Our Past

The Story of Sam O. BERGE.

By ARYA HISTORIAN Steve CREWES

shcrewes@bigpond.net.au  

Sam Berge Vane gear
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I’ve been sitting on this story of Sam O Berge for about 2 years now. I thought I would do his story and put it in the new book on early Australian vane sailing, that I was going to write after my series on the Model Racing skiffs.

 He got into my last book “Australian Model Racing Skiffs”  when I was talking about the Australian B class from Sydney, where he had some connection with that designer VD Blacket. In me trying to understand the Australian connection of Sam Berge, I did quite a lot of research on him and came up with some startling discoveries. What drove me on with this research of Sam Berge was these really beautiful model yacht designs (mostly A class and 6 metres) he was producing over a very long period of time. These designs still get people motivated to build them. You hear the OOHs an AHHHs than come as they view his work. I will endeavour to reproduce these designs in this article. So perhaps you too might become a fan of Sam O Berge’s, as I have become.

 Some of the problems with this type of research is, I have no way of finding really where Sam’s story begins. He as far as I can tell, started to surface in the late 20’s when he went to America as a your Naval Architect, through a scheme known as “the Scandinavian / America Association” which helps young people in those Scandinavian countries gain more experience overseas.

Sam entered this scheme and found himself working at the Herroshoff Boat Works in Bristol, Rhode Island in the USA. This Boat yard was world famous for building the best yachts including the America’s cup boats from ‘Vigilant’ 1893, ‘Defender’ 1895, ‘Columbia’ 1899, ‘Reliance’ 1903, ‘Resolute’ 1920 etc and was studying under the famed designer Capt N.G. Herroshoff, himself.

Sam was one of those persons who was blessed with very outgoing personality. For early in his career he met the American President Roosevelt. Sam was also a very good sailor in his own right as most of those people who live in Grimstad, Norway are.  

Recently in my research on  Sam Berge I managed to find a personal friend of his, Gunnar Christensen from Grimstad,through Torval Klem the famed Marblehead designer in those parts. It is interesting on what Gunnar had to say about his mate all those years ago. Gunnar was Sam Berge’s  vane sailing mate during his world  championship model racing days in Fleetwood & Gosport in England 1935 to 1939.

 He says ( And I will keep this in the letterwriter’s words):- “I also had the pleasure of sailing against. He was a most respectable person with high spirits and a lot of humour. He was a front figure in Grimstad ( I took this to mean to be the leader) and he died there in a home for the elderly”.

Sam went to the World Championship in 1935and 1937 or what we know as the Yachting Monthly Cup in England. He won this event with the A class boat “Prince Charming 11” with Gunnar as his sailing mate. This boat also ‘sported’ a Sam O Berge vane gear on the transom.

 It was Sam Berge who invented the model yacht vane from the original idea from Herroshoff. He made quite a lot of them and passed them out to all the competitors in the 1936 Yachting Monthly Cup in Fleetwood that year. My mate Bill Bithel said he received one off Berge when he turned up to that particular championship but they did not have time to put it on their boat, he said.

 Gunnar said that Sam was the one always improving his knowledge. (For example) At “Norsk Modellseilforening” or the NMYA. “He always chose the right sails and the right course when sailing. He was free sailing( fleet racing) his boats at this time on Oslo Fjord and paddling after his boat in a Kayak. He would drive the 250 klms with the Kayak on the roof of his car from Grimstad to Oslo” (to do this on a regular basis).

Gunnar said an umpire boat started the races. Everybody had to start on the same leg and the boats must not be turned (tacked) before it was certain that one would not disturb the other competitors. He went on to say that Sam was a very gifted yachtsman. After each victory he lit a fat cigar and put on a top hat (which he had in a little locker at the rear of his Kayak). Everybody who saw the cigar and top hat knew he had won the race. Evidently he did this right up to 1977, after that, R/C was introduced to the club.

 Sam O Berge also designed a small decked sailing boat called a Grimstad Jolle , that is still made  today not only in Norway but America as well where there is an association.

The pictures are:-

1* Sam Berge’s vane gear. (Circa 1935).

2* Grimstad Jolle decked sail boat 2004.

3* Gunrud Elvira  6 metre (1929).

4 * kayaks at the start, umpire boat to left.

5* Prince Charming 11 (1935).

6* Sam Berge and his mate Gunnar racing at Fleet wood England 1937.

In the kayaks at Oslo

with the model yachts
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Sam Berge At

Fleetwood 1935
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