If Lürssen’s founder, Friedrich Lürssen, were still alive today, imagine the pride he’d feel. The company, which he established in 1875, is still family-run, now by the fifth generation. But perhaps more important, Lürssen is celebrating two significant anniversaries. The first is the 125th anniversary of the launch of the world’s first motorboat. The second is the 100th anniversary of a Lürssen-built boat setting a speed record.
The first powerboat in the world, pictured above, premiered in October 1886 and did not disappoint. Christened Rems, Lürssen equipped her with a 1.5-hp Daimler engine. By today’s standards that 0.462-liter engine seems rather feeble. But internal combustion engines and Rems were quite high-tech for the late 19th century. In addition, Rems led to the creation of every powerboat and power-driven megayacht cruising the globe’s bays and oceans to this day.
Further of significance, Rems led to the second major milestone that Lürssen is celebrating this year. Way back in 1911, one of Friederich’s children, Otto, entered a speedboat in the Champion of the Sea race in Monaco. The 26-footer (8-meter) bore a wood hull and was powered by a 102-hp gasoline Daimler engine. Called the Lürssen-Daimler, the boat set a world speed record of about 31 mph (50 kph).
Rems and the Lürssen-Daimler are a far cry from modern-day Lürssen megayachts like Hermitage (above) and Lady Kathryn V, each delivered this year and measuring seven to eight times larger than them. Regardless, it makes you wonder what the rest of this century could possibly bring.
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