8 CLASSIC BOAT FEBRUARY 2018VICTORIA
“Kurt Gronborg and Finn Thogersen spent about
100,000 kroner on new mahogany alone,” Vidar says.
“They did a good job.” Nonetheless, the work dragged
on for a decade and Finn Thogersen died, with a launch
date no closer.
This is where Vidar enters the picture. Already a fan
of classic boats, and with tales of 7-M glory ringing in
his ears, he accepted an invitation in 2007 to fly to
Norway to sail the 7-M S Ambition – one of the Johan
Anker designs. “I fell in love with her and as soon as we
were back on dry land, I asked them ‘how much’? They
told me she wasn’t for sale, but promised I would be the
first person called if that ever changed.”
Vidar was venting his sorrow at the yacht club bar
afterwards, dismayed after loving and losing such a boat,
when one of the club’s elders pulled his pipe from
between his teeth and grunted: “Why don’t you buy your
grandfather’s old boat?” Vidar just stared at the man
until he explained that he knew where she was resting.
The boat that Vidar believed to have been lost had
resurfaced at last.
At least, in a manner of speaking. She was under a
tarpaulin in a shed on a long-disused German military
site. “I looked up at the fence surrounding the place, and
thought ‘what the hell’,” Vidar says. His heart was in his
mouth as he identified first the shed, then saw the
unmistakable tarpaulin-clad form of a boat. There was
nobody around the eerie place, but he left a message on
board and crossed his fingers. It took time, but the boat
eventually became his in 2011.
The restoration that ensued is a story of persuasion.
Vidar was good friends with the boatbuilder Niels
Andersen from Gilleleje, who at first refused to get
involved. “You don’t know what you’re taking on,” he
kept telling Vidar. Persistence paid off, though, and after
a year’s delay, work began in earnest in 2013. First to go
was the deck. “The two old guys had put on a mahogany
deck, but it leaked and looked terrible, so Niels just cut it
off,” Vidar says. “We couldn’t get the original drawings
to fit with our measurements, until we realised that the
freeboard had been raised 12cm by Henckel’s son-in-law
to make more room in the interior.” The extra planking
was peeled off and the frames cut down to size to return
her to her earlier state.Above: interior design is updated for cruising, with four berths and overnighting facilities, but retains the original open layoutOpposite top row
left to right: old
deck was
removed and
freeboard was
lowered as per
her original lines;
new deck beams;
inside the cabin
and cockpit
Second row:
10mm ply then
teak; letters
freshly carved by
Ole Sølve; the
coaming is in
mahogany
Third row: new
chainplates;
mahogany edges
for the teak deck;
deck is sealed
with Nautichem
Bottom row: new
winches from
Andersen; ten
layers of Epifanes
in the cockpit;
owner Vidar with
the boat ́s Classic
Boat Awards
runner-up
certificate“The next problem was that the boat was about 8cm
out of true – one side was bigger than the other.” Hefty
new stringers from Oregon pine were installed at the top
of the frames to bend them back to within an impressive
2mm of true.
Next, new deck timbers and mast partners were cut
and shaped – again from Oregon pine. Niels fastened
them all into position to check their fit before carefully
removing them and handing them to Vidar for
varnishing. “I put on 10 layers of Epifanes,” he says. “It
took a whole winter, but after all that I was the second
best varnisher in the yard – I could do it in my sleep.”
With the timbers back in, they set about redecking
Victoria. First, they fixed a layer of 10mm ply
throughout. “It stabilises the body of the boat,” says
Vidar. “It’s nothing to do with waterproofing.” Then
they planked the deck with strips of beautiful 30-year-
old teak that had been in store when Niels bought the
shipyard. “Niels told me: ‘If we don’t use the teak on a
boat like yours, I don’t know what we will use it for.’”
The result is beautiful – wood with an astonishing
density and depth of colour.
Oregon pine was used to build a new mast and the
coachroof, with more ply for the rudder. Vidar shrugs:
“It is stronger that way.”
He faired the hull with putty, going back time after
time to try to create perfect curves. Niels ran his fingers
over his work and repeatedly shook his head, telling him
there was this or that gnarl or lump. “In the end, Niels
sighed and took the scraper. After I thought it was
perfect, he spent a further two days perfecting it.”
They were nearing the end of the restoration, when
they made an unwelcome discovery. The 2.7-tonne lead
keel was fastened to rotten wood, which needed to be
completely replaced. Coming just when he thought he
was on the home straight, this was a major blow for
Vidar. “It took several weeks just to remove the keel
bolts. It was a really horrible job, but replacing the
wooden keel took even longer.”INTERIOR
Vidar cruises the boat as well as racing her, so he has not
returned to the 1918 specification, with its larger rig and
bare interior. There are berths for four down here – two