One-off
While all the Skerry Cutters are clearly shaped by the same impulses, no two boats
are exactly the same – they are all one-off designs. There have also been a number
of different rules. The original boats date back to the period before 1910. These
were the less expensive forms known as Scandinavian Skerry Cutters (Skandinaviske
kryssere). They were true Skerry Cutters in design, but were made of simpler materials;
typically pine. The first Square Meter yachts built to an international rule (1923)
were classed Nordic Skerry Cutters (Nordiske kryssere) and were made to a higher
quality and specifications - typically mahogany on oak with strict scantling rules.
This yachts were actively raced most places until about the middle of 1930. The
original creators of the Skerry Cutter, the Swedes, were very dissatisfied with
the restrictions of the international 1923 rule and made a new Swedish rule in
1925. This is today the official international rule for Square Meter Yachts.
Look Ma! No handicap.
Square Meter sailboats are named after the design rule which specifies the
sail-area of each class. The rule allows for amazing differences in boat size
within the same class. While Square Meter boats are not one-design, they all
competed against each other without any use of a handicap system. Today they
are divided into two racing classes based on their competitive status- the hyper-fast
"A class" yachts and the more open "B class" yachts. In
a fleet of 22 Square Meter class boats, the boats squaring off with each other
may have been anything from 26 foot to 36 feet in length. They raced on equal
terms, and gave no time to any boat. The first one over the finishing-line is
the winner. The trick is in the design rule: to get the most boat out of a certain
amount of sail.
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