Jenetta Racing Again

The longest yacht ever built to the fabled 12-M class has been rebuilt from a wreck

- Ron Valant

The 12-Metre Jenetta has seen it all. A successful racing yacht in British waters in the late 1930s; a cruising yacht for many years in America; and then finally, and what to all intents and purposes should have been the end, an abandoned wreck in n Alaskan backwater. Then about 10 years ago, after her salvage and return to Europe, she was just a lead keel and some frames, a short section of her bow and stern, and some deck fittings, languishing in the grass outside the Robbe & Berking Classics boatyard in Flensburg, while inside a dozen of her sisters were being meticulously maintained or restored. Finally, her restoration began in 2017 and we have reported regularly here on the progress of this remarkable rebuild. In July 2019, just a few weeks after her launch and days after she was rigged for the very first time, she once more joined her sisters, competing in the Robbe & Berking Sterling Cup and surprising all with her striking hull finish and blistering speed.

A consortium of three owners took on the job of bringing Jenetta back to life – three yachtsmen from northern Germany with a wealth of knowledge and experience racing both modern as well as classic yachts. Thomas Müller, a one-time World Champion and twice Gold Cup winner in the Dragon class, usually helms but regularly swaps places with Sven Dose on the mainsheet. The third owner is Mathias Wagner, who for some years has been in charge of the runners on the ‘other’ Robbe & Berking-built 12-M – Sphinx – and so naturally holds that position on Jenetta.