The Shipyard of the Anitra
Abeking & Rasmussen
George Abeking and Henry Rasmussen founded the A & R shipyard in 1907, in Lemwerder on the banks of the river Weser near Bremen.
At that time, Henry Rasmussen was already a renowned yachtsman and designer. Besides dinghies and small ships, the shipyard was soon building large yachts. By the time of the First World War, Abeking and Rasmussen had become very important for Germany. They specialised in the new classes such as s and later "Nationale Kreuzer" (national cruisers) and enjoyed a good reputation, but also one of being expensive.
The 1920s
The Roaring Twenties were a particularly successful time for Abeking and Rasmussen.
Due to increasing wages, yacht building in the USA was sourced out to cheaper countries at that time: One of those countries was Germany. "The very high wages actually seem to entice the movement of building abroad." (Die Yacht, 1928, Heft 12, S. 10).
"The highly developed German yacht building industry is increasingly being drawn upon to accept new construction contracts from abroad." (Die Yacht, 1928, Heft 35, S. 7)
By 1927, the shipyard had received an order for 14 10-metre R-Yachts from New York. 1927 was already an unexpectedly successful year in the history of the shipyard with 114 yachts, boats and ships built.
In 1928, the shipyard received a contract for 6 12-metre R-Yachts for the New York Yacht Club, among them the Anitra.
In the same year, orders came for a further 11 8-metre R-Yachts and 60 9.3 m Atlantic boats for New York.
1928 represented the most successful year in the company´s yacht building history, with 153 yachts, boats and ships built. A & R reached its zenith in a long history of wooden yacht building (the earlier high production numbers were mostly achieved through dinghies and yawls). Furthermore, exports to the USA reached a peak in 1928 with 91 constructions completed.
It is clearly evident how dependent growth was on orders from the USA during the Roaring Twenties.
The shipyard´s orientation towards exports became so significant that the inland production in those years reached only about 50 units.
This fact also became clear to the then editor of "Die Yacht", who visited the construction of the Anitra at the beginning of 1928: :
"the shipyard is extremely busy. The enormous construction halls reveal bustling life everywhere. Unfortunately, the majority of the orders are not destined for German yachtsmen, but for American sportsmen." (Die Yacht, 1928, Heft 7, S. 26).
A large order for 11 9.3 m Atlantic boats for New York followed in 1929. After 1929, the number of contracts from the USA declined. Altogether only 100 yachts, boats and ships were built in 1929.
Nonetheless, Abeking und Rasmussenwas a global player - also by today´s standard - capable of confidently handling international orders.
Modern
To this day, over 6,400 boats, yachts and ships have been built by A & R.
In addition, orders also came for the German navy during the First World War.
Up until the 1950s, the construction of smaller boats and yachts dominated at the shipyard, and up until the 1970s it was still producing small vehicles.
Today, A & R is an ultra-modern, weather-independent shipyard, suitable for ships up to 70 m (230 ft) in length. Ships can placed in the water and brought on land for repairs using the Synchrolift.
Nowadays, the shipyard only delivers yachts and ships from 30 m (98 ft) in length to sophisticated customers all over the world:
- Motor and sailing yachts:
A & R designs and builds mega yachts (both motor and sailing yachts)
- Marine ships:
Since the First World War, A & R has been building vessels for the German navy and navies abroad, whereby the emphasis is on building new minesweepers
- Fast and seaworthy patrol boats for the coastal guard.
A & R was a pioneer in the development of the Deep Vee hull type.
- SWATH@A&R® for pilot vessels:
The SWATH hull concept (Small Water Area Twin Hull) guarantees particularly safe manoeuvring in rough sea.
For further information on A & R go to www.abeking.com (Flash-Plugin required).
To the building of Anitra 1928 
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