Steamboat Register

Njord

Status: Active use

Owner: Lars Hansen

Area: Denmark

Hull

Open Launch. Construction: GRP and wood.
Hull model: Qviding designed by Bernt Breding and Lars Quist at Sweden
Built 2026 at Denmark, Esbjerg
Fit out 2026 at Denmark, Esbjerg
LOA: 18' 0", Beam: 5' 4", Draft: 2' 0", Displacement: 2300 lbs.
Bare glasfiber hull purchased in 2008. All wood work, steel keel, stern tube, shaft and propellor assembly as well as rudder is made by owner.

Boiler

Designed by B2 Ånga,
Built 2015 by B2 Ånga at Forsvik, Sweden
Fuel: Coal, Pressure: 130 psi, Heating area: 18 sqft, Output: 82 lbs/hr,
20" dia X 31" high Steel barrel. 68 X 0.8" dia Steel tubes.
condensing, engine driven pump, hand pump, injector, Windermere kettle, whistle,

Engine

Compound. 2.5" + 4" X 3"
Built 2026 at Denmark, Esbjerg
pv on HP, sv on LP valve. SLRG valve gear.
Built in the period between 2010 and 2026. 4000 hours divided on 1800 on the engine, 400 on the boiler and 1800 on the hull and fitting out. Cylinder block supported by six turned columns. Stuart 6A cylinder casting. Engine is 4 inch higher than Stuarts original design. Vacuum pump directly crosshead driven. Feed water pump driven from crankshaft by a cogwheel gearing 1:2. The engine is measured in a test rig to produce 2 SHP at 290 RPM and 120 PSI steam pressure. Mechanical efficiency estimated to 80%. Estimatet steam consumption is 37 kg/hr at 290 RPM. In operation the boat and boiler/engine matches test results and runs 290 RPM at 120 psi steam pressure giving the boat a max. speed of 5.3 knots. Coal consumption is approx. 5 kg. per hour.

Propeller

Bronze, 3 blades, Right Hand, 19.5" X 31"
Calc's shows a hull speed of around 5 knots with a 19,5x31" propeller with DAR 0,35 at 300 RPM corresponding to a power requirement of 2,1 BHP. At 4 knots hull speed and 230 RPM power consumption is 1 BHP. I have used the articles by John King in Funnel and got the results verified by the propeller manufacturer BT marine propellers, UK. Actual trials shows a max speed of 5.3 knots at 290 RPM.

History

The project began in August 2008 where I went to Sweden to visit Bernt Breding and Lars Quist to pick up my new 18 foot glass fiber hull - just the hull I wanted after having seen Pauline (German) owned by Hubert Paulus at the steam boat festival in Vejle, Denmark, in 2006. My father and I drove some 800 km to Forsvik in Sweden, a nice spot at the Göta Canal, to pick up the boat at Bredings workshop. We returned with the valuable load of a future steamboat on the trailer. In August 2015 another trip was made to visit Breding in Forsvik. This time to pick up the pressure part of a new boiler I had purchased for the boat. Other good stuff was included in the deal such as a very nice Mollerups mechanical lubricator to supply cylinder oil for the engine. The hull and interior was finished in the autumn of 2026. The last engine parts was made during winter of 2025/26. Engine, boiler installation and piping fitting out was done i the spring of 2026 and finally "Njord" was named and launched on the 17'th May 2026.