The time around 1970 saw a sharp changeover from traditional wooden boats to boats in a new material called fibreglass. This material made it possible to mass produce boats, and consequently many of the new boat types were built in large numbers. Because of these mass production techniques, these boats were relatively cheap and became available for a increasing number of buyers. However, it took a number of years to learn how to handle the new material correctly and the quality of the early fibreglass boats varied considerably.
The history of the first OE boat begins in 1968. In time there was a series of different OE boats that were manufactured in relatively modest numbers. In contrast to many other of the mass produced boats, the OE boats – after a few problems during the first two years – are characterised by high quality in materials, design, sea worthiness and sailing abilities.
Few boats at that time satisfied the demands of Brycker’s and Vogt’s wishes. Then they first heard about the boats Sparkman & Stevens ”Swan 36” and Olle Enderlein’s ”Mistral”. Swan 36 was judged to be a too old and extreme sailing boat with an abnormally narrow stern. It was true that the Mistral was beautiful, but was considered too slow for yacht racing.
Sten and Märta Brycker
Design competition
Brycker and Vogt considered therefore that a new design would be necessary. Nielsen’s ship yard at Oxelösund promised to build the new boat model on condition that the blueprint be placed at their disposal. The shipyard had at this time built the full keeled Scandinavian double ender ”Allegro” and they had a preference for her designer – Lars-Olov Norlin – to design the new boat. Brycker and Vogt were more interested in Olle Enderlein’s beautiful designs. They therefore gave notice of a design contest between Norlin and Enderlein. The contest was won by a large margin by Olle Enderlein. His suggestion was developed into the boat that later came to be called the OE 36. The blueprint was completed in 1968.
OE 36 takes shape
The design of the OE 36 showed a beautiful hull. The hull shape is fairly typical for the 1970’s. In the beginning, the hull was built in single laminate, while the later model, the OE 36 ”Crown”, was often built in sandwich double hull. The boat is markedly broad in the middle, with smaller forward and aft sections, a medium displacement, moderate sail area and a medium length keel with a skeg in front of the rudder. The keel is longer than several other boats of the same size. The keel section has a deep V-shaped part. The hull has a long overhang in the forward and aft as well as a sloping clipper-styled stem. Most boats have a steering wheel. The rigging has a conventional masthead with double lower shrouds and keel stepped mast. The sailing properties are pleasant, calm and the steering is good. Even by modern measures it is the foremost boat of classic beauty and a comfortable cruiser.
The day construction begins
When the blueprint was finished, there was no time to lose. No Swedish boat yard could undertake building the boat in a shorter time than two years. The Norwegian ship yards hadn’t so much in their schedules. So a contract was drawn up on the 4th January 1969 with the Norwegian shipyard Othar Larsen Pty Ltd, who are located south of Halden. The rumour had now spread about the new project and the signatories of the contract were the initiators Sten Brycker and Christer Vogt together with an additional four sailors – Göran Axell, Rolf Barthon, Anders Brodin and Rey Urban.
Othar Larsen’s ship yard was known as the builder of the Norwegian king Olav’s racing yacht. The ship yard promised to deliver the plug, mould and the first completed boat in good time for the Round Gotland Race of 1969. There was great optimism at the prospect of being able to test the first boat this decisive offshore yacht race.
Crown Yacht Pty Ltd
and the OE logo in the sails
The six signers of the contract each wanted to have one of Olle Enderlein’s new and beautiful creation. A jointly owned company – Crown Yachts AB – was established to manage the project. Sparkman & Stevens had earlier christened a new design as the ”SS 34”. This lead the promoters to consult Olle Enderlein about whether the new boat could have ”OE” as the marking in the sails. Then anyone looking at the boat’s description could see that it had a famous designer as the originator.
Easy come, easy go…
The optimism that had characterised the start of the project was dampened after a few months, since they saw that the Norwegian ship yard would not be able to construct the plug quickly enough. The first boat was due to be completed by the summer of 1969, but they saw that it was not going to be possible. It was not until September, that the plug was ready for casting. For the casting of the mould and later the completion of the boat, Othar Larsen’s ship yard had engaged Nordsjöplast in Sarpsborg as a subcontractor. Nordsjöplast was a business that was well-known for their motor boats, which inspired confidence in them. On 1st October 1969 the mould was ready and a month later the first hull. By now the project was running six months behind schedule. Further more, Othar Larsen’s ship yard had become bankrupt, and therefore the Swedish promoters had to hire new suppliers. The syndicate made an agreement directly with Nordsjöplast for the casting of the hull.
In Fredrikstad in Norway, there was an old sailing boat wharf Bjarne Aas P/L, which was well-known for delivering many wooden racing yachts to America. As the time of the wooden boats was reaching the end, the ship yard, was really keen to manufacture the wooden interior of Enderlein’s new boat. A contract was signed for the interior fittings for seven boats with delivery in April–June 1970. Nearly every Friday evening during the winter of 1969–1970 a car load of syndicate members travelled to Fredrikstad to inspect the progress. Sten Brycker with his wife Märta made more than ten trips.
Since Bjarne Aas wharf had built wooden boats, they should be capable of building good wooden interiors in Enderlein’s new boat model. But the wharf lacked experience in mass production and that soon became obvious. The quality was inferior to what they had expected and the timeframe fell apart. In June 1970 there were only four boats completely finished. Two were half completed and the other two were not even started. To make matters worse, this ship yard also went bankrupt and construction stopped.
From Norway to Sweden
Crown Yacht was determined to do something in order to complete all of the remaining boats in Sweden. The moulds and manufacturing rights were to be sold. The whole project was immediately bought by Nordsjöplast, who at that time had decided to also build sailing boats.
Round Gotland Race – a fiasco
Two of the completed boats were entered to take part in the Round Gotland Race in 1970. There was no time to pre-test the boat and the competition was not a success. Göran Axel’ls boat ”Grax” had to abandon the competition because of a leakage between the hull and the deck. The wooden boat shipyard hadn’t learned to correctly seal the area where the fibreglass joins. And for Sten Brycker’s boat ”Mema” it wasn’t much better. The first time he sailed with the boat in heavy weather it resulted in a broken mast – something that , it is true, also happened to 17 other sailors in this Round Gotland Race. Brycker was also happy that he was able to salvage a Mistral, which had also lost its mast and had rigging stuck around the propeller.
Another change of shipyard
In September 1970 Nordsjöplast notified them that the shipyard situation had taken a downturn, after motor boat sales had declined. In accordance with the contract with Nordsjöplast the moulds should be returned to the syndicate at no cost, if they were not to be used
At the same time, Nielsen’s Ship Yard in Oxelösund went bankrupt. When that happened, the thought was born that the OE project could be completed at Oxelösund. And so, in the autumn of 1970 a new company was established – Sundsör’s Ship Yard Pty Ltd – with Olle Enderlein, Sten Brycker and Christer Vogt as the principal participants. The bankrupt estate of Nielsen’s Ship Yard was purchased and the moulds were brought home from Norway. Furthermore. Carl-Henrik Eickhoff joined the consortium with his own boat project – ”Tetis”.
They were chastened but persevered with the initiative and now decided as step one to build an OE 36 as a demonstration boat together with completing the partly built ones from Norway. The work was finished and the quality was now high. Unfortunately, it was also costly. After the many earlier trying problems it was now really depressing for the promoters to realise that there was no real future for Sundsör’s Ship Yard. The whole OE project was at stake but it would appear that the ship yard had to shut down rather than the alternative of being forced to close-such as in bankruptcy.
Self-building solves the problem
However, during the summer of 1971 finally and quite unexpectedly something happened that was positive. The rumour that the ship yard was about to close had spread and many sailors now came and enquired about renting the mould to the OE 36 in order to a build the boat themselves for their own personal use. This sudden interest naturally pleased the promoters but at the same time caused worries about possible inferior construction of the boats and damage to the moulds. However, self building under competent guidance should work. The labour force adapted to this new concept by decreasing to one construction leader and two fibreglass moulders.
The self building contract for both the OE 36 and the Tetis were now quickly signed without any advertising. Every week one new shiny, hull was proudly being produced. The event was often celebrated with a cake and everybody was delighted – not in the least because of the good financial position. Now an ordinary citizen could afford to get their own large ocean cruiser and furthermore a small ship yard could survive. The syndicate had learned much from the earlier failures and the demand for the self building project seemed to be booming.
At the end of the 1970’s several details of the OE 36 were changed. The deck was raised 5 cm (2 in) by inserting an aluminium profile in the joint between the deck and the hull. The cockpit and the coach roof were moved 40 cm (16 in) astern. Accordingly, the fore cabin and the toilet became 20 cm (8 in) longer. At the same time, the bulkhead in the cabin was moved astern, so that the mast finished in the toilet area. Because the deck was raised, the cabin sole could be raised and some sloping areas disappeared. The trim tab behind the keel was removed and the rear edge of the keel became vertical with a longer keel to hull joints.
By this time there were some articles about bad keel to hull joints on other boat types with skeg keels. To create enough keel to provide lateral resistance and enough rudder surface to steer the boat, the rudder stock was modified to a more vertical angle. Simultaneously, the volume of the hull was increased under the cockpit by 80 litres (18 gallons) to compensate for the move of the cockpit astern. Many self builders chose the Volvos S-drev, which made the installation of the engine easier.
The changes to the exterior gave the OE 36 a more modern look without losing the elegant beauty. Moreover, the quality was considerably higher. The architect, Sören Oldebäck was consulted to design the wooden interior. He also worked out a very detailed building manual for interior fittings. (The book can still be purchased by the OE Club’s members.) The interior woodwork was executed in beautiful teak with precise dimensions and flexible bevelled mouldings. The quality was better than most of the other shipyards at that time could produce. Still today the quality in many respects is higher than what even the foremost, prestigious shipyards can produce.
The OE 32 – a long-keel
for a long voyage
With the success they began to think about a new project. They first concentrated on creating a long-keeled boat and so came about Olle Enderlein’s OE 32 – a modified Scandinavian double ender ideal for blue water or ocean cruising which was designed in1971 and began construction in 1973. Even this boat was a success. Olle Enderlein built one OE 32 for himself and helped Nenne Eriksson to build an additional boat. To begin with, all of the boats were self built. In spite of this, the quality was high and soon there were additional orders for fully completed boats. Enquiries from Denmark and Germany led to the OE 32 also being built by the shipyards of Ulrich Lemke at Sundeved’s Yacht Builders in Sønderborg, Denmark.
The OE 32’s hull was designed with a rounded canoe-style transom, a tall stem, a matronly bow, good beam in the water line and an outboard rudder with a tiller. The superstructure is a classic, rugged construction with good height and width. The whole boat is a well-proportioned and timeless beauty.
The OE 32 has a solid construction with a hull of hand laid, strong laminate. Some of these boats are built with a double hull of sandwich laminate. The rigging is naturally a masthead, as it should be on a long distance sailing boat. The keel stepped mast is strong, with single spreaders, double lower shrouds and a chain plated main bulkhead. The bulkheads are completely laminated and the bulk network in the keel gives the hull good stability. Some of the boats have a fibreglass coated lead keel, and others have iron keels. The draught is only 1.50m, (4ft 11in) and the boat has a low centre of gravity.
The sail area is moderate because the boat is deliberately under-rigged to be able to easily withstand the wind forces of ocean sailing. The sailing characteristics have received good reports. The boat feels safe and has good balance. It makes surprisingly good speed, even in light winds. The long keel keeps the boat on a stable course but also gives the boat a relatively big turning circle and the boat requires time to get under way after a tack.
By using the same details of the interior of the OE 32 as in the luxurious OE 36, the woodwork was first class. For that reason even the OE 32 has a detailed building guide for the interior. The woodwork offers beautiful, full-toned waxed solid teak, rounded corners, bevelled edges, fine joinery overall and a porcelain washbasin. Even the quality of the hull and rigging was high, regardless of whether the boats were built by a shipyard or were self built The price was proportionally high, which however was later repaid as OE 32 today has a high status among it’s equals and proved a good investment.
Sten Brycker becomes
a full-time boat builder
In 1975 Sten Brycker took an early retirement pension from his post with The Swedish Airforce so that he could instead begin working at the shipyard. For Sten it had been exciting and stimulating to participate in the development of different types of reconnaissance aircraft scout planes and he had been the leader in different units but now something else was waiting. To develop, build and sell sailing boats of a high quality would be a new challenge and one that Sten wanted to take before his creativity decreased because of aging.
Sten Brycker’s wife, Märta, had already for several years very ably guided and directed things at the office and the shop floor. To be able to work every day full-time with his wife was a further bonus.
New times, new ideas
– the OE 33 and the OE 38
UBetween the years 1975–1977 the archipelago cruisers – now in fibreglass – once more became popular. Moreover, boats were now being built with aft cabins. And so an Enderlein design – the OE 33 – ffollowed these trends. The boat had been designed as early as 1972 but was first ready for construction in 1977. There were many boats competing in that market. They were no longer able to do the selling themselves, and therefore costly advertising and displays in boat shows became necessary. They needed a new injection of capital. Sundsör’s Ship Yard was too small a shipyard and the owner was too old to have the strength to expand the business operations or to do the necessary investment. But the ship yard was still viable and so the solution was to sell the whole business to a buyer with sufficient resources.
In 1980 that possibility became available. Sundsör’s Ship Yard was then sold to Söderqvist’s Ship Yard in Oxelösund – known for their motorboats ”Oxelö” and ”Saltö”. The oil crisis which occurred at that time meant that the ship yard also wanted to invest capital in sailing boats.
The OE 29 ”Mistinguette”
and the OE 38
Besides the production of the previous OE models they purchased the mould of Olle Enderlein’s design ”Mistinguette”, drawn in 1972. The boat’s name was changed at this time to the OE 29. At the same time, Enderlein had designed a 38 foot sailing boat in Finland. The Söderqvist ship yard even undertook to handle the selling of this boat under the name of the OE 38.
Skillful ship yard workers
Sten Brycker and the remaining originators of the OE boats were by no means alone when it came to building the boats. They were assisted by skilful craftsmen. Previously, Sören Oldebäckhad was praised for his excellent building manual for the interior. But there were several others. Nenne Eriksson (who built his own OE 32) and Bo Holmgren, skilfully made the building kits to assemble the wooden interior fixtures and fittings. Björn Asthner who kept the moulds in good condition. Sven-Erik Karlsson who laid the keels and installed the engines.
The moulds are scattered
After a couple of more years, the Söderqvist ship yard also changed owners. The new owner concentrated on a younger designer, but this investment went bad. Even this ship yard became insolvent and all of the OE moulds were sold. The moulds for the OE 29, OE 33 and OE 36 went to Sönderborg in Denmark. One of the OE 32 moulds ended up in private ownership and the other went to Denmark. The OE 38 moulds went to Finland.
Before the moulds were dispersed, there had been built roughly 150 of the OE 36, 200 of the OE 32 (of which about 50 were built in Denmark), 20 of the OE 33 together with a few of the OE 29 and the OE 38.
The OE ”Crown”
During the last years of manufacturing the symbol of ”Crown” with a crown was added to the marking in the sails. The motive for this was principally to strengthen the marketing, as well as a reminder that the original sailing syndicate had created the first OE boat under the business name ”Crown Yacht”.
The building of the OE boats ceased at the beginning of the 1980’s. Interest in the new construction of the OE 32 resulted in that boat being constructed once again for a time by order from Denmark. Approximately three hundred OE boats are still sailing to the delight of the owners. The boats are still keenly sought after in the used boat market and have given their owners good value for their investment.
The basis for this history
has been provided by Sten Brycker