The three masted barque Statsraad Lehmkuhl is many things. Based in Bergen, Norway, at 102 years old, she is Norway’s largest and oldest square-rigged sailing ship. She is also very beautiful and very fast.

In this year’s Tall Ship Races, she placed first overall among Class A sailing ships in the races between Antwerp, Lisbon, Cadiz, and A Coruña. On her way back to Bergen, the captain reported that they sailed a measured distance of 1556 nautical miles within a 124 hour period, for an average speed of 12.5 knots. The News in English.No boasts “Never before has a sailing ship sailed so far in such a short time as Statsraad Lehmkuhl did on Sunday.” Whether that is entirely accurate may be the topic of some discussion, but it is an impressive speed run regardless. In 2013, Statsraad Lehmkuhl sailed 1,469 nautical miles between Cape Verde and the United States in 124 hours, which has also been represented as a world record speed on a sailing ship for that route.

Statsraad Lehmkuhl was built in 1914 as a school training ship for the German merchant marine under the name Grossherzog Friedrich August. After the First World War the ship was taken as a prize by the United Kingdom. Her unusual name, which means “Cabinet Minister Lehmkuhl”, dates from in 1921 when the ship was bought by former cabinet minister Kristoffer Lehmkuhl. Statsraad Lehmkuhl is operated by the by the Statsraad Lehmkuhl Foundation and also serves as a school ship for the Royal Norwegian Navy.

Statsraad Lehmkuhl, Antwerp-Lisbon, July 2016

Thanks to Irwin Bryan for contributing to this post.