Pushing the tradition

Magnus Rassy is the CEO of Hallberg-Rassy and a hugely successful man. While other Swedish manufacturers fell by the wayside following the financial meltdown of 2008, Rassy showed both wisdom and ruthlessness as he retrenched and streamlined, ensuring the company emerged from the crisis as the number one purveyor of bluewater yachts.

Yet, for all that success, I don’t think Magnus Rassy would mind if I described him as just a touch eccentric. By way of an example, I’ll cite the day on which I tested the new Hallberg-Rassy 57 out in Orust, Sweden, where Hallberg-Rassy has its yard. The test was an absolute joy, on a crystal-clear day with the wind blowing a good 20kt and the yacht simply champing at the bit to race off across the North Sea and out into the open Atlantic.

“Let me know when you have a new boat to test,” I said as I departed. “Ah yes, we should have a new model early next year,” he replied. “Let’s see – you could test it on April 24 next year. We can meet here at 11am?”

I was rather wrong-footed. This was nine months’ notice