22 Square Metre | Vigilant | Patriot
22 Square Metre
The Skerry Cruiser is Sweden´s contribution to the world of
sailing. It is a fast
and elegant boat of which over 1200 have been built since the advent
of the
rule in 1908.
The rule of the Square Metre Yachts was applied by the Swedish Sailing Association in 1908 and revised in 1925. A boat design suited for racing as well as pleasure was required for the Swedish skerry by combining a suitable interior space with a significant sail area. The class rule is a construction rule where all boats have their individual design but the sail area is limited and defines the size of the individual boat.
Cremyll Sailing operate two 22 square metres:
Vigilant
built and sailed by Uffa Fox to Sweden for the 22 square metre event in 1930.
Patriot
an Udell class one-design 22 square meter designed by Knud Reimers.
Scandinavian sailboats known as ‘Skärgårdskryssare’, Schärenkreuzer or Skerry cruisers were first developed in the Baltic sea in an area dotted with small islands - ‘skär’ being the name for the rocks not big enough to be called islands.
They had exceptionally tall rigs to catch the wind over the tops of the skerries and long, refined hulls which required only the faintest breeze to power the boat. The hulls were specifically designed to conserve momentum as they passed behind a skerry.
Once free of the skerry, the boat had to tackle the often difficult conditions of the Baltic - North Sea area. The demanding combination of conditions - from heavy wind and rough seas in unprotected areas through gusty winds when passing skerries to little wind and flat water in the protected fjords - resulted in the graceful and deceptively fast Skerry cutters.
