fivepointfive - April 2023

Classic
Lines
Alzira, GER 117, formerly, SUI 79, is one of the best looked
after classic 5.5 Metres still sailing.
She was designed by Dr Willy Vollenweider and built
in 1967 from carvel planked mahogany on acacia by
Bootswerft Heinrich of Kreuzlingen on Lake Constance.
The boat was constructed with a separate rudder and a trim tab on the
keel and is perhaps the first 5.5 Metre built with a separate rudder. Photo
opposite from Thun in 2022 shows the original rudder.
Formerly owned by Tobias Isler, who bought her “with a goal to win
the 5.5 classic worlds” from her second owner Dr Werner Dörfler, on Lake
Zurich, in 2009. “The boat was almost never used. Absolutely no cracks,
damage or rotten wood. I did the entire new paint job by hand with a
brush. The mast was set a little back for better balance and, of course a
Favre mast, the best alu mast with rod rig and runners. I put in a strong
frame from the keel up to the shrouds. I had the opportunity to sail the boat
in Thun at the Herbstpreis 2022 – a dream – upwind going without any
rudder pressure, well balanced.”
She has been owned by Jörg Sonntag since April 2021 and was sailed
in Cannes in 2022 by Olaf Schulz, Holger Bock and Florian Hentschel
and drew admiring glances from all sides. Alzira is currently sailed on the
Langer See in Berlin at the WSV 1921 club.
54 • fivepointfive • APRIL 2023