ALUMINIUM WERFTBAU UNTER LIZENZ VON LAURENT GILES UK
Making a yacht a reality as a one-off takes great conviction and a dream inspiring enough to keep the principal enthralled until hull meets water. Deep pockets help too, of course: such projects almost always cost more than anticipated.
Laurent Giles Legendary naval architect Laurent Giles is perhaps best known for the exceptional seaworthiness of his designs. Conceived in 1936 as a pocket cruiser, the VERTUE“>Vertue class has demonstrated its remarkable seaworthiness time and again over the decades. Vertues have completed spectacular ocean voyages in almost unbelievable circumstances, earning legendary status along the way. Around 230 have been built so far, most in wood (a few of them in teak by Cheoy Lee in Hong Kong), the “Vertue II” in GRP in England and one – one solitary example – at the Künemund yard in Germany (known for its Asante builds).
It came to pass that in 1995, a sailor from Berlin with big dreams engaged the Otto Künemund yard in Schleswig Holstein to build him the boat he’d always wanted. The Vertue (the hull at least) was constructed in aluminium under licence from Laurent Giles. A long-keeler with S-shaped frames and a keel-hung rudder, it is about as robust as a boat this size can possible be. The finished hull was transported to Berlin to be fitted out by its proud owner. The dream came with a big price tag: the bare hull, excluding sails, rigging and interior fit-out, ran to an eye-watering DM 132,000 and the total cost seems likely to have exceeded DM 200,000.
https://vertueyachts.com/boats-for-sale/
Sadly the owner who brought it into being only lived to enjoy his dream boat for a year and when he died, it was packed away in an industrial unit in Berlin – where it remained for 20 years. It next saw the light of day in 2016 when a broker who obviously failed to appreciate the historic significance of this nautical gem listed it for sale (with just ten hours on the Sole Mini 17 Diesel and the sails in original condition).
A series of coincidences led to me being able to buy LUANA from a seller just down the road in the summer of 2024. I have owned a great many boats, and yet when the opportunity to buy this one arose, the sense of urgency I felt as I phoned the seller and told him I would buy it there and then, sight unseen, was close to overwhelming. The object of my desire, or better yet the mere idea of the object of my desire, had me entranced, utterly powerless to resist. It became my boat number 47.
I had a simple but compelling plan in mind: restore this unique specimen to a flawless condition, sensitively enhance the KISS fit-out and then set about enjoying the boat and the water. Circumstances, alas, dictate otherwise and I have had to accept that at my age, bringing this particular dream to life is not the way forward. It’s a bitter pill, but swallow it I must!
My loss, however, promises to be some other lucky sailor’s gain, as the beautiful Luana once again needs to find a new home and a new enthusiast to make the most of this precious treasure. Some minor work is required (paint and maintenance), along with a couple of new cushions in the saloon, but she is otherwise ready to go chasing a new dream – a boat the like of which is not to be found anywhere in the world, a boat that first rolled out of the shed 28 years ago but has sailed no more than a few hundred miles and has spent most of its existence tucked away in dry storage waiting for better days.
The details
Vertue # 219: aluminium one-off built under licence from Laurent Giles
Constructed in 1996 by Otto Künemund, Fellhorst, Germany
7.62 m x 2.18 m x 1.35 m, 4,350 kg (2,000 kg lead ballast)
Sole Mini 17 Diesel (18 HP) 106 hours
Fixed shaft and two-blade propeller
Tank in keel with inspection hatch
Inside of hull fully insulated with wood lining
Pump WC with no holding tank
Standing headroom in the saloon
Double-spreader rig
Cutter stay with pelican hook
Mainsail with two reefs
2x foresails, one with Furlex furler
EU taxes paid
The forerunner of the VERTUE class was the ANDRILLOT, designed in 1936. Ten ANDRILLOT sister ships were produced prior to the outbreak of war in 1939. It was the fifth boat, EPENETA, that would ultimately give the class its name, but not until 1945. Over the years, various alterations were made to the deck and rigging but the hulls remained relatively unchanged from the ANDRILLOT. Sail area for later boats was reported as 395 sqft (36.74 sqm) The ANDRILLOT was a gaff cutter with a sail area of 366 sqft. (34.04 sqm). Changes to the rig and sail plan began immediately following ANDRILLOT from a gaff to a Bermudan rig to a “stutter” rig, a modified sloop and cutter. Other VERTUES were given a fractional rig. The most popular, however, was the masthead. Most VERTUES were built by different firms in England. Cheoy Lee built a few in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Some were built later in FG. It is thought that approximately 100 have been built to this design. Beginning in the mid 1970’s, VERTUES were produced using GRP and continue being built today by Bossom Boatyard. See VERTUE II.
Lying Kappeln, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Price €24,500
For further information
peter@windpilot.com
+49 40 652 52 44
Peter Förthmann
