A piece of Heligoland in Italy: Why a Börteboat is travelling in Venice

The robust wooden boats are the landmark of Heligoland. They normally brave the North Sea, but a Hamburg shipowner wanted to use the classic for his domicile in Italy. Boat builder Rainer Hatecke realised this wish, shrank the hull to seven metres and dared to try it out for himself in Italy. In this interview, he explains how this unusual project came about.

Tell me, Mr Hatecke, what is one of your boats doing in Venice?

In 2010, I had a customer who wanted a special boat for his trips on the canals. He was a Hamburg shipowner and had his weekend home there. He finally called me and said: "A boat like that for Venice would be just the thing."

A typical Börte boat is over ten metres long and not designed for sailing in narrow canals. How did that work?

We simply had to shrink the boat a little. In principle, we rarely build our boats according to a drawing anyway. The most important thing when building wooden boats is to have a good eye. You have to be able to see the lines and judge them correctly. This is how you build a boat step by step, regardless of the size.

And what was the end result?

In the end, we ended up with a mini boat about seven metres long and 2.20 metres wide. We even installed a bow thruster.

A bow thruster in a boat?

Yes, I had to laugh at first. But when I drove through the narrow canals myself, I quickly realised how helpful a bow thruster can be in the narrow bends. I was sweating blood and water the first time I drove through Venice. It was a huge disaster with all the water taxis and gondolas travelling all over the place.

How did you cope with the traffic?

You really have to be careful there. In Venice, there are one-way streets, left-hand traffic and even traffic lights on the water. If you're travelling by boat, it's really hard work. But there are also nice moments: taking the boat to the fish market in the morning when it's not so busy and buying the fish straight away. Then getting an ice cream and just sitting on the boat - that was something really special.

How did the Venetians react to the boat, which was unknown to them?

At first they looked at me funny because I was travelling with the Heligoland flag. It's the same colours as the Italian flag, just sorted differently. Over time, I was actually approached a few times. Something like: "Bella barca!" - nice boat! It was also special that the colours of the Börteboot correspond exactly to the Italian national colours: white hull, green edge and red rubbing strake. The Italians thought that was really chic.

You and your association are committed to preserving the Börteboote. How do you do that?

Originally, the establishment of a Club on Heligoland It was just a crazy idea. But we now have almost 400 members. A Börteboot is something special. Every single one can tell a story. We try to convey this feeling. The Association for the Preservation of the Helgoland Börteboote has been campaigning for years for these boats to be recognised as intangible cultural heritage.