Skum III
Design and Construction
Skum III was an International 12 Metre yacht built to the International First Rule, entering service in the 1914–1915 period. She belongs to the last generation of First Rule Twelves built immediately prior to the First World War, a period that marked the transition from early metre-rule experimentation to more refined and competitive designs.
Original Ownership and Early Career
From launch, Skum III was owned by Dr. Johan Friele, a medical surgeon, with her home port listed as Bergen, Norway. In 1914, she entered the Europe Week regatta, confirming her active participation in top-level international competition just before the outbreak of the First World War.
Her early racing career was curtailed by the war years, during which organized yachting activity across Europe was largely suspended.
Post-War Norwegian Ownership
Following the war, Skum III resumed service under a succession of Scandinavian owners, reflecting the continued interest in Twelve Metres in Norway and neighboring countries during the interwar period.
By 1919, ownership passed to Jacob Prebensen, who renamed the yacht Alexandra III and listed her home port as Risør, Norway. This marked the first documented renaming of the yacht.
Renamings and Later Scandinavian Career
In the early 1920s, the yacht passed through further ownership changes and renamings:
Under C. Bjørnstadt, she sailed as Syrin, with her home port listed as Christiania (Oslo), Norway.
Subsequent ownership by G. Simonsen lists home ports in Oslo, Norway, and Copenhagen, Denmark, indicating that the yacht continued to operate actively across Scandinavian waters.
Ownership later reverted again to C. Bjørnstadt, followed by a further return to G. Simonsen, reflecting the relatively fluid ownership patterns common among large racing yachts in the region during this period.
Registry Status
From 1923, Skum III appears in Lloyd’s Register, where she is recorded as “formerly International Rule Class 12 Metre.” This designation reflects her status as an older First Rule yacht at a time when later rule iterations dominated competitive racing.
At an unknown date after her last recorded entries, Skum III disappeared from Lloyd’s Register. No formal documentation of her scrapping, loss, or re-registration under another name has been identified.
Final Disposition
As with many First Rule Twelve Metres operating in Northern Europe, the absence of a recorded end date suggests that Skum III was likely withdrawn from active use and eventually broken up or abandoned without formal registry closure. No verified evidence of her survival into the modern era has been found.
Historical Significance
Skum III is historically significant as:
A First Rule International 12 Metre
A yacht that competed at Europe Week in 1914
A representative example of Scandinavian Twelve Metre ownership in the interwar years
One of the class’s “lost” Twelves, with no documented final disposition