Herman Ipsen Lund (August 22, 1890 â June 30, 1981) was a Danish-American boat builder and designer known for his sailboats and powerboats.
Lund was born on the island of Bornholm, Denmark in 1890. His father. Mathias Lund, was captain of the three-masted schooner, Veset, sailing between Denmark and ports in England, Sweden, and Russia.
Lund apprenticed to a boat builder at age 14 in his native Denmark. At age 18, he moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, where he obtained a boat-building job. At age 21, he and his uncle, Hans Hansen, founded Hansen & Lund Boatbuilders.
Lund's training allowed him to transfer lines from half-hull models onto the full-sized project, a skill not universal among other builders. Lund extended this skill to create his own designs, which comprised half the boats he built. He became widely recognized.
He married Amber O. Brinck in 1914 , whose father, Charles, was assigned to the life-saving station at Mill Creek, Pennsylvania.
Lund became the sole proprietor of Hansen & Lund in 1913, upon the retirement of his uncle. In that year, the company obtained work in the restoration of Matthew PerryâÂÂs brig, Niagara, in Erie, Pennsylvania. Lund oversaw later refits of Niagara. His company performed maintenance work on the USS Michigan (later the Wolverine) during its active duty in Erie.
During Prohibition, Lund built nine Coast Guard patrol boats to pursue rum-runners operating between the U.S. and Canadian waters, some of which fell into the hands of the smugglers. Lund also built a few fast boats for men who paid in cash and often used the alias, "John Smith".
During the 1930s and 1940s, Lund built steam-powered fishing tugs ranging from , part of a fleet of more than 100 in the late 1920s. Lund's yard maintained may of the tugs in the fleet.
During World War II, Lund, along with most of his men, worked on minesweepers at the Stadium Yacht Building Company in Cleveland, Ohio. Lund served as superintendent over the construction of 27 vessels there.
By 1950, Lund estimated that he had built about 150 boats both power and sail, which he continued to produce until his retirement in 1964, when he handed over the business to his son, Charles. His son ran the business as a boat repair shop until his death in 1969, when it passed to the next generation. Ultimately, the shop changed hands several times before it was razed in 2016 to make room for a parking lot.
Lloyds reference number, yacht name, length, designer, type, year built