five yachts from Huisman and raced them keenly. Sabinas II, III and IV were, respectively, Avenir, Rasbora and Staron designs from the board of Van de Stadt. They were built between 1965 and 1972. Wolter Huisman often sailed with Noack and, as ever, was useful aboard as both a sailor and a mechanic cum problem solver. Hermann recalls a wonderful anecdote:

“In the first years, Wolter still had enough time to go sailing, and so he was my teacher in seamanship. During my first extensive ocean regatta, Helgoland–Kiel in 1967, Wolter, with his calmness, stamina and ability, directed us safely through the sea when a storm broke out in the Skagerak. At one stage, the deck started lifting under pressure from the halyard and to my alarm Wolter began sawing up the spinnaker pole. I asked him, ‘What on earth are you doing Mr Huisman?’ He quietly informed me that he would use the pole to brace the deck and that way we could carry on racing. He had no thoughts at all of retiring.

One particular sentence which Wolter coined during that trip has accompanied me throughout my whole life. When we were sailing hard against the wind with the jib only and the waves sweeping over the deck close to the Danish coast, he said: ‘Those poor people on land.’” 1976 saw the launch of Noack’s first fully custom racer, Sabina V, an 11 m / 36 ft one-tonner designed by Jac de Ridder, the up-and-coming naval architect who had received an invaluable apprenticeship under Van de Stadt, Rod Stephens and, of course, Wolter Huisman.

One success led to another, but, as was the way of IOR racing, Hermann Noack recognised that there was only so long he could campaign a boat and remain competitive: you had to move on. Jac de Ridder was retained once more to design a final racing yacht to be built at Huisman before the yard turned its attentions in a new direction.

The 12.1 m / 40 ft one-tonner, Sabina VI, was launched from Vollenhove in 1981 and, while the Huisman yard embarked on its new journey into luxury cruising yachts, Hermann Noack concentrated his bearings on even greater racing success, which he continued to achieve with the 1983 Admiral’s Cup and well beyond.

Albert Büll and Saudade

Saudade and her hard-driving owner, Albert Büll, became household names in Germany when the German team decisively seized the Admiral’s Cup from the British holders in 1973. Saudade was the top-scoring yacht in an impressive team during demanding racing conditions.

A citizen of Hamburg, Albert Büll has always demanded exceptional standards of achievement – from himself and from those around him, too. He built up a successful real estate business in his native city and applied the same strong organisational skills, and a willingness to take bold decisions, to his parallel career in off shore racing. He prides himself in recognising and deploying talented people and his 1973 Admiral’s Cup Team comprised many high-fliers, including the champion Finn helmsman Berend (Benny) Beilken.

Left: Albert Büll, pictured with his wife Christa. seized the Admiral’s Cup in 1973 and thereafter went from strength to strength. 

Büll is an outstanding helm and very much “one of the team” when racing, although the crew members are never in doubt as to who ultimately calls the shots.

By 1975, Büll had built a second larger (15.6 m / 51 ft) Saudade at Vollenhove, alongside Pinta, a Sparkman & Stephens sister ship, the aim being to optimise the two together on the water. This Saudade did not make the Admiral’s Cup Team (as Pinta did), but nevertheless she made her mark around the regattas, again with a strong crew including the ubiquitous Jens Cornelsen.

In a long racing career, Albert Büll continued to compete at the highest level internationally, achieving numerous wins. These included the 1983 Middle Sea Race and selection for the German Admiral’s Cup Team in 1987, fourteen years after he fi rst represented his country in this event.

Progressing from all-out racing to high-performance cruising, Albert Büll asked Judel & Vrolijk to design him a fast 34.3 m / 112 ft luxury yacht to be built once more at the Royal Huisman yard. She was launched in 1994. More recently, in 2008, Büll took delivery of a very light displacement, 45 m / 148 ft composite sloop for super-slippery ocean cruising and superyacht regattas. It seems the racing flame still burns brightly.

Arthur Slater and Prospect of Whitby

“Larger than life” is a term that is often associated with racing yacht owners, but few can have merited this description more perfectly than Arthur Slater. 

Above: Slater campaigned eleven different yachts named Prospect of Whitby. Pictured is the second Prospect built by Huisman – among her many victories, she won the RORC Individual Points Championship in both 1972 and 1973.

Right: Arthur Slater (left on photo) was a larger than life character who succeeded first in rally driving, then in off shore sailing.

An Englishman with an intense competitive spirit, Slater was originally a keen rally driver – a pursuit he may have continued indefinitely, greatly to the detriment of ocean racing, had he not lost a leg competing in the Monte Carlo Rally in the 1950s. Recognising that he would have to find a new sport that was no less competitive but did not demand the possession of two legs, he alighted upon ocean racing. Lesser mortals no doubt whispered to him that, at sea, it can be hard enough to stand even when able bodied. Slater would have none of it. Although fitted with a false leg, he never wore it at sea and famously warned new crew members that if they attempted to help him up after a fall, even in heavy weather, they were off the boat. And he meant it.

With a specially developed bucket swivel seat fixed to the cockpit floor, Slater became one of the top ocean racing helmsmen of his era. He built three of his famous Prospect of Whitby series of yachts with Huisman between 1971 and 1975, all Sparkman & Stephens designs, and enjoyed exceptional success. He represented his country to great effect in the Admiral’s Cup in 1967, 1969 and 1971 (winning the Cup in 1971 on his new Huisman-built 13.7 m / 45 ft yacht in company with Morning Cloud and Cervantes IV); in the Onion Patch in 1968, 1970 and 1972; and in the Southern Cross Series in 1969, 1971 and 1973.

More movers and shakers

Spirit of Delft, a 13.4 m / 44 ft Admiral’s Cupper designed by Jac de Ridder and launched in 1973 is noteworthy because her owner, Willem Oosterwijk, enjoyed a close friendship with, and regular crewing from, Wolter Huisman over a period of twelve years. Many top sailors and designers made guest crew appearances aboard this actively campaigned yacht thanks to Wolter’s wide connections. Among many successes, she won Cowes Week in 1974.

The highly effective and good-humoured Scottish sailor Ron Amey had ten yachts called Noryema (no prizes for sourcing the origin of the name) and constructed the 16 m / 52 ft Sparkman & Stephens-designed Noryema IX at Huisman.

Above: Benbow, a powerful 19.8 m / 65 ft yacht designed by Dick Carter. She won the Middle Sea Race in 1976. Left: Willem Oosterwijk, Spirit of Delft’s highly successful owner and skipper and a close friend of Wolter Huisman.

She qualified as a British team member for the Onion Patch Series in 1974, achieving second place; she was also a reserve for the 1973 Admiral’s Cup Team.

The Jean-Marie Finot-designed Revolution, built in 1972 for Jean-Louis Fabry, had the extraordinary distinction of sailing in the French Admiral’s Cup Team no fewer than four times: in 1973, 1975, 1977 and 1979 – almost certainly a record unrivalled by any other boat or crew. One of the first ever yachts designed on a CAD system (on a computer rather than on paper), she turned in an “astounding” individual boat performance at her first Admiral’s Cup: “Revolution … was appropriately named … few on seeing her would have predicted her astonishing future,” commented Bob Fisher in his official history of the Admiral’s Cup.

Right: The extraordinarily successful Finot-designed Revolution, which campaigned in no fewer than four French Admiral’s Cup teams, owned and skippered by Jean-Louis Fabry.

Above: Gitana VI, one of a dynasty of fine racing yachts owned by the Rothschilds, was a 20 m / 66 ft S&S design built by Huisman for the 1975 Admiral’s Cup.

Mandrake, a Sparkman & Stephens 14.7 m / 48 ft Admiral’s Cupper designed for Italian G. Carriero, was launched in 1974 and won the Rolex Middle Sea Race the same year. She made the Italian Admiral’s Cup Team in 1975. Sumbra IV, a 10.8 m / 35 ft Peterson design for owner Max Boris, achieved similar almost instant gratification by winning the Rolex Middle Sea Race in the same year she took to the water, in this case 1976.

A great compliment

The orders for Winsome (Sparkman & Stephens Admiral’s Cupper, 1972) and Winsome Gold (Dubois two-tonner, 1979) for highly competitive sailor David (Daisy) May were a great compliment to the Huisman yard, given that May’s family owned the respected Berthon Boat Yard in Lymington, England. Naturally enough, the hulls were fitted out at Berthon. Campaigned with David May’s customary vigour, both yachts enjoyed a fair share of success.

The Germán Frers-designed Emeraude was selected for the French Admiral’s Cup Team in 1977, campaigning alongside Jean-Louis Fabry’s Revolution to boost still further the number of Huisman-built yachts that competed at the highest level of offshore sailing in their time.

And finally … an amusing (and revealing) tailpiece. The illustrious Rothschild family was well known for its Gitana racing yachts and Huisman was awarded the contract to build the 20 m /66 ft Sparkman & Stephens-designed Gitana VI for the 1975 Admiral’s Cup. When Mr Edmond de Rothschild visited to the yard to inspect his yacht, Wolter Huisman took him to the best local restaurant, Seidel, for dinner. Naturally enough, Huisman briefed the proprietor in advance about his distinguished guest but warned him that he must serve house wine – on no account could the yard afford a Rothschild wine. When the restaurant owner came to the table and served a bottle of extremely fine vintage Rothschild wine, Huisman almost choked. With a large smile on his face, the proprietor said: “It is such an honour to have you in my restaurant, M. de Rothschild, the wine is on the house tonight.”

The OSTAR Challenger

“Five low pressure systems followed each other one after the other, relentlessly generating an average wind speed of 35 knots and a raging, chaotic, short, crossed sea for over a week. The fleet were decimated with the well-chronicled retirement of Yvon Fauconnier (ITT Oceanic previously Vendredi 13) and the break-up of Jean- Yves Terlain’s 70ft catamaran Kriter II. Two skippers were lost at sea in the storms – only 73 of the 125 starters finished the race within the time limit.”

Above: Dijkstra singlehanding Bestevaer. The narrow beam was complemented by a deep, high aspect fi n and bulb keel to ensure good righting moment – an advanced configuration for her day.

Left: Gerard Dijkstra is one of Holland’s most celebrated sailors and naval architects.

This dramatic description of the 1976 OSTAR (Single- Handed Trans-Atlantic Race) from race organisers Royal Western Yacht Club in Plymouth paints a compelling picture of the punishment Gerard Dijkstra’s Huisman-built Bestevaer was to take in the 1976 edition of this classic race.

As an ambitious young sailor, Dijkstra had already entered the 1972 OSTAR aboard the 25 m / 83 ft Van de Stadt-designed Second Life but had been forced to retire when dismasted. Determined to finish the business he had begun, Dijkstra designed his own entry, the 16.4 m / 53 ft Bestevaer, for the next race and, after energetic fund-raising eff orts, was able to have her built at the Huisman yard. To this day Gerard Dijkstra recalls the two weeks he spent on his knees on the yard floor lofting the hull (drawing full-sized lines to create templates for the hull frames) – things have certainly changed over the decades!

Right: Dijkstra designed his own entry, Bestevaer, for the 1976 OSTAR race and built her at Huismans. She was a fast boat and went on to compete successfully with Olivier de Kersauson as Kriter VI.

Below: Dijkstra was both navigator and watch leader on Flyer in the 1977-1978 Whitbread Round the World Race.

Despite the dreadful wind and sea conditions at the start of the 1976 race, Dijkstra made fast progress. However, closing down towards Newfoundland he could no longer ignore the warning signs of mast distortion as a result of the constant slamming into short steep seas. With a heavy heart, but steely commitment, he turned back for Plymouth and repairs. With a Huisman team on standby, the mast was unshipped, repaired, re-stepped and redressed in short order and an exhausted Dijkstra powered off once more to the west. It is to Dijkstra’s great credit that he completed the race within the time limit (only half the fleet did, yet Bestevaer and Dijkstra sailed twice the distance), and equally impressive that Bestevaer was in line for a fastest monohull crossing time before he turned back.

Dijkstra went on to campaign Bestevaer with another young sailor who was destined for great things, Olivier de Kersauson. They sailed her as Kriter VI in the Transat en Double and the Two Star; De Kersauson subsequently sailed her solo in the 1980 OSTAR and she has continued to race and cruise successfully over the past three decades, clocking up many, many thousands of ocean miles and still going strong.

Continue reading about the racing years on this website > inhuis stories & updates:

• Part 3 – Herbert von Karajan and Helisara [ link ]
• Part 4 – The Maxis and the Flyer Campains [ link ]

This article was first published in the book “Royal Huisman 125 years The Spirit of Individuality”.  Return to part 1 – Ready about! – The racing years: link

• AROUND THE SAILING WORLD
• BOAT OF THE YEAR
• Email Newsletters
• Best Marine Electronics & Technology
• America’s Cup
• St. Petersburg
• Caribbean Championship
• Boating Safety

illbruck Sets 24-Hour Distance Record

• By The Editors
• Updated: April 30, 2002

John Kostecki and the crew of the Volvo 60 illbruck , a Farr design currently leading the Volvo fleet on points and on the transatlantic Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race, have claimed a new 24-hour speed record. According to a release from the Farr Yacht Design office, Kostecki and his team sailed the green and white 60-foot monohull 473 miles in 24 hours at an average speed of 19.708 knots. This claim tops the 467.7-mile record set by Bernard Stamm and the crew of the Open 60 Armor Lux , set in 2001 during a record New York to England Transatlantic passage.

The new record is still provisional, pending review by the World Sailing Speed Record Council. http://www.volvooceanrace.org, http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/

• More: Sailboat Racing
• More Racing

Reineke’s Battle For the Berth

One-Design Wingfoil Racing Takes Off

Brauer Sails into Hearts, Minds and History

Anticipation and Temptation

America’s Offshore Couple

Jobson All-Star Juniors 2024: The Fast Generation

• Digital Edition
• Customer Service
• Privacy Policy
• Cruising World
• Sailing World
• Salt Water Sportsman
• Sport Fishing
• Wakeboarding

• Yachting World
• Digital Edition

Illbruck crosses Equator

• October 10, 2001

Illbruck is the first yacht in the Volvo Ocean Race to cross the equator and enter the southern hemisphere

Illbruck is the first yacht in the Volvo Ocean Race to cross the equator and enter the southern hemisphere. The German-flagged yacht is currently 17 miles ahead of Assa Abloy.

On board Illbruck, her crew have been quietly preparing to induct the four crew that have yet to cross from north to south. Richard Clarke (helmsman/trimmer), Ian Moore (navigator), Jamie Gale (mast) and Tony Kolb (bow) will all incur the wrath of King Neptune, who, as justice for past crimes, dishes out punishment in many smelly and sticky forms.

“I saw Stu ‘Waffler’ Bettany busy getting the King Neptune crown ready, and a bucket on deck contains some brew,” explained navigator Juan Vila.

For the rest of the fleet, it’s still plain sailing and a pure test of horse, or rather sail, power in the steady south-east trades as they simply race towards the same waypoint (Fernando de Noronha).

These straight line sailing conditions are the true acid test of every yacht’s sail testing programme and final inventory selection, as News Corp’s Alby Pratt commented: “With a Volvo boat, the yachts have to cover both upwind and downwind plus all the reaching angles in between which can lead to a massive variation in sail designs and sizes. It is easy to see why most teams have seven figure budgets for their sails.”

Still some 300 miles off their equator ceremony, the crew on Amer Sports Too are feeling the immense frustration of falling further behind the fleet with every six hourly report. “We are officially parked, or let’s say, illegally parked,” said navigator Genevieve White. “Our worst fears have been realised – the lead pack of five boats whom we have kept within general striking distance to date have slipped though the doldrums just ahead of us while we have stopped in our tracks just behind by a breezeless, shifty area combined with sloppy confused seas. Nevertheless, the crew is really positive, itching to get moving again and get on with the job.”

Position Report Day 18

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

PLUS: YACHT RACING

PLUS: YACHT RACING; Illbruck Takes Another Leg

By The Associated Press

• Dec. 5, 2001

The German yacht Illbruck won its second straight leg of the Volvo Ocean Race yesterday after nearly sinking three weeks ago on its first night out of South Africa.

But the boat, captained by the former United States Olympic sailor John Kostecki, made up for lost time before crossing the finish line near the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

Kostecki led Illbruck to victory in the first leg from Southampton, England, to Cape Town. The yacht completed the trip of 6,550 nautical miles from Cape Town in 22 days 13 hours 22 minutes 26 seconds.

The German yacht beat Seb of Sweden by 73 minutes. In third place was the Australian entrant News Corp, followed by Norway's Djuice Dragons and the Finnish-Italian boat Amer Sports One.

Assa Abloy of Sweden was sixth. Amer Sports Too, a sister entry to the fifth-place finisher, was expected to cross the finish line tomorrow or Friday.

Illbruck has a maximum 16 points in the standing, followed by News Corp (12), Amer Sports One (11) and Seb (10). The next leg -- from Sydney to Auckland, New Zealand -- begins Dec. 26.

• CLASSIFIEDS
• NEWSLETTERS
• SUBMIT NEWS

Left In illbruck’s Wake

Related Articles