Storebro Royal Cruiser V/47

Information

The Royal Cruiser V was a true luxury yacht at the time of its presentation. The enormous hull was built entirely in mahogany. The ship already had a complete 230V network with generator and accordingly a 230V cooker. The layout took into account the idea of the time that such a luxury boat could not be sailed without a crew and provided for them a crew cabin in the foredeck. Otherwise, the layout offered ample space for six people.

Draft of a 45 feet ship by W.H. Wilke

A first design by Winfried Wilke from 1968 shows a 45-foot ship that already had the essential design features of the 47-foot version built later. However, the long flybridge that spanned the aft deck was not realised.

At the time of the ship's development, the subject of the sliding stringers and their effect on the sailing behaviour was being discussed. An article in the German magazine "Yacht" in 1970 described advantages and disadvantages. Although no significant advantage was to be expected with the expected speed profile, the first two ships were fitted with these sliding stringers. They were then omitted from the third ship.

The first ship was delivered in 1970, the second a little over a year later in 1971. While these two ships were very similar in layout and equipment, the layout and the execution of the woodwork of the third ship was strongly oriented towards the increased standards of the shipyard. Unlike the first two ships, the aft cabin of the third ship was equipped with a centrally placed double bed instead of two single beds on the sides. The fittings in the galley also clearly showed the further development of the wooden interior in the Storebro ships. Instead of white painted surfaces, the galley surfaces of the third ship were finished in wood.

The prototype was equipped with Volvo Penta TMD70AB engines. With a stated maximum output of 200 hp, the 15 t ship was slightly underpowered. It should also be taken into account the bad habit at the time of specifying the power in SAE hp. A negative example is the Volvo Penta MD32 with 106 SAE hp that was frequently installed in the Storebro Royal Cruiser IV/34, which actually only provided 78 DIN hp at the shaft (see engine power). The second Storebro Royal Cruiser V was then equipped with much more powerful engines from Detroit Diesel. For the third ship, the Volvo Penta TAMD70B with 250 DIN hp at the shaft was installed.

• Apart from the prototype, which was only later fitted with a flybridge by its owner, the other two ships were fitted with a flybridge from the shipyard. Here, too, the further development of the design can be seen.
• The Royal Cruiser 47 was the first ship to be built in the new shipyard facilities in Västervik. The hull of the first ship was still built in Storebro and then transported half-finished on icy roads to Västervik in winter.
• The ship was originally presented as the Royal Cruiser V. With the appearance of the smaller Royal Cruiser 43, the Roman nomenclature was then changed in favour of the length specification in feet, as there would have been no room for this between the Royal Cruiser V and the Royal Cruiser IV.
• The ships had the hull numbers 1621, 1812 and 2131.

Technical development