Sail Number:
Type: Germanischer Lloyd 100A5 Sailing Yacht
LOA: 196′ 0″ / 59.80m – LOD: 157′ 0″ / 47.80m – LWL: 116′ 0″ / 35.43m – Beam: 27′ 0″ / 8.16m – Draft: 18 ′ 0″ / 5.51m – Ballast: – Displacement: 179 tonnes – Yard Number: – Hull material: Steel – Sail Area: 1308 sq.m. – Designer: Max Oertz – Built by: Factoria Naval Marin, Spain – Year Built: 2011 – Current Name: GERMANIA NOVA – IMO Number: 9613800 – Port of Registry: St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda
Historical:
The original GERMANIA
Yachting sport came to Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. The German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, led the way with his METEOR III which he purchased in England. The German businessman and industrialist, Dr. Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, saw the advantage of sailing as a social arena to promote his fast growing steel business. He asked the well-known Hamburg designer Max Oertz to produce the largest and fastest sailing ship seen to date in Germany. The ship was built in 1908 by the Germania Shipyard in Kiel within only 7 months, from high-tensile steel, riveted to the frames. There was no electric lighting and no main engine.The owner’s area was very comfortable with a boudoir including a piano, a living room with an open fireplace and a dining room for 10 guests. There were two guest cabins and a comfortable owner’s cabin.
The large schooner was a world-class racer and won Cowes Week in 1908, setting a new course record. GERMANIA won almost all the races in which she participated except, for obvious reasons, when she was competing against the Kaiser’s METEOR IV … GERMANIA was fast and could reach speeds of up to 19 knots. For regattas the crew was increased to 32. In 1912 she participated in 19 regattas, winning 10 and coming second three times. When war broke out in 1914 she was seized as a prize of war and later sold to Norwegian banker C. Hannevig. She crossed the Atlantic and was renamed EXEN, subsequently sold again several times before – under the name HALF MOON – succumbing to a storm and sinking off Key Biscayne in 1930, becoming Florida’s Seventh State Underwater Archaeological Preserve.
GERMANIA NOVA, built in 2011, is a replica of the Dr. Max Oertz designed and Krupp built racing schooner, Germania, from 1908.
identical hull lines as well as the same sail- and deck-plan. The skylights, companionways and deckhouse are true replicas of the original. Extensive research was undertaken in order to achieve this. A main engine and generators were added, modern navigational and communications equipment was installed with the extra weight involved being compensated with hollow masts and a hull made of high-tensile steel.
The interior was constructed using lightweight materials which nevertheless convey a traditional appearance.
GERMANIA NOVA combines modern comfort with the high performance standards of the original GERMANIA. She is back … and she will rule the waves again!
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):