An independent figure from an independent family, Swiss-German Hans Klaar (top) is the son of a one-time Swiss engineer who with his wife gave up life ashore to raise their three children on a succession of eclectic sailing craft as they wandered the world’s oceans (the Klaars were forced to drive a sailing junk ashore in Australia on Christmas Eve 1974 in order to survive the giant typhoon Tracy). The whole family would later spend a long period based out of Durban searching – literally – for gold, when they went on the hunt for the treasure galleon Santiago which sank in the Mozambique Channel in 1485. Using the most basic diving gear and to the disbelief of everyone who knew of the expedition, it was 14-year-old Hans Klaar himself who spotted the wreck in late 1976, going on to recover a hoard of jewels, artefacts, precious metals and stones which the family lived off for several years. Klaar is something of a legendary figure among long-distance cruising communities. He continues to make his living delivering cargo between small islands under sail, most recently in the Caribbean where Øyvind Bjordal had caught up with him for this article. And he continues to search for treasure


catamaran. And when checking more precisely, I notice that it’s wider in the stern than in the bow. The whole vessel is somewhat pointed, like a spear head. ‘In a boatbuilding tradition that is


thousands of years old there is an immense amount of knowledge,’ Klaar says. ‘Much of the trick in making a cat work is con- trolling the waterflow between the hulls. This way the flow helps the boat moving forward, instead of slowing it down.’ But the physics behind this is a bit hard


to understand… even more so why the hulls are not of equal length. After deli- cately pressing Klaar further the reality seems to me to boil down to the fact that the planks were simply the length that they were. A tree is only as long as it is. And


42 SEAHORSE


Klaar thought it looked cool. The sail is indeed made from tarpaulin,


and the two booms are simply long rafts of raw wood. The sail can be reefed by lash- ing down the back end – leech seems too cold a word. But Klaar explains that it takes a lot of wind before that’s needed. Originally the Polynesians never really


reefed their sails, they just lowered the upper boom to make the sail twist more. Extreme twist would effectively remove surplus power. In a real storm they are believed to have taken the sail down completely and waited for better weather. ‘The rig has cost me a couple of


thousand dollars, all in all,’ Klaar says. ‘I added a jib to improve balance, and now I use a few blocks and tackles. But it’s a


fairly efficient rig for an ocean-going 70ft catamaran. In a modern boat that amount of money would buy you a turnbuckle and a halyard.’


Life at sea Klaar sails a lot with friends, but quite a bit alone too. Right now he has family visiting, so as my visit is about to end I step up to do the good old family photo. We have talked a lot and as I crawl back


down into my dinghy he decides to give me a philosophical goodbye fanfare: ‘You know, people create their own destiny, and you reap what you sow. ‘Why would you listen to anyone who


tries to hold you back? Stand by your humanity and your skills – nobody else


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