Trine is one of the few remaining 40kvm2 Spissgatter racer-cruisers built between 1938–47 in Sarpborg, Norway. These were not “one-designs” but built to a “restriction measurement rule”. This meant designers could vary their plans so long as the lines remained within the maximum and minimum measurements. Each carried the “W” registration number.
Einar Iverson, a wealthy paper magnate, commissioned a Swedish Naval Architect to draw up the measurement rules. He was also keen to get the class established so he built 3, sold 2, and kept Trine for himself. She was 9th of a fleet of 20 and so her mainsail bears “W9”.
She was imported to Vancouver BC in the mid-’60s and sailed the Gulf Islands and Georgia Strait until the mid-’90s. Nearly all the galvanized metal below the waterline failed causing wood sickness. After a nearly two decade-long restoration, only the tops of the frames, sheer clamp, planking above the waterline, and spars remain from the original sailboat.
The hull is now carvel planked nominal 5/4” Douglas fir, bronze screw fastened and with scarfed joints. Frames are bent and laminated oak in two sizes 6/4”x 5/4” and 7/4” x 7/4” on seven to eight-inch centers. The deck is fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) covered cold-molded wood on beam, and the cabin has solid mahogany plank sides and an FRP cold-molded cabin top on laminated beams.
The interior layout was designed by Paul Gartside. It was constructed of white raised panels by the current owner who took Trine from a bare hull with planks off (see pic) to her current bristol condition doing much of the work himself.