About the 40m² Gazell

Text and images: Kari and Maarten Lampe, Roosendaal, Holland

First of all, we, my wife and I think that Gazell should have stayed in Sweden. But as we live in Holland, that is where she will be for the coming years. We will take good care of her and see to it that in a far future, her next owner(s) will do the same.

Now about the long story leading to Gazell…..

As a boy of six years of age, I started sailing in one of the lakes in Holland. The first boat was, a 10 ft lap strake dingy (named Nutshell). This was followed by an international 12 etc. etc. In the end there was a Hobie 16: Lots of sailing fun and little polishing. An ideal concept. In Holland there is a rather big interest in classic sailboats, predominantly from dutch pedigree, like skutsjes, hoogaarts, boeiers, botters and the like. They have one quality which a Skärgårdskryssaren really misses: space! Scherenkruisers, as they are called in Holland, always were kind of special: Like two dragons in a row, a mahogany sleeping bag, but always something for the happy few. I remember two scherenkruisers from the early days (1950+): Curved masts, long and razor sharp.

And then I found in the Wooden Boat of October 1993, a very nice article about the skerry-cruisers, Estlander, Tore Holm and Knud Reimers etc.. From that moment they always were in the back of my mind… and the magazine stayed on the night table…The article is still on the internet (FKY). The authors were Erdmann Braschos and Matthew Murphy, so in a way, they are to blame……

In the autumn of 2002, the 40m² Toja was for sale in Holland. And after a while I got the itch and we went to have a look, all the way up in the north, in Friesland (Heeg) where she was lying. But she was already sold. To make things worse there was another SK(40 or 30), in the neighbouring harbour, beautiful….. but not for sale and only to admire. So we had to forget Toja. Afterwards I saw recent pictures of Toja, which showed there really was some work to do. A project I was not in for.

In the spring of 2003 we saw Boheme, a SK 30, for sale in Holland, but found out that she lacked the volume we thought to find in a 40. Her owner showed us Blanka an old 75, waiting to be restored to former glory, and told us about all the boats on offer in Sweden. So Båtnet, SSKF, Udkik etc. were in focus. Many boats were on the market, all very special but not so to our liking.

And then there was the Classic Boat from june 2003, showing in a very small add, a very small picture of the 50ft, 40m² Tore Holm design Gazell. Baum & König Hamburg was the Broker. I found out they specialised in classic boats and had several SK for sale: Two Plyms, one Nilsson 30m² (Harlekin) and the Tore Holm designed Gazell.

As my wife and I planned a summer trip to Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Gazell was to be inspected, anyhow. Harlekin, for sale in Zeebrugge Belgium was a beautiful boat, a very big 30m², however she was lacking the volume we hoped to find.

Harlekin sailing in Belgium, Zeebrugge.

In a way we even thought that a SK would prove to be to thin and to low.

And it was just that thought that made us look at something else, an all mahogany 36 S & S, built by Molich in Denmark. We tried her, liked her very much, but not enough, not to come to Sweden, Bokenäs, where we had an appointment to meet Gazell.

The first sight of Gazell made clear that we made the right decision. More than 50 ft of sheer elegance in very good condition, just in need of varnish, antifouling and a place in the water to get her seams tight. And, the longest 40m² ever built!

The preliminary sales contract was exchanged after thorough inspection, a deposit was paid and the holiday trip through Norway was resumed. Two weeks later, on the way south to Holland we met the former owner of Gazell, who was an American with Swedish background and who had bought an Omega in Lysekil.

On the first of September we got the confirmation that we were the new and proud owners of Gazell.

Gazell in Mats Grundbergs Snidkeri, just fitting, one centimetre to spare at the front!

After two month of tender loving care by mr. Mats Grundberg who had kept Gazell in his Snidkeri, and one quick trip to Bokenäs, Gazell was transported very skilfully by Torgesens from Henån, to arrive in Holland by the end of October in 2003. What a stunning sight!

Yess!!!

After having been out of the water for over one year and after two transport hauls, from Stockholm to Bokenäs in 2002, and then from Bokenäs to Numansdorp in Holland, we almost had a sjösätningsdrama. Gazell was safe in the straps of a huge portal lift, but as the water rose swiftly because of a severe north westerly storm, she drank a lot more than we had planned. But after a few days she held her own and closed her seams.

Arrival in Numansdorp - Holland; Where can I turn?

2 hours later, the end point of a very long transport!

And then she was waiting, in the water for the spring and her first sailing trip. To keep her out of the sun and weather, we bought a nice tent, as well as hatch covers.

We checked her lines, cover, pumps etc every now and then, had a cup of tea on board and enjoyed the beautiful sight of Gazell from every angle. We imagined that the best was still to come.

New berth and new covers, waiting for the tent.

We looked forward to getting to know more Skärgårdskryssarens people, at least there are some in Holland, as we can read in Matrikel (säld til Holland) but they are few. Of course there is the sailing and tinkering on Gazell, but there is also still so much to find out. We know she was built by Oscar Schelin, we know who owned her from the beginning, we know that there is a museum in Sweden where they keep al the info on Skärgårdskryssaren and we even found out that there is a half model of Gazell. To be seen on one of the pictures of Båtsmässan 2003, and of course we would love to have a copy of her lines plan etc. In all we would like to complete the picture and to be able to get to know more of Gazell. So we made a new trip to Scandinavia in 2004 and visited The Museum in Stockholm, Kungsörs Varv, Gamleby and Holms Varv and the ex owner of Gazell, mr. Harald Parmell in Nynashavn. From the Schelin family we got lots of information about Gazell, as well as the drawings and the buildingcontract. The son of the builder, Per Schelin who is also in his seventies now, told us to treat Gazell as an old lady, and not to allow youngsters to sail on her. Harald Parmell could tell us all about his part of Gazells history and all the work he and his friend Rune did on the boat. Very nice people to meet and to talk to!

The season of 2004 brought many nice experiences. Gazell sails like a gazelle! But in narrow places she is difficult to handle. This caused some unwanted bruises but the worst was still to come: On the 11th of November we were sailing nicely on our home waters, The Hollands Diep, when suddenly there was a big bang. We hit something that we had overseen! The biggest buoy in the water. With damage to the stem, Gazell had to be taken out. This was done in the weeks before Christmas, so while the professional work was done, I had the opportunity to varnish the hull and the mast and boom, put new primer and antifouling on the bottom.

December 2004, after nose repair and new varnish and antifouling, Gazell shines.

Also we renewed the standing and running rigging. And, never to old to learn a lesson, we had windows made in all the jibs! We also used the opportunity to check all our sails and get one of the mainsails fixed with full length battens. So 2005 proved to be much more successful so far. We sailed a lot, liked her handling more and more and found her real fast, able in higher winds than we expected for such a light and narrow boat. In the biannual historic boat meeting in Hellevoetsluis we found proof of Gazells speed. She can finish in first place as long as you sail her in the right direction! This we will do in 2007!

The year 2006 started with month of February out of the water for the winter work, two layers of Epifanes on hull, deck and deckhouse mast and boom as well as new antifouling, to make her shipshape for the new season. Many afternoon and evening trips on Hollands Diep make us happy and Gazell a much admired sight in the area!

So now we almost see the end of our third sailing season on Gazell and now we get the feeling to know her well: She indeed is a delight to sail, even very shorthanded. She is a dream come through!

In the end of this dream we will perhaps be able to sail Gazell in the Skärgårds of Swedens west or east coast, where she belongs. We hope that the next SKAERGARDSKRYSSAREN (40m² number ?) will be very thick, lots of pictures and lots of stories. To help you with this, we hereby send this letter and some pictures of Gazell!

March 2004, the first trip in Holland! Happy faces!	Gazell shows her long beautiful lines.
Easily handled by two, meet the proud owners, Kari and Maarten Lampe.
Holland shows its best. Beautiful Gazell sailing close to a very typical scenery.