98:, neither of which were seen as fully satisfactory by the Swedish Sailing Federation. The committee completed its proposal the following year. It was accepted as the first Square Metre Rule: yachts were to be classed by their sail area which was fixed. In addition, there were minimum requirements for weight and cabin measurements. Four new classes were originally accepted: 22 m, 30 m, 45 m and 55 m. Soon, new classes were to follow: the 38 m class in 1912; 15 m, 75 m, 95 m, 120 m and 150 m classes in 1913; finally in 1915, the 38 m and 45 m classes were combined into a new 40 m class. The new rule became very popular within the Baltic region; between 1907 and 1920, Finnish yards alone built some 600 Square metre rule yachts. During peak years, Skerry cruisers made up 95 percent of the yards' output. They were also exported to other European countries and the United States.
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22 m and 30 m. Larger classes are mostly boats built prior to the 1925 rule and generally only found in the Baltic, where they are dutifully cared for by enthusiasts. Although it was never quite as widespread as the
International Rule, the Square Metre rule has a devoted following in many countries. Strongholds of the rule have traditionally been Sweden, Finland and Germany, which also had national Square Metre rule boats, known as
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soon came up with very extreme designs which pushed contemporary sailboat technology to its limits. Development was dramatic: for example, whilst early 40 m boats tended to be around 9 to 10 metres long, in 1923 Westin designed a 40 m boat which was 15.2 metres long and had a beam of only
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The Square Metre rule was much less restrictive than competing
International Rules. The relatively loose set of rules allowed previously built boats into the new classes if their rigging was modified to comply with the rules. They also gave designers relatively free hand, and top designers like the
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As weaknesses of the original rule became apparent, the
Swedish Sailing Federation enacted a number of modifications from 1916 onwards. Construction standards became much more strict and classes had minimum freeboard and maximum lengths defined. The Rule also specified new minimum measurements for
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As with many other sailing handicap and construction rules, the Square Metre rule fell in popularity as its weaknesses were discovered. However, in its revised form it has proved to be enduring and new boats following the rule are still built today. The internationally most active classes are the
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established a committee to design a national racing yacht class. Previous handicap rules had tended to be very simple and boats had evolved to be very fast and extreme racing machines, which were perceived as unsafe and impractical. Recently developed other options were the
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internal space, to ensure that boats would have adequate room for accommodations. This is in contrast to
International Rule designs where cabins are not required. The final revision of the rule was issued in 1925. It is still in effect with only minor later changes.
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This development quickly led to diminishing popularity of the Square Metre rule as these extreme hulls were perceived simply as too weak and uncomfortable to ride. 30 m and 40 m classes were accepted to the
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and construction classes, which usually were an attempt to design a cheaper alternative to high-end yachts. These include
Swedish Mälar boats (M15,
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1.74 m — a length to beam ratio of nearly 9 to 1. An often cited example as some sort of pinnacle of the rule was the 150 m
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had the dubious pleasure of surfing this boat at 14 knots and claimed afterward that it followed the waves "like a sea serpent".
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show obvious Skerry cruiser influence. Swede 55 and Swede 41 yachts were also based on Square Metre boats.
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Svenska Skärgårdskryssare Förbundet - Swedish Skerry
Cruiser Federation
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http://www.puuvene.net/saaristoristeilijat/Docs/lorelei_saga.pdf
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In addition, the Square Metre rule produced a number of related
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Ton classes (0–½, ½–1, 1–2, 2–3, 3–10, 10–20, 20 & Open)
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The term "skerry cruiser" comes from the
Swedish term
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40 m Skerry cruisers at the 1920 Summer
Olympics.
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110:150 m Skerry cruiser
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489:Skerry cruiser 40 m
484:Skerry cruiser 30 m
281:October 6, 2007, at the
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102:Decline and rebirth
42:Square metre yachts
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316:978-90-78440-23-9
209:skärgårdskryssare
50:Square metre rule
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133:Zake Westin
646:Categories
615:Techno 293
594:Elliott 6m
559:Windglider
253:References
186:one-design
54:Baltic Sea
529:5.5 Metre
469:8.5 Metre
464:6.5 Metre
242:Ton class
138:Singoalla
112:Singoalla
27:Ship type
610:Nacra 15
499:Snowbird
479:15 Metre
449:10 Metre
444:12 Metre
406:Nacra 17
279:Archived
231:See also
142:Uffa Fox
122:in 1922.
584:Yngling
554:Tornado
544:Tempest
519:Swallow
514:Firefly
509:O-Jolle
474:9 Metre
439:8 Metre
434:7 Metre
429:6 Metre
276:classes
221:Finnish
73:Origins
68:History
62:formula
574:Europe
549:Soling
524:Dragon
391:IQFoil
376:49erFX
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213:German
160:Legacy
127:Finns
46:yachts
44:) are
396:Laser
118:, on
631:Byte
589:RS:X
504:Star
381:Finn
371:49er
312:ISBN
196:and
131:and
40:(or
366:470
219:, (
202:Hai
198:M30
194:M25
190:M22
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192:,
344:e
337:t
330:v
211:(
20:)
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