Information
Concept
The Carter 40/Havsörnen 40 was a 1-ton ship designed by Richard E. Carter for racing. The "Stay Loose" was sailed by Carter himself and took first place in classes I-IV during La Rochelle Week 1971. Frenchman Jaques Molco finished third in the 1971 Malboro Cup with his "Candide" and second in Class III at Giraglia in 1973.
The Carter 40 satisfied demanding racing sailors and had some outstanding design features such as the additional trim fin on the keel. Unlike earlier Storebro sailboats, the hull was built from GRP.
The boat was sold by both Carter Offshore and Storebro itself. Carter Offshore delivered the ship as Carter 40, Storebro with the traditional name Havsörnen 40 and Sea Eagle 40.
Miscellaneous
Olle Enderlein had drawn three sailboats for Storebro/Örnmaskiner up to Havsörnen 40. However, the shipyard was not very happy that Enderlein also drew for other Swedish competitors and that the designs were similar. Therefore Dick Carter was contacted. In 1969 he flew from the USA to Jönköping to visit the shipyard for several days. For 4-5 days Carter observed the shipyard workers in the production and finally confirmed the cooperation with the words "OK, you are in business".
It must be noted, however, that Carter later set different standards of workmanship when he had the Carter 33 built in Poland and Greece.
During the construction of the Havsörnen 40, every part that was brought on board was weighed. The shipyard was able to present the lucky designer a ship that was 125 kg lighter than calculated. The extreme view to the weight was due to the fact that Carter had previously had the first two Carter 33s built in Finland, which had become too heavy and whose water pass disappeared below the water surface when the ship was launched. The moulds of the hulls stored at the Finnish shipyard were later transported by ferry to Stockholm at Dick Carter's request and then by truck to Västervik. Carter wanted to save the moulds from the legal dispute with the shipyard. These moulds later formed the basis for the Storebro 33.
2025-03-02
