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Swedish Press N Y A
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May 2015 Vol 86:04 $4.95
Sweden sails strong in nautical innovation
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2015
Pelle Petterson exclusive interview Wooden boat building FIKA Treats
© Amory Ross / TEAM ALVIMEDICA
SEGLA JORDEN RUNT ÄR MÄKTIGT. SIKTA FRIHAMNEN ÄR SANN LYCKA.
Efter nio månader till havs och nästan 39 000 sjömil kommer världens tuffaste jorden-runt-segling äntligen nå den sista, mest efterlängtade, anhalten – målgången i Göteborg. I Frihamnen, där en del av den nya staden växer fram, välkomnar vi teamen hem. Den 21–28 juni blir det stor fest med fri entré för alla! Kom och upplev allt från underhållning och prova-på-aktiviteter till segling i världsklass. Välkommen till Göteborg, en hållbar stad öppen för världen. Målgång Volvo Ocean Race Frihamnen, Göteborg, 21–28 juni 2015 Läs hela programmet på volvooceanracegoteborg.com
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Swedish Press is the world’s leading magazine on all good things Swedish. An authority on design, business, culture and travel since 1929, Swedish Press delivers insightful news and commentary in a visually striking format. With a nod to the past, and a peek to the future, Swedish Press is your go-to source for updates and inspiration from Sweden. SWEDISH PRESS (ISSN 0839-2323) is published ten times per year (Feb, Mar, Apr, May, June, July/Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec/Jan) by Swedish Press Inc, 11616 Papagallo Court, San Diego, CA 92124 for $39 per year. Periodical postage paid at Blaine, WA 98230-9998 (No. USPS 005544). US POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Swedish Press, PO Box 420404, San Diego, CA 92142-0404 OFFICE: 9040 Shaughnessy Street, Vancouver, BC V6P 6E5 Canada US MAILING ADDRESS: PO Box 420404, San Diego, CA 92142-0404 WEBSITE www.swedishpress.com E-MAIL info@swedishpress.com TEL +1 360 450 5858 TOLL FREE +1 866 882 0088 PUBLISHER Claes Fredriksson Claes@swedishpress.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Tatty Maclay Tatty@swedishpress.com ART DIRECTOR Joan Law Fredriksson Joan@swedishpress.com SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Arkus Fredriksson Arkus@swedishpress.com
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5 From the Editor’s Desk 6 7 8
Swedish Headlines Headline News: Nobelpristagaren Tomas Tranströmer till minne News at a Glance Swedes in the News
Business 7 Business News 9 Company File: Echandia Marine Feature 10 Det rullar på för sjöfarten
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Photo: Chris Cameron / Volvo Ocean Race
Interview 12 Pelle Petterson: ‘The sport today is diverging’ Heritage 15 Wooden boat building
Global Swedes 16 Putting Sweden on the map – at home: Alrik Danielson 17. Putting Sweden on the map – abroad: Barbro McAusland
Hemma hos 20 Design: making waves with Swedish propeller design 21 Treats à la Robert 22 Lär Dig Svenska 23 Comic: My ancestors and me In the Loop 24 Landskapsnyheterna 27 Canada, US & Beyond 28 Calendar and Events 29 Ads and Info 30 Sista Ordet A lusty visit to Sweden
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Photo: Pelle Petterson
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Photo: Joe Maclay
Cover: March 23, 2015. Leg 5 to Itajai onboard Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. Day 05. Another wave makes its way back to the helm as Luke “Parko” Parkinson drives deeper into the Southern Ocean. Photo: Matt Knighton/Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race
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Swedes in the News
Centenary celebrations for an icon Löfven to US
100 years of Ingrid
herself. “Tekla is a festival for girls, in which they get to sample different areas of future technology in what I believe will be a fun and imaginative environment,” said Robyn in a statement.
Swedish Prime Minister H.E. Mr. Stefan Löfven at the General Assembly of the United Nations. Photo: Richard Drew/AP
Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Löfven visited New York on 30 March to give an opening address at a meeting on decent work for all at the UN Economic and Social Council. He also met with UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson. In Washington on 31 March, the Prime Minister met US Vice President Joseph Biden, and gave an address at the Brookings Institution think tank on the challenges and opportunities presented by globalisation.
Thor youngest party leader
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his year marks the 100 year anniversary of actress Ingrid Bergman’s birth – an anniversary set to be marked by events worldwide. The world premiere of Stig Björkman’s new documentary ‘I am Ingrid’ at the Cannes film festival in May will be among the first events celebrating the late Swedish icon, who died in 1982. The festival is also involved in a performance involving the actress’ daughter, Isabella Rossellini, which will be shown in five cities that were important to Bergman: Stockholm, London, Rome, Paris and New York.
Zelmerlöv to Eurovision
Måns Zelmerlöw performed at Melodifestivalen 2015. Photo: Robin Lorentz-Allard
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Sweden recently voted in singer and tv presenter Måns Zelmerlöw as their entry for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest. The singer will perform his Melodifestival winning song ‘Heroes’ at the second semi-final in Vienna on 21 May, before setting off on a summer tour starting in Stockholm on 29 May.
Robyn tech festival Swedish pop star Robyn is putting on a one-day festival in Stockholm aimed at encouraging more girls into technology. Called Tekla, it will include workshops on programming, robotics, 3D printing, game development and electronic music, as well as featuring a live performance from the musician
Ebba Busch Thor is set to become leader of Sweden’s Christian Democrats party, making her, at 28, the youngest leader of a Swedish political party. The politician, currently a councillor in Uppsala, has vowed to promote the centre-right party’s conservative values. The Christian Democrats are currently the smallest political group in Swedish parliament, having gained only 4% of the vote in last autumn’s general election.
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Company File
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art of the charm of visiting Stockholm is travelling its waterways and archipelago routes by water. It’s fitting that the city, as Europe’s first Green Capital, should also now be home to the world’s first supercharged electric passenger ferry – a cleaner and more environmentally-friendly alternative to diesel-powered boats – thanks to marine propulsion technology created by Swedish clean tech company, Echandia Marine.
Joachim showing one of the four energy storage units onboard. Photo: Evelina Carborn
The company was founded in 2008 by Magnus Eriksson, who has a background in the Swedish naval defence industry, and was inspired by his work as a torpedo engineer to design patented hydrodynamic propulsion solutions for electric boating. He was joined in 2011 by Joachim Skoogberg, with 15
years of experience in the energy sector, who set to work lobbying politicians for permission to run a demonstration of an electric ferry on a Stockholm waterway route. In 2012, Echandia was given a grant to go ahead with the project and they formed a working partnership with Green City Ferries, who bought a diesel-driven boat M/S Movitz with an existing daily route. This boat was retrofitted and later changed its “pre-name” from M/S into E/S. Timetabled operations will begin again on May 4th; the Movitz has also been used for charters, kick offs etc, outside of the summer months. The company’s supercharging technology means the boat’s battery can be fully charged from a quayside automated docking and supercharging station in just ten minutes, while passengers embark and disembark, before running for an hour or more. An electric motor, incapsulated in each of the two propeller ‘pods’ under the boat, makes for a much quieter ride. The electric drive also improves the vessels manoeuvrability considerably.
The first semi manual supercharger at the quay. Photo: Evelina Carborn
Of course electric boating and electric cars are nothing new – in the late 1800s the entire New York taxi fleet was electric and submarines have used hybrid diesel/electric technology since the beginning of 1900. What is revolutionary is the ability to supercharge batteries, which typically dislike high-powered charging. ‘We call it stone-age electric motoring with space age battery technology,’ says Joachim Skoogberg. The highly-efficient electric motors lower operational and maintenance costs by up to 60%, while electric propulsion systems reduce CO2 and local emissions such as NOX and PM by up to 100% compared with conventional fuels as long as the ferry is charged with renewable energy. So, now that they have successfully proved that electric ferries can operate at the same or lower operational costs, what’s next for Echandia’s technology? ‘We have a number of projects on the go,’ says Skoogberg. ‘We have had a very flattering amount of interest from countries as far afield as Hong Kong and Australia. Most cities are on or near water and have ferries which can be electrified, so the possibilities are endless.’ E/S Movitz in operation on Riddarfjärden, Stockholm. Photo: Green City Ferries
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inns det en gemensam nämnare mellan våra förfäder vikingarna och de nutida sjöfarare som driver världshavens vinthundar i tävlingen Volvo Ocean Race? Det skulle i så fall vara sponsorernas ursprung samt drivkraften att trotsa extrema väderförhållanden och oförskräckt ge sig ut på haven. Men kung Gustaf II Adolf tänkte nog mera på utrikeshandel, och kanske även på sjökrig, när han gjorde sitt bevingade uttalande: Rijkets wälfärdh, näst Gudh, beståår på Seglatz och Skepz¬farten.
Volvo Ocean Race sponsras av AB Volvo, som bland annat tillverkar lastbilar och bussar, samt det 1999 avknoppade Volvo Personvagnar, som numera – om än fortfarande Göteborgsförankrat – ägs av kinesiska Geely. Det ursvenska varumärket Volvo är latin för “jag rullar”. Någon gång på 860-talet skulle den svenske vikingen Gardar Svavarsson ta sig till sin hustrus hemland Suderöarna, de numera skotska Hebriderna. I det vilda Pentlandsund kom han ur kurs och drev åt nordväst. Därigenom råkade han upptäcka en till synes öde ö, som han kallade Gardarsholmi. Önationen är numera känd som Island. Ungefär samtidigt tog sig andra vikingar igenom det de kallade Njörva-
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rullar på för sjöfarten av Torbjörn Dalnäs sund (Gibraltarsund). De skövlade Mallorca, vars moriska styresmän kallade dem al-madjus (arabiska för “hedniska varelser”). Några decennier tidigare hade deras fränder utplånat den frisiska handelsmetropolen Witla från kartan samt brandskattat Antwerpen och Rouen. Men det vore ohistoriskt att enbart se vikingarna som sjövilda bärsärkar. De var även nationsbyggare, fredliga handelsmän och oerhört skickliga sjömän. Vikingafärderna i västerled dominerades av danskar och norrmän, medan svearna var mer inriktade på egna tåg i österled. Via Neva eller Dvina och andra inre vattenvägar
March 14, 2015. New Zealand Herald In-Port Race: Team SCA, Team Brunel and MAPFRE. Photo: Victor Fraile/Volvo Ocean Race
tog sig våra förfäder djupt in i det de kallade Gårdarike; ända ner till Svarta havet och vidare till Särkland, som fick sitt namn av arabiska sharq (“öster”). Mellan närliggande floder och förbi forsar rullade de sina drakskepp på timmerstockar. Så rullade det på under hundratals år.
2015 gjordes en upptäckt som bekräftade den trafiken. På en silverring från 800-talet, som hade påträffats på Birka i slutet av 1800-talet, sitter en sten med för ögat knappt synliga tecken inristade. Med modern teknik lyckades man tyda tecknen till “Allah” i arabisk skrift. Sveavikingen Rurik anses rentav vara den som grundade Kievriket Rus, det blivande Ryssland, vars namn har antagits syfta på Roslagen. Men den historieskrivningen är nog alltför svårsmält för dagens ryska nationalister.
Kring 1040, då vikingatiden höll på att ebba ut, drog Ingvar Vittfarne ut på ett sista tåg. Ett trettiotal skepp med några hundra vikingar for ner till Svarta havet. Endast ett av skeppen tog sig tillbaka hem till Svithiod, där Mälardalens runstenar vittnar om Ingvarståget: ”De for manligen… dog söderut i Särkland.” Medeltidens koggar löste av vikingarnas drakskepp på närliggande
hav. Den sjöburna handeln rullade vidare, så även sjökrigen. Europeernas upptäcktsfärder och kolonialprojekt ledde till att 1600talets färska stormakt Sverige också började etablera kolonier på främmande kontinenter: Nya Sverige längs Delawareflodens stränder 1638-55 och Cabo Corso på Guldkusten, det nuvarande Ghana, 1650-63. Vid denna tid förekom sjöburen slavhandel i svensk regi, men den hann aldrig få någon större omfattning – en klen tröst för dem som ändå drabbades.
Sommaren 1731 inleddes en maritim guldålder av annat slag. Då avseglade den första svenska ostindiefararen Fredericus Rex Sveciæ från hemmahamnen Göteborg, med det hägrande Kanton som destination. Svenska Ostindiska Kompaniets framgångssaga sammanföll med manchukejsaren Qianlongs långa regenttid fram till 1796. Det var en stabil och glansfull period i Kina, och svenskarna kom omvittnat väl överens med sina kinesiska värdar; en relation som byggde på respekt och ömsesidigt förtroende. Hemma hade stormaktstiden ersatts av frihets- och upplysningstid. Carl von Linné sände ut en lång rad av sina lärjungar på svenska ostindiefarare och även utländska fartyg till fjärran kontinenter, i syfte att vidga vetandet och få hem naturalier. Ofta var dessa kvalificerade vetenskapsmän påmönstrade som skeppsläkare eller skeppspredikanter. Forsskål, Kalm, Osbeck, Solander, Sparrman, Thunberg och Torén är exempel på odödliga namn i den sjöfarande botanikens glansfulla annaler från denna tid.
dagens Parangipettai. Ett svenskt fotfäste började anläggas. Men grannhamnarnas britter och fransmän kastade resolut ut svenskarna. Kolonialprojektet varade endast en månad, varefter Ulrica Eleonora fick göra en snöplig reträtt hem till Göteborg. Desto mer långlivad blev vår västindiska koloni Saint Barthélemy, som Frankrike överlät till Sverige 1784 i utbyte mot handelsrättigheter i Göteborg. Även där lånade sig Sverige till slavhandel, ända till 1847. Efter nästan ett sekel, 1878, återgick ön i fransk ägo. Då var Ostindiska Kompaniet sedan länge ett minne blott. Den sista ostindiefararen Maria Carolina hade återvänt till Göteborg den 1 mars 1806. Totalt hade äventyret omfattat 37 skepp som under 75 år avverkat 132 resor till Ostindien. Åtta av dem förliste.
omkom till följd av krigshandlingar. Hundratals svenska handelsfartyg krigsförliste. Sedan dess har den svenska sjöfarten fluktuerat enligt sinuskurvans vågrörelser; upp, ner, upp, åter ner... Under de allra senaste åren har den svenska handelsflottan i utrikes trafik decimerats till färre än 100 fartyg. Rederinäringen och dess sjöanställda kräver att Sverige, i nationens intresse, anpassar sin sjöfartspolitik till den som råder i jämförbara konkurrentländer. Sverige är ur transportsynpunkt en ö och behöver sin handelsflotta, även av beredskapsskäl. Under tiden pågår Volvo Ocean Race med vind i seglen, på köpet med en välkommen PR åt sponsorernas hemland Sverige. Med slutmål i Göteborg den 27 juni 2015, ungefär 1.150 år efter Gardar Svavarssons upptäckt av Island. Det rullar på, nu åter med vind som energikälla.
Sjöfarten revolutionerades. Ånga löste av vind och segel som framdriftmedel. Kanaler anlades och farlederna kantades av kolbunkerstationer. Även Sverige satsade på linjesjöfart över världshaven, vid sidan av den kringflackande trampsjöfarten. Snart tog ännu modernare framdriftsteknik vid. Världskrigen krävde sin tribut, även av det neutrala Sverige. Flera tusen svenska sjömän
1733 anlöpte Ulrica Eleonora Porto Novo på den indiska ostkusten,
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P E L L E
‘The sport S today is diverging‘
wedish Press sat down with Pelle on a pleasant spring morning in early April at his beautiful house in Kullavik which is decorated with sailing memorabilia from 70+ years of sailing.
By Claes Fredriksson
Pelle Petterson, born in Stockholm in 1932, is designer of the Maxi Class sailing boats, still the most common sailing boats in Swedish waters, and the Volvo P1800 sports car, recipient of numerous awards including Olympic medals and the King’s Medal, and all-round sailing legend and style icon.
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SP: How did you get started with sailing? PP: It started right here in Kullavik in the early 40s when we rented a house for the summer from the local farmer. In those days the farmer would rent his main house to “summer visitors” like us from town. I found something that looked like a sailboat and put it together with a few friends and off we went. It was very basic in those days. We made do with what we could find or build and enjoyed being on the ocean. A few years later I met someone a little older and joined as second mate and later on as first mate on a “Stjärnbåt”. We learned by doing and there was a lot of sailing going on in the bays around Kullavik, we would race to the regatta, participate in the regatta and race back again… so racing was big.
Were your parents supportive and did they participate? My father was really a car and engine guy and coached me a lot in that aspect. Initially he was not a sailor,
P E T T E R S O N
but he did help me buy my first Starboat, which was the beginning of the Olympic adventure. Speaking of racing, in my early years I also built box cars and box car racing in the 40s was a big deal and attracted thousands of spectators. One of the biggest races was the Grand Prix in Stockholm. I ended up winning the Grand Prix in 1943, which was a big deal. Thanks to the support from Volvo where my father worked, I had pretty good wheels and even had ballbearings from SKF, so my box car was pretty fast.
Did you start with boat designing right away? I was fortunate to go to a technical school in Sweden and later studied industrial design in the US, before design was even known in Sweden. I graduated in transportation design and worked with an Italian design firm and also a German car builder. My father was in charge of developing a new sports car for Volvo. A number of design firms were part of the design competition, including the Italian firm I was working with. As it happened the firm I worked for was selected and it was my design. It was a wonderful experience to be part of the process of developing a new car.
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How did you move from car design to boat design? I freelanced as an industrial designer and designed lawnmowers, motorcycles and outdoor equipment and in the process came in contact with Monark, who needed a boat so that they could sell their outboard engines. With them I designed one of the first small mass-produced plastic boats. During that time our sail racing hobby was getting more expensive so we needed to develop a business that could finance our sailing interest. The answer was the Maxi 77 which was launched in 1969. It was a huge success and made family sailing a reality with an affordable, functional boat with sufficient space. It was the 70s, everyone was optimistic and it came at the right time and was offered at the right price. How did you decide to enter Americas Cup? Americas Cup is the top level in sailing, and fuelled with success from Olympic classes and with Maxi doing well it gave us a platform to find more sponsors and put together a challenge. In 1977 we made it to the challengers final and lost to Australia. The same thing happened in 1980 and we never got to challenge the Americans, which was disappointing. The overall experience, however, was absolutely unique and we enjoyed a wonderful time during the races in the US.
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me to keep on designing and in 2015 they will be launching the Maxi 1200 which I have designed. It is built for comfort and easy operation and the hard work is now done by electric winches and by pushing buttons.
How did you influence Swedish boating and racing? Sweden became the leader in family boat manufacturing globally at the time and we got the Swedes interested in the sport. With the Americas Cup we showed that even a small nation can take on the big competition. Today the Swedish Americas Cup challenge for 2017 in Bermuda is a big budget production and I think the Swedish entry will have a good chance. When we look at the sport today it is diverging, there are very fast match racing events that are like sprints with superskilled and fast sailors, and then there is the Volvo Ocean Race type long-distance racing, which is more about endurance and dealing with challenges, like a marathon. Neither one is very close to family sailing so the sport and the recreational aspect are also diverging. Are you still designing boats? Yes, the Polish company that purchased Maxi Yachts convinced
It seems like you have been fortunate to start sailing in very basic, partly self-made vessels, then went on to race, and designed family yachts that got Sweden sailing, and now as you are maturing in age you have designed a yacht suitable for your own needs. Is there anyone that you see in the industry that will have a similar impact on the industry that you have had? Oh, I have never really thought about that… but no, I do not really see anyone who will have the opportunity to influence the industry in that way. Perhaps it is because of the modern computerised design process or… because most of the boatbuilding industry has left Sweden. Through your wonderful yachting career what are you most proud of? That will be the P1800 car and the Maxi 77. As we finished the interview Pelle also shared that he has indeed designed a passenger ferry, which has yet to be built, and his daughter designs a clothing brand (Pelle P) which happens to carry his name, which is something he is “lite mallig för”. Photos © Pelle Petterson
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