You may know that there is already a new built Omega 42 sailing which has been done by Mueritz Bootsservice in Germany. Hull #401 called WINDFAENGER, owned by my now dear friend Stefan. He is the one who first acknowledged the potential and excitement of reviving Peter Norlin´s iconic sailing yacht and invested into the project. I am happy to have him on my side for his expertise in both building the boat and of course also sailing her – looking so much forward to our next sailing event aboard his beautiful boat. But there are one or two details which I instantly upon seeing his yacht knew I would do differently. One of those details are the coachroof windows.
As much as I love the sleek design and the approach by Heiner Francke and his team in the shipyard back at Lake Mueritz, I kind of disapprove the window design on WINDFAENGER. For me, it is way too modern, too edgy, too … I don´t know … it just does not really follow the classic lines of the original. The guys decided to go for this design and form maybe to add a modernistic touch to the classy lines of Norlin, and it certainly works, but for me, personally, I want ALPHA to resemble as much as possible what this yacht was originally intended to look like. The coachroof windows are in this a very, very important and deciding detail, at least for me.
Peter Norlin´s original – and many iterations
Heiner and Stefan haven´t been the first to play with the coachroof window-design of the Omega 42. A quick check of Google picture search reveals that there are probably as many windows-iterations as there are boats. Originally, looking at the drawings of the yacht, Peter Norlin intended to have two sleek, elongated coachroof windows for the deck superstructure.
Just very sleek and stretched, these windows follow the lines of the coachroof, taking on the flatness of the whole superstructure and add to the dynamic lines. For me this is a very distinctive feature. For any yacht, the hull windows and coachroof windows in general can be very deciding. Just take Oyster for example – these yachts with their beautiful seascape windows are unmistakably defined design-wise by the three vertical panoramic windows – from the outside as well as from the inside. Back to the Omega 42, I also found one with three of those windows …
If the structural integrity and stiffness of the deck allows for it, one would think to go for as many windows as possible. Of course, we want natural light down below and inside the yacht. Especially in a boat that is as narrow and “flat” as the Omega 42, especially because there are no hull windows whatsoever, it may sound like a good idea to have three instead of just two windows. But I am a classic guy – I want my Omega 42 as “original” as possible.
Luckily, there are very many original boats still sailing and many owners are happy to share. Back in the day when Heiner and his shipyard crew – due to the fact that there are no original Omega 42-plans by Peter Norlin available – visited Sweden frequently to attend regattas and club races, they crawled dozens of Omega 42 yachts to take measurements and thousands of pictures. In the end, Heiner was able to reconstruct and reverse engineer almost all details of the Omega 42 – including the coachroof windows. I´ve made a whole article on this adventure and masterpiece of engineering work.
Being free to choose: Custom boat building!
I still vividly remember when I first came into contact with the whole Omega 42 idea: A good friend of mine, Skipper Wilfried, a very skilled old salt with whom I´ve had the pleasure to not only share my very first Atlantic Ocean sailing experience but also do some other exciting trips, like crossing the Bay of Biscay, told me years ago: “By the way, if you are seeking a story about some crazy people building a very, very special boat … get into your car and drive to Lake Mueritz.” You can read my article here. Anyway, arriving at the shipyard, WINDFAENGER was shortly before marriage between hull and deck …
… just a few building steps more progressed than my boat is now, the deck was hovering above the almost finished and fully fitted hull. You can clearly see the cutouts for the coachroof windows in the pictures above and below. Apparently, Heiner and his crew had used the original lines of Peter Norlin for cutting out the windows, but then went ahead to glue the actual windows from the outside onto the GRP deck. In this they applied modern techniques and materials, this is how it is done in production boatbuilding today: Cheaper, faster and certainly safe.
Talking with Heiner, it is good to know that I can choose for my yacht absolutely free how I want to have the windows. The Omega 42 new build project here at Lake Mueritz is a semi-custom and certainly one-off. Owners like myself can decide for almost all details – excluding structural of course – that´s the beauty of this project. With a production yacht, everything is set for you. The options lists are of course limited and therefore iterations and moreover, customizations, can only be done in a very, very small range. Not so here – I am literally free. Funny enough: I stick strictly to the original.
Fitting the gauge model for my new coachroof windows
Last time I´ve visited the shipyard to deliver some more items for the boat, Heiner and his crew had prepared the boat with the 1:1 gauge model for the windows. In this case, it´s a simple plastic film of thick quality. Here, the exact outlines of the coachroof windows are put on with a black Edding marker. Just like the deck hatches and porthole windows, I want my coachroof windows look “classic”.
That means that I do not want the sleek, frameless modern design, but purposefully want to go for the aluminium frames or the good old times. In this, it´s not just the looks. The frames provide some protection against scratches which are applied frequently by shoes when walking by and touching the windows by chance. The gauge model display the outline of the window, which would be the metallic frame, and the inner line where the actual cutout would be.
Both the forward facing and backwards facing flanks of the windows are angular. The forward facing window is even more radically bent, the backwards facing still a bit. This design can also be seen on many original Omega 42 boats of the first building phase and also on sketches of Norlin. I like the sleekness and elegance of it, very harmonic, dynamic and – yes – also a bit modern.
I am sure that these windows will match perfectly the skylight hatches and porthole windows! A day after my visit I am sending these blue gauges to Holland. You may have read my article on the factory visit at Gebo Marine Glazing in Almere. Since I have only good words for these products Made in Holland (I´ve had Gebo hatches on my first boat, OLIVIA, as well , I went for their classy standard hatches. And lucky me, these guys are producing custom windows as well, like now the coachroof windows for ALPHA. I´m really excited to see them in real life.
Hot summer in the shipyard!
Since we have August now and almost all of the businesses are on summer vacation and bank holidays, I don´t expect to receive the windows until mid-September. But apart from this, it will be a hot summer now for ALPHA in the shipyard and certainly a load of articles on the work-in-progress to follow: Diesel-engine fitting, keel casting and so on. Yesterday I finally ordered the Garmin electronics set-up for the boat as many of it must be installed before marriage – most importantly the auto pilot.
Next week I will try to do a piece on the keel casting as I will be visiting the foundry. You may expect a series of absolutely one-of-a-kind insight articles on this matter as the casting house is one of the very last small companies doing custom casting in full lead. Absolutely amazing stuff coming up! For now – enjoy your summertime, dearest readers.
© Pictures of classic Omega 42 from Batagent.se and facebook
Other interesting articles which are related:
Building commenced: How my Omega 42-project started
Oyster seascape windows & more – signature design features of a great yacht
Repairing hull windows on my King´s Cruiser 33