Sphinx

Sphinx was built in 1939 as a club boat for the Norddeutscher Regattaverein (NRV) at Abeking & Rasmussen’s. The construction was afforded by money subscripted by citizens of Hamburg, especially by the Hamburg tradesman Phillip Reemtsma.

Being the shipyard owner, Henry Rasmussen was - after his first 12mR yacht "Skeaf" of the year 1914, the tenth and last 12mR yacht that he could build. All in all, during its company history, Abeking & Rasmussen built 102 mR yachts: one 9mR, three 5mR, seven 7mR, ten 12mR, 15 10mR, 25 8mR and 41 6mR yachts. Sphinx was launched on April 28, 1939, only some days before the Second World War started. The attention was turned to the Olympic Games, which sailing competitions should take place in 1940 in Helsinki. In summer 1939, Sphinx was sailed by consul Franz Brinkmann during the "Kieler –" and the "Travemünder Week" always in front of all the other 12mR yachts. But at the Dansk "Öresund Week", the mast broke so that Sphinx only after the war could participate in races again.

After the Second World War, the whole sailing world was in a sorry state. Also, the NRV had lost its clubhouse and almost all of its boats but could save the 12mR er. After the allies' capitulation, Germans without special permission were only allowed to sailboats smaller than 6m. Initiated by the chairman of the NRV those days, Erich F. Laeisz, it came to that legendary barter deal. Laeisz being a worldwide known shipowner, whose big yachts all started with a "P" – among them the famous windjammer "Pamir", "Passat" and "Preußen", was one of the most loyal customers of Abeking & Rasmussen. Laeisz sold Sphinx to two club members of the NRV, Hans and Wolfgang Freudenberg, who were holders of a Chilean passport and owners of an extensive woodshop in Hamburg. Under the Chilean flag, they were allowed to sail the yacht. The payment was made with a wagon load of oak, larch and mahogany. The NRV passed this wood on to Abeking & Rasmussen, and Henry Rasmussen, in return, delivered 12 "Hummel" boats, five pirates, two small keelboats, type "Sonderling" and eight "Hansa" jolly boats.

These jolly boats were the first exemplars of this later on prevalent boat type that Henry Rasmussen constructed due to the constitutions of the allies with a length overall of 5,85m and therefore smaller than 6m. The NRV sold these boats to its club members and established the financial basis for building the new clubhouse at the Alster, where the NRV is still located. A model of the Sphinx embedded in the wall still reminds me of this fresh start. After the war, the Freudenberg brothers were sailing the yacht with the name "Lobito", winning in 1948 the traditional race for the "Blaue Band der Niederelbe". In 1958, Sphinx was sold to the naval college Mürwik, which used it until 2004 with the name "Ostwind" as a training ship. In the 60ies and 70ies, the navy won 9 times the "Blaue Band der Flensburger Förde" for the fastest local yacht.

On September 30, 2005, both 12mR yachts "Ostwind" and "Westwind" of the navel college Mürwik were auctioned. Some citizens of Flensburg tried everything to avoid this. When the auction date was fixed, three Flensburg sailors decided to make an offer to save at least one of the yachts. They were successful! In January 2006 restoring the "Ostwind" – which for the future should again bear its original name "Sphinx" – started and will take until spring 2008.