10 CLASSIC BOAT FEBRUARY 2018VICTORIA
in the fo’c’sle and two on either side of the saloon.
There’s a neat little Dometic paraffin stove on gimbals set
in a rich mahogany cabinet by the companionway. It’s
nothing fancy, but it makes the space cosy with the
promise of a warm cup of coffee – a boon after our first
test sail, in light Danish drizzle. The hull is painted
classic white inside and is unencumbered with bulkheads
or cabinetry all the way to the bow. In the half-light
below, her frames seem to stretch off to infinity.
The big day for the relaunch came in July 2016. Vidar
admits to a serious attack of nerves just before the hull
touched the water, but they discovered that she floated
close to her lines. Then there were speeches from the
back of a pick-up truck, wine and food to celebrate the
rebirth of a grand old lady of nearly 100 years of age.
Boatbuilder Niels was aboard for the first real sail, and
Vidar says he held his breath. “What do you think?” he
asked. Niels remained obstinately silent as he clutched
the short stainless steel tiller. “You’ve got to say
something!” Vidar complained.
After a long pause, Niels intoned: “She sails a little
better than expected.”
Victoria is a regular at Thursday evening race nights
out of Svanemollehavnen, competing against more than
20 other wooden boats, from a little 5.5-Metre to a big
yawl. A pair of Sorens crew with Vidar and he says
they’re getting faster as they learn how she handles. They
scored a very respectable second place in the Danish
Association for Wooden Boats’ (DFÆL) annual
championships.Above, l-r:
chromed winches
by Andersen;
hanked on North
headsail; snub
nose at the bow;
specially cast
fittings including
skylight supportWhen I join them on local race night, we have a tense
start and get luffed off the line – no allowances are made
for the antiquity of these boats, it seems. With Victoria
safely at the back of the pack, I take the helm and try to
squeeze her up to windward. We buck and pitch in the
short waves (though not as much as the poor
photographer) and it is clear that we will do better by
pointing lower and going for speed. It proves to be the
right move and she heels keenly as the main stops luffing.
There is almost an audible shifting of gears as the boat
begins to accelerate.
With my back pressed comfortably into the curve of
the coaming, feet planted on the opposite side of the
cockpit, I tuck the tiller under my arm and feel the water
coursing past the rudder. She tracks perfectly with her
North Sails balanced and her long keel – my input is
almost unnecessary. The wind remains light, so Victoria
rarely raises her pace above 7kt on my watch. She skips
gamely through the chop, rising high to the seas and
taking them almost on the forefoot. Off the wind with
the spinnaker up, she has managed well north of 12kt,
Vidar says, in around 20kt of wind. It must be the curse
of the yachting journalist, I think, because it was
apparently also sunny the day before I arrived too.
Vidar loves the classic aesthetic but is not averse to
installing some useful modern features on board. He has
a Garmin autohelm, Dyneema sheets and halyards and
chrome winches by Andersen. The headsail is on a
modern roller furler, hidden below decks and operated
by a loose line that runs through wooden fairleads bolted
to the frames below. It puts me in mind of the old
bell-pull to request a stop on London’s Routemaster
double-decker buses.
All the deck fittings are new, but they look the part.
Vidar called in a favour or two from an old friend who
runs a foundry. He says he had much more elaborate
plans for interior fittings as well, until Niels stopped him
with the stern admonition that: “A Scandinavian boat
should be simple.”
If Vidar called in a favour or two to rebuild the boat,
it has also been a labour of love for him. For three years
he worked on her two days a week, thanks to flexible
working on the day job. How much time did he spend
on the project in total? “I don’t know,” he sighs. And the
money? “I really don’t know,” he says. “And if I did, I
wouldn’t say – in case my wife found out.”
Like the gulasch baron who built her, it seems, Vidar
is keeping Victoria off the books.Above: she’s racing every Thursday out of Svanemollhavnen in Copenhagen