"How the Swedes have solved the problem of the cheap small cruiser"
Editor - This was left in the cockpit of my boat, a reprint of an article I believe was published in 1946 in "The Yachtsman" but gives a little insight of the world when the Folkboat was designed.
As Sweden, during the war, was locked up behind the German blockade line through the Skagerrak, so Swedish yachting and yachtsmen were locked up behind the minefield protecting her own coasts. A great part of the Swedish merchant navy was spread out over the seven seas when Germany fell upon Denmark and Norway. These ships, trading all through the war for the allied nations, contributed in some measure to the defeat of the Nazis – at a cost of 225 vessels and the lives of more than one thousand sailors. Yachtsmen had no chance of being useful in a similar manner, but, inside the minefields, yachting was allowed and flourished considerably. In this respect Swedish yachtsmen were more favored than any others in Europe.
At first glance it may seem a remarkable fact that wartime yachting in Sweden blossomed forth in a degree that left all earlier records considerably behind. It is, however, an easily explained and natural development. Restrictions to sailing and the threat, from time to time, that changes in the course of the war might make yachting altogether impossible, made people realize clearly how infinitely cherished and how very near to their hearts the sport was. You never know how much you appreciate a thing until you come within a hair’s breath of losing it. So they did everything in their power to acquire boats, and to squeeze every possible hour of wailing out of the waters, resulting in the development of new, small-sized cruisers and other boats, which incidentally brought sailing within the reach of a larger number of people.
Undoubtedly the most important occurrence in the field of cruising during the war was the advent of the Folkbat (literally translated: everyman’s boat). She is a one-design pocket cruiser and the result of an Inter-Scandinavian design competition in 1941. So far, owing to conditions resulting from the Nazi occupation, only a limited number of these boats have been built in the other Scandinavian countries. In Sweden, after an initial burst of enthusiasm, interest waned somewhat. Swedes are very particular about the look of a boat, and the lines of the Folkbat cannot, even as an act of kindness, be called graceful. It is, of course, a silly position to take up if you cannot afford to pay the extra cost of grace and beauty, and eventually interest returned. As people saw her sail, noting her way of behaving in a seaway, the ease in which she was handled and the amount of space she provided for her size, orders for Folkbats again started pouring into the boatyards. Now, over 200 boats of this class have been built, and if you consider the size of the population (about 6 million in all Sweden, I.E. quite a bit less than in London), that is no mean measure of success.
The Folkbat is not the work of one designer. Although many designers took part in the contest, no design was considered entirely satisfactory, and no first prize was given, Knud Olsen of Denmark and Jac Iversen of Sweden shared the second prize, and a committee worked out instructions for an independent designer to modify and compromise their designs into something which would answer the purpose – the creation of a small size cruiser which could also be raced with advantage, give good accommodation and be fast and seaworthy; and last but not least, she had to be of a design suitable for mass production and her price must be as low as possible without sacrificing quality.
The resulting boat is clinker built with a modern Bermuda rig and the following main dimensions: LOA 25 ft., 1 inch, LWL 19 ft. 8 inch, beam 7ft 3 inch. The sail area is 269 square feet.
She is really a very good boat though not beautiful to look upon. By no means slow in light weather, she is a magnificent seaboat and carries full sail in a 20 – 25 knots wind, easily. She had an opportunity of proving her worth at the Marstrand regatta of the Royal Gothenburg YC last year. One day there was a 40-knot gale blowing and a heavy sea running up the open fjord where the races were held (with special permission and arrangements by the navy. The Folkbat class sailed round the 11 miles of the course of which about 4 miles were laid dead to windward against a steep sea with big breakers, in about 3 minutes more time than the Dragons needed. And while the Dragons made pretty heavy going of it and their crews were soaked from the start, the Folkbat class had almost dry decks.
The accommodation varies in different boats. Generally, it is based on the assumption behind the creation of the class, viz., that she would be used, mainly, by the middle class man of moderate means with his wife and one or two children. Most boats have two bunks in the cabin and a somewhat smaller one for the youngster, halfway in the cabin and halfway under the fore deck. That leaves room for a hanging wardrobe and a small galley (or, in some cases, a cupboard) on either side of the after bulkhead. Some boats have four full-length bunks, which is achieved by letting the two aftermost ones project under the seats in the cockpit. Very often, there is no stove or galley in the cabin. As the boats are generally used for day sailing or weekend cruising, one of the seats in the cockpit is often provided with a lid and lined with zinc or some other metal, and there a Primus stove is slung. Now that the war is over and the sea is free again, longer cruises may make permanent galleys more popular, for a boat of this size and stiffness is rather lively at sea, and the arrangement just mentioned calls for an anchorage when preparing food. As long as sailing is restricted to waters inside the skerries, that is no difficulty, for almost anywhere you can find a suitable temporary anchorage, or otherwise moor to a rock.
Price, as has already been mentioned, was a very important factor in the creation of the Folkbat. Boat building has become very expensive in Sweden during the war, and no comparison can be made with pre war prices. It may, however, give and idea of the relative cost of a Folkbat to state that she costs about half the price of a Dragon. At a first class yacht yard, today, that works out a t about 235 sterling as against some 550 sterling for a Dragon.
She has made a popular racing class, too, and it is not unusual to see some 20 or more Folkbats gathering at a starting line.
A great problem has been presented, as in all other classed, in the matter of sails. English sails have been prohibitive in price, if at all obtainable, and Swedish sails are no good – but they just have had to do. Our sailmakers are on the whole all right, but we cannot produce canvas of a type suitable for yachts; all our experience and traditions, when it comes to canvas making, being restricted to sails for sailing coasters and fishing boats.