The Russian bark SEDOV was launched in 1921 for a Bremen company called F.A. Vinnen. Its original name was  MAGDALENE VINNEN; it was meant to transport saltpetre from Chile via Cape Horn. It was a very unusual boat for its times. In contrast to other sailboats it was equipped with an engine intended to help her maneuver in harbours. It also had an extra task: it was supposed to be a training boat for officers-to-be of the merchant marine. It could take 60 cadets per cruise.

In 1936 it was bought by a German freight company in Bremerhaven "Norddeutscher Lloyd" and renamed KOMMODORE JOHNSEN. The number of cadets it could carry was increased to 100; the extra space needed for that was created by the addition of an extra deck. It was used in its capacity as a freight boat, transporting grain from Australia around Cape Horn, until the WWII broke out. After that, it spent winters in Flensburg and summers sailing the Baltic sea on training cruises.

After the war the bark was handed over to the Russians, sharing the fate of some other German sailboats which were considered war reparations. In January 1946 it was towed to Swinoujscie in Poland and on January 11 officially made part of the Soviet fleet under the name of SEDOV. Gieorgij SEDOV (1877-1914), the original bearer of the name, had been a famous Russian sailor, hydrographer and a researcher of the Arctic. The repairs and reconstruction of the boat lasted until 1952. After it was finished, SEDOV could carry almost 200 cadets. It also had a large officers’ mess and an auditorium designed as a cinema room, both made  in the typical style of the times (if you have ever been to the Palace of Science and Culture in Warsaw, you know what is meant by that!). Thus equipped, SEDOV was used as a training boat of the Soviet navy.
    
In 1957 SEDOV took part in the celebrations of the International Year of Geophysics. As a research unit of the Soviet Academy of Sciences it sailed to Africa, West Indies, to the Northern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. In 1958 it became the first sailboat to carry the Soviet flag across the Equator. Between 1962 and 1965 SEDOV and KRUZENSHTERN (another bark, not much smaller and obtained by the Soviets in much the same way) were used as training boats for hydrographic and oceanographic research.

Assembly hall – cinema room

The officers’ mess

In 1965 it changed hands again – it became property of the Soviet ministry of fishing and started being used for training of the fishing officers-to-be. In 1972 another renovation began, again quite large-scale. A new engine was installed – the same one that is still used today, a diesel of horsepower of 1180 instead of the 500 before. In June 1981 it was re-launched again, sailing from Riga to a few ports in Denmark, and then around Europe to Sewastopol. The following year it went to Hamburg.

1983 was the year of the spectacular visit in Bremerhaven: German officers and cadets who used to be crew members before the war had an opportunity to go on board of SEDOV. The occasion was a sailboat rally; from then on, SEDOV started participating in such events, including the famous Cutty Sark rally in 1986. In 1989 for the first time it took on board a group of western tourists who paid serious money for the pleasure of sailing on the world’s biggest yacht. Up to the end of 1991 more than 800 people traveled by SEDOV. The money they brought was of significant importance for the yacht’s budget, considering the imminent collapse of the Soviet system.

The extra screw-propeller

Latvia’s newly-won independence caused the yacht to change its home port: it left Riga for Murmansk. The owner changed too; it is now property of the Higher Technical Marine School of Murmansk.

SEDOV regularly participates in rallies and regattas. In 1992 it took part in the transatlantic event Columbus, commemorating the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ first journey across the Atlantic. In the year 2000 it sailed in the millennium transatlantic event Tall Ships 2000, the culminating point of which was the Sail Amsterdam rally. We had an opportunity to see SEDOV July 2003 during the Cutty Sark rally in Gdynia.

The yacht earns its upkeep by carrying tourists or by providing stylish accommodation to company balls and parties. For example, while in Gdynia, SEDOV took for a cruise the clients of MultiBank.

"Cztery Refy" band's performing onboard in Gdynia

July 2003 – a parade on the Bay of Gdańsk

SEDOV, ex KOMMODORE JOHNSEN, ex MAGDALENE VINNEN
built in: 1921
shipyard: Germania Werft (F. Krupp), Kiel
type: four-masted bark
construction: steel, deck - wood
total length: 122,3 m
hull length: 109 m
width: 14,6 m
draught: 6,5 m
sail surface:  4192 m2
crew: 64 + 180 cadets