Stämpfli Racing Boats is a British-based manufacturer of

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

boats. Stämpfli was founded in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

by Johann Friedrich August Stämpfli in 1896. Manufacturing originally took place in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, but moved to

Surrey, England Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

after the company was acquired by Janousek Racing Boats in 1991. Stämpfli is a subdivision of Janousek boats, Stämpfli produce generally slimmer boats which are more popular amongst competitive rowers at a club level.

History

Stämpfli was founded in 1896 by Johann Friedrich August Stämpfli and is the oldest operating rowing boat manufacturer in the world. The company was originally based in Zurich, Switzerland and started building

fishing boat A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial, arti ...

s and

sailing yacht A sailing yacht (US ship prefixes SY or S/Y), is a leisure craft that uses sails as its primary means of propulsion. A yacht may be a sail or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, so the term applie ...

s in

Wollishofen Wollishofen is a neighbourhood in Zürich's district 2 (Zürich), 2nd district, situated in the eastern foothills of Uetliberg. It was formerly a municipality of its own, having been incorporated into Zürich in 1893. The neighbourhood has a popul ...

on the bank of

Lake Zurich Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...

. In 1898 the first racing boat was built, a "Yol de Mer" for the See-Club in

Zug, Switzerland Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; ; ; ; )Named in the 16th century. is the largest town and capital of the Swiss canton of Zug. Zug is renowned as a hub for some of the wealthiest individuals in the world and is known for its high co ...

. This boat was a great success and is now on display in the Museum of Sport in

Basel, Switzerland Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after Zurich and Geneva), with ...

. Stämpfli was always at the forefront of introducing technology and innovation to racing boats. During the 1950s the company experimented with the design of a U-shaped hull rather than the more common semi-circle shape. This proved to be successful and the rest of the rowing world switched to the new design. Also at this time the development of the first Aluminium rigger was underway to replace the traditional steel riggers and thus to dramatically reduce the weight of the boats. Through the next twenty years the company was at the leading edge of the rowing world. Its hand crafted cedar racing shells were exported throughout the world and established Stämpfli as a world leader. At

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

and

World Rowing Championship The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non- Olympic years is the highlight of th ...

events Stämpfli boats, in the hands of

Pertti Karppinen Pertti Johannes Karppinen (born 17 February 1953) is a retired Finnish rower noted for his three consecutive Olympic gold medals in single sculls in 1976, 1980 and 1984. Biography Karppinen won the world titles in 1979 and 1985 and once held ...

from Finland, probably one of the most successful

single scull A single scull (or a scull), abbreviated as a 1x, is a racing shell designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-se ...

ers in the history of the sport, and others have won time and time again. In the early 1980s the rowing industry was going through a dramatic change with

composite material A composite or composite material (also composition material) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or physical properties and are merged to create a ...

s slowly finding their place in construction methods. During this period Alfred Stämpfli, the son of Johann Stämpfli retired and handed the company to Melchior Burgin. A successful rower in his own right, (1966 World Champion for

Double scull A double scull, also abbreviated as a 2x, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars each, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") ar ...

s) Burgin had been a long-time employee of the company and under his leadership the company started to build composite boats alongside the exquisite wooden boats. Through the 1980s and early 1990s Stämpfli produced the wooden and composite boats side by side.

References

External links

Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stampfli Racing Boats Rowing equipment manufacturers Swiss companies established in 1896