STAVANGER
“The crew try to do things as they would have been done a hundred years ago”
work. As a result, between 1846 and 1855, there were around 700-750 deaths at sea every year. Plans to set up a lifeboat network similar to those in Holland and Britain were thwarted by the sheer length of Norway’s coastline. It wasn’t until the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue was established in 1891 – with Colin Archer on its committee – that the idea of building seaworthy vessels to patrol the fisheries full-time gained credence.
DESIGN COMPETITION The following year, the society announced a competition to find a suitable design, with a prize of NKr 150 for the winner. The winning design was not by Colin Archer (who was on the jury), but by ship owner Christian Lauritz Stephansen. Archer was, however, commissioned to revise the design and to submit his own plans for a rescue boat. Both boats were duly built the following year and christened Liv (‘life’) and Colin Archer respectively. Archer’s namesake set off to the Lofotens in December 1893, to provide cover for a fleet of 2,000 fishing boats; Liv had to undergo alterations (including a new rig) before she followed in March 1894. The fishermen themselves were initially sceptical about the presence of these ‘southern’ redningskøyter in their midst. It took a dramatic rescue operation by Colin Archer at the end of her first season, when she set out in a hurricane to rescue 36 seamen ‘from certain death’, to finally convince them of their worth. It soon became apparent that the extra safety provided by the rescue
boats not only reduced the numbers of deaths at sea but also allowed the fishermen to continue working in weather that would otherwise have forced them back to harbour. One anecdotal report suggests that this factor increased their overall catch by more than 10 per cent. Of the two designs, Colin Archer’s proved to be the
superior, and four more were built before it was modified by Archer himself in 1897 into the Svolvær class. Ten of these were built from 1897 to 1907. The final version of the design was the Solli/Vardø class. By the time the last of these was built in 1924, some 32 of his rescue boats had been built, with an average life span of 36 years. Between them, they saved an estimated 2,500 lives. Stavanger was the third Svolvær built by Colin Archer for the NSSR and included several subtle alterations to the original design – a heavier iron keel, a self-bailing cockpit, and moving the tank of cod liver oil, used to calm rough seas, into the galley to keep it warm and, therefore, more liquid. The number of bunks was reduced to four, from six, but by enlarging the sitting benches to double up as bunks, the capacity was increased to eight berths. Apart from that, the construction was as normal: massive. The 1½in (36mm) thick oak outer planking was fastened onto 3½ x 7in (90 x 180mm) grown pine frames with 3in (75mm) iron spikes and trenails made of juniper wood. Just for good measure, a second layer of 2in (50mm) thick pine planking was attached to the inside of the frames, in case the outer skin was ruptured.
CLASSIC BOAT MAY 2012 35
Above: Everything is traditional
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