Svanö / Express Cruiser (Bergö)

Remarks

Svanö
The Svanö was the third self-developed boat of the Örnmaskiner shipyard. Originally she was presented as a Kabinbåt and listed in the shipyard's lists. During the construction period, the Svanö underwent several major modifications. The Svanö was a very popular boat in Scandinavia, where most of the boats were sold. Some boats were also exported to the USA and fitted with twin engines for the US market. The design was by Einar Runius.

Bergö
The Bergö is actually just a further development of the Svanö. The boat owes its name to Gösta Berg, the largest retailer and pioneer in the water sports sector at the time, who strongly pushed for a revised version of the Svanö. The boat he demanded should have a larger freeboard and more space. So Einar Runius first drew a motorboat with a length of 7.60 m for Gösta Berg in September 1960. This design was adopted by AB Örnmaskiner as early as October 1960 and then became the Bergö.

Production manager Tage Truedsson always resisted the distinction Svanö/Bergö. For him, all ships of this type were Svanös. Even in the shipyard's books, ships of this type are listed either as Kabinbåt (1956) or as Svanö. It is therefore not clear from the serial number whether it is a Svanö or Bergö.

Miscellaneous
The Bergö was produced at a time when coloured hulls became fashionable. Instead of the classic white or clear varnished hulls, the ships were now delivered in blue and green pastel shades or even black. The photos show, for example, a Bergö with a pastel blue hull. Especially the King's Cruiser was offered in a wide range of colours.
As with the Sea Chaser (Solö Ruff), there was the problem with the Svanö/Bergö name for international sales. So the ship was also sold as Baltic 24 (Svanö) or Express Cruiser (Bergö).

For identification of the type, the following matrix shall supply with a few pointers (Note: This information is not conclusively confirmed! Feedback on details or corrections is requested):


2022-10-22