Currently owned by Tino & Jan Kuffel, who kindly provided the following picture and history of the boat.
Built in 1979 as hull no. 19 for the german owner Reinhard van Gülpen. He kept the boat in Holland, her first sailnumber was G 1270. The boat was rated IOR 26.2 feet then. In one of her first races, the boat had a collision with a cargo ship, lost her keel and sunk. She was brought back to the surface a few hours later, divers even found the lost keel. The owner sold her soon after, and the new owner, Mr. Ludwig Kreusch, repaired the boat for over one year. The repairs included a new keel flange, a stainless steel strongback inside the hull, topsides repair and a complete repaint. The repairs hardly finished, the boat was sailed to Lymington, where the Rogers people checked the whole thing and fitted a new toerail. After that, Mr. Kreusch raced and cruised the boat over 17 years. In 1990 a new rudder was fitted because a split rudder stock (seems to be a common problem on OODs). When I bought the boat in 1997, she looked a bit worn out, so the boat underwent a refit during the winter period which included complete repaint inside and outside, engine refit and the replacement of all running rig. She was measured under IMS and got a very competitive rating. Her actual sailnumber is NED 6117. It was a hard job to get the boat back on her original weight, because the former owner added a lot of woodwork and cruising gear to the boat. When I bought her, the weight was a full 4.6 tons! We stripped the boat to her standard interior and now she has got 3.7 tons. We do a lot of inshore and offshore racing, the boat is often the fastest in class. I think it is still an up-to-date design, very fast for her size in all conditions, especially upwind. She proved her excellent seagoing capacities during a non-stop trip to Edinburgh two years ago, with heavy winds up to force 10. Nothing broke, and we averaged nine knots over a period of 12 hours with only two crew on board. Actually we are preparing the boat for Cowes-Week, which includes some new deck gear, crew training and a light air spinnaker by Sanders. All foresails are made by Peter Sanders, added by a Banks main. For cruising we still use the old set of North dacron, made in 1979. We just replaced the old Stearn Headstay by a Tuffluff, because both bearings were broken and I lost trust in the corroded alloy. We have got a good crew of six on board, but no Solent-experience, so Cowes-Week will be exciting!
Short racing record:
NRW-Cup 2000, Holland: 4th class IMS 4
Challenge Cup Ijmuiden: 5th class IMS 4
NRW-Cup 2001 Holland: 2nd class IMS 4
Zuiderzeeweek 2001 Holland: 2nd class ORC 3