Severn

K23

The Severn's story began back in 1929, when the boat was designed and built by shipbuilding legend William Fife. It was then completed in 1930 under hull number 786 and delivered to its first owner, whose name is unfortunately not known. Nevertheless, the ship quickly gained great fame after winning the Coupe de France regatta in the year of its completion. Three more years of superiority were to follow and the Severn was able to achieve an unprecedented series of four consecutive victories between 1930 and 1933. After that, the Severn appeared less often until it won the 2,000-mile Round Britain Race in 1966, which was a sensation for a boat of its age and construction. Unfortunately, what exactly happened to the ship after that is not documented, but it is assumed that it sank in the North Sea in the late 60s. Due to her amazing racing history, in 2009 the then President of IEMA Fed Meyer decided to expand his already impressive collection of 8mR yachts and have the Severn rebuilt by David Viera and his shipyard Absolute in Lisbon, known for classic yacht restorations, based on a convincing template of plans from the original, in order to add another vessel to the 8mR fleet on Lake Geneva And the newly built Severn was also able to impress in the first year of its completion and won the Sira and Neptun Trophy at the World Cup 2009 in Hyeres (France). Since 2014, the ship has been owned by the current IEMA President Werner Deuring, who brought it to Lake Constance and sailed there for a few years before it began a well-conditioned slumber in the Bilgeri yacht yard in 2017. Werner Deuring then decided with a heavy heart in 2022 to sell his gem to the current owner Sven Schulz on the German side of Lake Constance. He invested considerable sums again in 2023 and 2024 to make the ship regatta ready after the long break and will steer the Severn at the World Cup in Scotland in 2024 together with his crew from the Lindau Sailing Club. There she will be seen at the starting line together with her William Fife sister ships Carron II, Fulmar, Falcon, Saskia and Carron.