Opposite: an understandably proud Germán Frers admires the workmanship of 82-year-old master-craftsman Tito Szyka’s team as the new Recluta begins to appear in the large shed which Frers had built at the Yacht Club of Argentina especially for the project. Frers prepared the lines and drawings using 3D modelling to achieve the accuracy he is accustomed to with modern builds, in turn offending some of Szyka’s craftsmen who had spent their careers quite satisfactorily delivering yachts they’d faired entirely by eye. Above: how many of us look at this photo of the original Recluta stranded on a beach in 1942 and think, there but for the grace of…
of my father’s design office – my father occasionally glancing over at them and always with a slightly regretful look. And all of the yacht’s original plans and construc- tion drawings remained carefully stored in the drawing cabinet. Around 15-20 years later, when I started
frequenting the office after school, I become familiar with the saga of Recluta; which had become a familiar topic of after- hours conversations with ourselves and other friends who used to visit the office for high tea… before cocktail time began! Later in life, after I had become a
professional naval architect, I got involved in designing and being part of the crew of other more modern boats also named Recluta, owned by Charles Badaracco’s nephew, Carlos Corna Badaracco. I designed and sailed on Recluta III in
the Admiral’s Cup of 1973, finishing as second individual scoring yacht and second overall in the Fastnet Race. We also won the Buenos Aires to Rio Race and later on won Class C and finished second overall in the 1974 Bermuda Race. I similarly designed and sailed aboard a
new Recluta IV in the 1977 Admiral’s Cup and that year’s Buenos Aires to Rio Race,
and the final Recluta of the modern era, Recluta V, in the Sardinia Cup. Meanwhile, the unfinished earlier
attempt at building a new yacht to the lines of the original Recluta languished away, her bones finally disappearing after 70 years of abandonment… But that was not the end of the story.
A new century Back in 2014, in the heat of a political discussion with a group of friends and artisans at a local traditional yard, all of us feeling equally worried about the future (a common situation in Argentina during the past 70 years), somehow I found my mouth, quite unbidden, saying that, if the results of that year’s elections were posi- tive, then I was going to build a new boat myself. And the results, even at the time, were looking encouraging. And so it turned out… good for
Argentina certainly, while a few months later I was faced with the obligation of building a new boat. Something I must
admit that I have thoroughly enjoyed! I have found in the classic yacht fleet a new niche where I am able to compete while sailing with good friends from the early years, including many Recluta crew – a fun-loving, reckless, tireless and fearless bunch, as well as with their sons and daughters and other family. I began this new sailing ‘career’ with
Folly, a 1907 Charles Nicholson Inter - national 8-Metre he designed and sailed himself to compete against the Fife 8-Metres that at the time were dominant. I raced Folly for several years, in many
European events, including Argentario Week (where I received very nice compli- ments about the boat from Olin Stephens), Antibes, Cannes and St Tropez, as well as at Porquerolles Week near Toulon which we won. There was also an 8-Metre World Championship on Lake Geneva, where I was unceremoniously disqualified as helms- man (to be replaced by Doug Peterson) after the police reported that we were not wearing life jackets when the flashing light on their vessel indicated that we should do so! After Folly I moved to Sonny, a 1935
SEAHORSE 49
MODERN PHOTOS ZELMIRA FRERS
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122
