Stromer, Vintage ketch

Robert Franz was a boat builder and designer who was active from the 1920s to the 1970s. His shipyard was located in Niederlehme (Berlin), in the Elbe river basin, which flows into the North Sea. This explains why Robert Franz initially specialised in small and medium-sized boats that could navigate that river basin out to sea. In the 1950s and 1960s, he gained a strong reputation for building wooden Folkboats. In the 1970s, he also built steel motorboats up to 14 metres in length. Towards the end of the 1930s, he himself designed, built and launched three twin-hulled sailing boats of close to 14 metres. Of these, the Stromer III was launched in 1938; its name means ‘wanderer’ in German. Whilst the memory of her two sister ships have been lost, we know little about the Stromer either. Her story, which was meant to be that of a peaceful cruise across the northern seas, was rather more eventful at the outset: having been launched the year before the outbreak of the Second World War, she had no opportunity for long voyages until the end of the conflict, when – like many other vessels – she most likely served to facilitate the escape of figures associated with the defeated regime and turned up in Vigo, where she continued to sail, now under Spanish ownership. After a few years in Sicily, she returned to Mallorca under a German owner. She was registered in Ibiza. In 2000, she underwent a complete refit overseen by the Velayos brothers at the Vulkan Shipyards in Sagunto, before moving on to Puerto Sherry. Her current owner took her to Barcelona and made numerous improvements, including fitting new sails. The hull is of clamped steel, with 3 mm or 4 mm plating depending on the area, and the design features the classic double ender layout so characteristic of the North Sea. She is a classic cruising yacht, with her central doghouse —typical of such vessels until the late 1930s—and a fairly uncluttered deck. Of particular interest is the arrangement of two cockpits: one dedicated to steering the boat and the other, further forward, completely unobstructed. It is a very modern layout of dubious originality, yet tremendously comfortable and in no way detracting from the boat’s overall beauty. The masts, made of Oregon pine (also known as Douglas fir), are quite tall and lend the boat a certain liveliness even in light winds. Like many classic boats, she heels over quickly, but does not heel much further once she has done so. In strong winds, the mizzen and staysail provide very balanced sailing. Her almost immortal engine is now a rarity in its own right. In fact, sailing on the Stromer is a unique opportunity to enjoy the thrilling experience that an elegant, nonagenarian boat can offer today’s sailor.