Lillevi joins Finnish fleet

📷 Fiona Brown

Lillevi returns home to Finland to strenghten the great Åbo Båtvarf fleet.

Lillevi was designed by Zake Westin and built at the Turku Boatyard (Åbo Båtvarf) in Finland in 1938.

Friends of Zake Westin decided to have a Six Metre built as a surprise birthday present for him. One of the friends, Erik Ahlström, was chosen to commission the yacht for himself, to disguise the plan. Not knowing about the plan Zake Westin designed and built his own birthday present. To be able to choose the very best materials for the boat, almost three times as much wood as was needed was imported. Unfortunately, Zake Westin passed away on the 1st February 1938 at the age of 51 before the completion of the yacht. Zake´s brother Bruno finished the build and the boat was named Lillevi, after Zake´s daughter. Lillevi was one of the very first boats with a furling jib, a rarity at the time. She was also one of the very first Finnish yachts with Dacron sails. Many people think that Zake Westin´s yachts were the most beautiful of all Finnish designed Six Metres and Lillevi has been considered by many to be the most beautiful of his designs.

Read the full story 👉 https://6metrearchive.org/boat/lillevi/?highlight=lillevi