THIS 6MR YACHT IS UNIQUE IN MANY ASPECTS AND IT IS NOW FOR SALE: THE LAST 6-METRE TO BE CREATED BY THE INGENIOUS DESIGNER JOHAN ANKER AND ALSO THE LAST BOAT TO BE BUILT AT HIS YARD. IT IS, SO TO SPEAK, THE CROWNING GLORY. THIS BOAT EMBODIES ALL THE EXPERIENCE AND SKILL OF THE MASTER DESIGNER. TEXT: DETLEF JENS International 6mR Class has a long history, dating back to the creation of the »International Rule« in 1907 – the birth of the Metre-Class yachts. Several of these classes became popular over the decades, including the 12’s and 8’s. However, it is the 6-Metres that, along with the smaller 5.5’s, have become the largest class of Metre yachts. From 1908 to 1952, the 6’s were also one of the Olympic boat classes. But even after this period, the best sailors and designers were again and again drawn to the 6-Metres. Even in this illustrious company, the Noreg III has a very special history. She was commissioned by a consortium headed by the then Crown Prince Olav of Norway. And she is the last 6-Metre designed by Johan Anker – the »master of lines« – design number 433. She was built at the Anker & Jensen shipyard and launched in time for the 1939 season. Anker himself had a few difficult years behind him, but with the 8-Metre Sira and the 6-Metre Noreg he had regained his old form. Also, of course, with his last 12-Metre from 1939, design number 434. This was also his very last design and was not built at the time because Johan Anker died in 1940. This 12-Metre was only launched in 2015, when the shipyard Robbe & Berking Classics was finally able to build the yacht after acquiring the original plans. The client was the Danish sailor Erik Tingleff Larsen, and the 12-Metre was named Siesta. She now very successfully sails under the name of Nini Anker. So Noreg III was Anker’s penultimate design and the last boat ever built at his shipyard. And with her, Anker had once again designed and created a winner, and Noreg III was more than just a match for the new 6mR Iselin from the young Norwegian designer Bjarne Aas and successfully defended the One Ton Cup in Hankø in June 1939. And when she took part in the Seawanhaka Cup Race in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, in August 1939, the »Glasgow Herald« noted that »Noreg III’s speed to windward was most impressive« (»The Glasgow Herald«, 17 August 1939). After the war, Crown Prince Olav continued to sail the boat, but in 1950 it was sold to another Norwegian owner. In 1961 it went to the USA, to a certain Gerald W. Ford, a yacht broker by profession. He sailed her for a while, but then her story is somewhat lost in time. At least, until she was bought in the USA by a Dane in 1989, at which time she had apparently been converted into a cruising boat with a small cabin. This owner removed the cabin and rebuilt the original two cockpits. The rig must have been replaced in the US beforehand, designed by Sparkman & Stephens, complete with aerodynamically shaped rod rigging as standing rigging instead of the usual wire shrouds and stays. This particular rig still exists today. In 1997, the Danish sailor Mads Lidholt purchased the 6-Metre, partially restoring the boat, especially the deck. In 2006, the current owner, Marc Heijke from the Netherlands, bought it. »The deck had been restored but not the hull«, he reports. »Together with a master boatbuilder and in his workshop, I milled out and battened the hull planking, a job that took eight months alone. We also reinforced the area around the mast with stainless steel ring frames. A new mast is available, but I also kept the earlier S&S mast and restored that as well. I used the original plans for the restoration and kept everything as original as possible. The only modern additions are the new Andersen winches, both above and below deck, but the winches from the 1950s and 60s also still exist.« Marc Heijke has clearly maintained and preserved the ship with a great deal of love. But he knows his classics, because in addition to Noreg III, he also has another 6-Metre, designed by Willy Lehmann and once built in Eastern Germany. He sailed many regattas in Noreg III, in the Netherlands, but also in Cowes and Flensburg. Now, however, he rarely gets around to it, but the boat is ready to sail and measured and could immediately start in the next race. What attracts him to the class? »The sailing, of course. And the size of the boats, they are substantial boats, but they can still be transported reasonably easily over land to the regattas. Of all the Metre Classes, the 6mR Class is perhaps the most active, but it is also the class in which most well-known designers have competed. The regattas always attract all the old hands and many well-known people. Famous designers and fans of the 6mR yachts for example included Doug Peterson and Peter Norlin.« Thanks to the active class association, the International Six-Metre has once again become one of the most interesting boat classes. It combines the elegance of its »Classic Division« with the innovative designs of modern boats in the »Open Division«. The World Championships, which take place every two years, have been held in Canada, France, Germany and Finland in recent years. Sailors take their boats all over the world to take part in these exciting regattas, and the level of sailing is so high that the class continues to attract some of the best sailors in the world. // Noreg III is for sale through the yacht broker Robbe & Berking Classics. Phone +49-(0)461-31803065, e-mail: classics@ robbeberking.de THE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF NOREG III: YEAR OF BUILD 1938 LENGTH OVER ALL 11.00 M BEAM 1.78 M DRAFT 1.70 M DISPLACEMENT 4.2 TO read more 106 107
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