Ljungan

About the object

• Description
  The Ljungström crusier Ljunga in the museum was for many years owned by the Svenmar family in Stockholm. They had the boat registered in the Årstavikens Segelsällskap (the Årstaviken Sailing Society, ÅSS), and in the summer they used it for month-long voyages, mainly in the Stockholm archipelago. The Ljungan has never had an eng...

  The Ljungström crusier Ljunga in the museum was for many years owned by the Svenmar family in Stockholm. They had the boat registered in the Årstavikens Segelsällskap (the Årstaviken Sailing Society, ÅSS), and in the summer they used it for month-long voyages, mainly in the Stockholm archipelago. The Ljungan has never had an engine; when the wind failed, the boat had to be rowed.

  The designer Fredrik Ljungström (1875-1965) was an engineer, inventor and industralist. His spare time was devoted to sailing. After using conventional sailing boats for many years, he wanted a seaworthy vessel that could be sailed by one person. The Ljungan was presented in the big light hall of the department store NK in 1935. The new boat attracted much attention and caused a vivid and at times heated debate, mostly concering its rigging.

  The rig has a mast that can be rotated from the cockpit by means of ball bearings and a rope. The sailing is triangular and has no boom, and it can be rolled up around the mast. It is thus easy to get the desired sail area without having th get up on deck and take in sail. The sail has a double-layer canvas, and when running downwind the canvas is spread like butterfly wings and the sail area is doubled. When sailing, the mast is kept by a stern backstay; otherwise, it is entirely unsupported.

  By experiments with different hull shapes in the test facilities at the KTH technical university, Ljungström found the most seaworthy hull shape, with the profile of a circular bow. This hull caused minimal water resistance and had remarkable advantages when it came to seaworthiness. Even the setions of the hull above the waterline were aerodynamically shaped to make the boat sail well when going by the wind – thus the Ljungan's wide, rounded bow and narrow stern.

  In the 1930s many Swedish boat clubs had their lottery boats fitted with Ljungström rigs and many tests with these were undertaken. The boats were considered to have good sailing qualities, especially when sailing close to strong winds. The Ljungström rigging held its ground against convential rigs, but Swedish sailors were septical. The Kungsör boatyard put a Ljungström boat – the Twin Wing – in serial production for the export market.

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• DesignationSegelbåt
• Precise designationLjungströmmare, fritidsbåt
• IdentifierSM 27364
• Indexing termLjungströmmare, fritidsbåt
• Type Thing

• Dimensions value
  • Övriga måttSegelyta 18 kvm, Deplacement 1,8 ton, Djupgående 1,35 m0.0 mm
  • Length8700.0 mm
  • Width1700.0 mm
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• Other information
  På bild 1 seglas Ljungan av Sjöhistoriska museets medarbetare Stefan Andersson och Arndt Ficher.
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