Owner’s Description
In the late 1920’s around the Baltic, sailing was becoming expensive and was in danger of being a sport for only the wealthy. Several yacht club officials then met and decided that a new reasonably priced design was needed – something that was built with high quality using local materials, designed for racing and cruising, a monotype (one-design) for racing with a crew of 3, and beautiful. Gunnar L. Stenbäck created the Haï (shark in Finnish) to fulfill this need. The class were quickly adopted by Finnish sailors and boat were also shipped to other ports around the Baltic. Between 1933 and 1935, 25 boats were shipped to the Camden Yacht Club in Maine, USA, where the Swedish spelling of the class name was used (Haj). Around the same time, several boats were shipped to France where they are called Requin. Soon boatbuilders in France started producing more and the number has grown to more than 400 (wood and fiberglass).
MAKO was built in 1935 and was part of the third, and last, shipment of Hais from Finland. She is one of only a few remaining in Maine. In 2006 she was shipped to Sausalito, CA where she sailed for 3 years before being shipped back to Maine.
At some point a previous owner added genoa jib which provided more power but decreased pointing ability because of having to sheet outside the shrouds. During a recent trip to Finland I discovered that the jib was reduced in size when the boats were shipped to Maine. I have since had new sails made that conform to the original plan (and the current Finnish rule). In France the boats have more sail area, something I have considered when the winds are light. And yet, the hull is so easily driven that MAKO moves along nicely in all conditions. She is one of the nicest boats I have ever sailed.
Photos
Map
No Records Found
Sorry, no records were found. Please adjust your search criteria and try again.
Google Map Not Loaded
Sorry, unable to load Google Maps API.
Comments
Post a Comment Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
2 thoughts on “32' Stenback HAI Class Sloop (1935) - MAKO”
Owner’s Description
Photos
Map
Comments
Post a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
2 thoughts on “32' Stenback HAI Class Sloop (1935) - MAKO”
In the sixties and seventies I was an instructor at the Camden Yacht Club. The HAJ boats were actively sailed then as a racing fleet and during the club’s annual cruise. The junior sailors cruised in the HAJs, practicing chartwork, navigation, anchoring, cooking, cleaning, etc. It was a great learning experience. Boys and girls sailed separate boats but they rafted up at night. It was a special time for families, now no longer done so much.
Yes, I had heard for years about the “winter rig”. When I mentioned it to the Hai sailors in Finland they laughed. Their boats are hauled out for the winter since much of the Baltic freezes. I still find it interesting that the boats shipped here had less sail area, the ones shipped to France had more, and the Finns stayed with the sailplan as originally designed. They actively race the boats hard in all conditions, and also cruise among their many islands.
These are really great boats for people of all ages, and I wish more were still sailing around here. One of my dreams is to build new ones and revive the midcoast Maine fleet.