Design and Construction
Willy Asmus set new standards in boat building with the Hanseat's construction from glass fibre reinforced plastic, and the yard's approach went beyond simple mat or spray methods. According to an owner-recorded account, the Asmus shipyard used roving fabric for the Hanseaten, a textile-reinforced material made of parallel fibre bundles that can absorb loads particularly effectively. Everything was rolled, compacted and finally annealed by hand, which made the material very strong and optimally dimensioned. The hull itself is solid fiberglass with a fin keel and spade rudder, carrying 5,291 pounds of lead ballast against a displacement of 12,125 pounds and a beam of 10.5 feet. The robust build was demonstrated by the round-the-world Hanseat 70 Gegenwind, which survived a collision with a reef without total damage, losing a full ten centimetres of the keel heel and taking a few hull scratches but suffering no leak.
Rig and Handling
The Hanseat 70 is a masthead sloop carrying a reported sail area of 444 square feet, and period observers describe the boats as easy to handle and functionally equipped. The number of halyards and outhauls is manageable, and Hanseats in original condition can still be operated at the mast. The older Hanseat models sail very steadily yet react sensitively to rudder movements. Despite being called a "tank" by some, the Gegenwind sailed well and quickly even in light winds, while the builder claimed the earlier Hanseat shot out of the regatta field like a rocket in a good six-strong breeze at Kieler Woche and was almost unstoppable under spinnaker. In 1978, Günter Milowsky single-handedly crossed the North Atlantic in just 22 days with his Hanseat 70 Pommern, and Helge Aßmann and Asha Reich spent ten years circumnavigating on their 70.
Accommodations
Below, the Hanseat 70 provides 6.23 feet of headroom and 66 gallons of water against 32 gallons of diesel. The cockpit shows thoughtful separation: the helmsman sits slightly higher than the crew and is spatially divided by a wide, solid traveller rail. The characteristic superstructure of the first Hanseat models gave the boats a striking appearance and a nickname among sailors, and the 70 itself is recognisable by its wooden foot rail. Alongside the base 70 were the 70B, 70 MKIII and 70 BII variants, with the most noticeable changes across the series appearing in the skeg, which began as particularly solid iron and later disappeared entirely on subsequent models.
Known Issues
The reef collision on Gegenwind shows the hull can take severe groundings without leaking, but the keel heel loss of ten centimetres underscores the finite structure of the fin. The type-to-type skeg evolution saw the early solid-iron skeg deleted on later 70-series boats.
Refits and Ownership
The 70 series was further developed across its production, and the 70B derivative found an unusual second life: six Hanseatic Type 70Bs remain in intensive use by the German Navy, where cadets have spent almost 40 years learning seamanship on them for around 100 days a year. Frigate Captain Michael Hufnagel notes those boats are still in good condition after decades of hard use, and the moderate long-keeler 70B sails rather sluggishly and as if on rails compared with the more responsive earlier models.
The Verdict
The Hanseat 70 is a solidly built, genuinely seaworthy fiberglass cruiser with a proven record from Atlantic crossings to decade-long circumnavigations. Its manageable rig and steady handling suit short-handed or training use, though later 70-series variants traded some responsiveness for development changes.
Pros
- Hand-rolled roving-fabric hull with demonstrated collision survival
- Manageable masthead rig operable at the mast in original form
- Proven offshore range including single-handed North Atlantic passage
- Lead-ballasted fin/spade hull with 7.2-knot hull speed
Cons
- Later 70-series skeg deletion removed early solid-iron protection
- Moderate long-keel 70B variant sails sluggishly compared with earlier hulls
