It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Klaus Peter Schmidt, founder of Sirius-Werft, who passed at the age of 84, after a brief but serious illness. With his passing, German boatbuilding loses not only a passionate sailor and visionary entrepreneur from the early days of fiberglass yacht construction, but also a true maverick. Since 1970, he created not only many popular cruising yachts but also, in the 1980s, pioneered the deck saloon concept.
Peter Schmidt was born in 1940 and grew up during a time of great upheaval, experiencing Germany’s post-war reconstruction firsthand. His story is a typical post-war story – and at the same time, anything but ordinary. Early on, he discovered his love for the water. As a teenager, he traded a guitar for the frame of a canoe, which he made seaworthy again using old newspapers and linseed oil, equipping it with a centerboard and mast to sail – a makeshift vessel that soon paved the way for his first real sailboat.
Professionally, Peter Schmidt first took a different path. He trained as a car mechanic at Opel Mausner in Celle, followed by training as a wholesale merchant, eventually working in sales. After a brief stint in the industrial paint trade, however, he found his way professionally to his true passion: sailing.
What began as a hobby became a calling. In the late 1960s, as fiberglass replaced traditional wooden boatbuilding, Peter Schmidt looked for a yacht suitable for the Baltic Sea – without finding one that met his standards. Instead, he approached the Herbert Klein boatyard to pursue a bold idea: to use the inverted hull of his existing 24-foot boat as the mold for a new, larger vessel – without damaging the original, whose sale he needed to fund the prototype.
What seemed like a daring venture at the time – and certainly was – became the foundation of a remarkable shipyard legacy. The boat designer Dr. Jüs Segger drew the deck and rig plans, and the Waran cruiser was born. Friends and fellow sailors marveled at the project’s development and urged him to turn it into a business. Just before the Hamburg boat show – then held in January – he secured a recently vacated stand and set himself the goal of selling four boats at the fair. If he succeeded, he would take the leap into self-employment. By the end of the show, 17 boats had been sold, and the foundation of Sirius-Werft was laid.
In Lachendorf (near Celle in northern Germany) with help from friends and a lot of sweat equity, he built the first production hall and a house. In 1971, the first Sirius – designed by Heribert Streuer – replaced the Waran series. The Sirius 26 was followed by the 23 and shortly thereafter the 24. As the boatbuilding boom progressed and demand outgrew capacity, production of the Sirius 26, and later the first Sirius 31 and 33, was handed over to the Grell shipyard in Lübeck. In 1977, the foundation was laid for the current production site in Plön.
With great perseverance and a keen sense for the market, Peter Schmidt led Sirius-Werft and shaped it with his extraordinary ideas. The most notable among them was the deck saloon concept he developed in 1988 – proof of his visionary thinking. Initially mocked and jokingly referred to by his own boatbuilders as a “rabbit hutch,” the tall superstructure with many windows on the hull of the sporty 31-footer seemed unusual at first. But Peter Schmidt had already recognized the needs of sailors who didn’t want to “sit in the basement” while in port. He created a new class of yachts that brought the saloon, galley, and interior helm into the light, seamlessly connecting a comfortable interior with panoramic views to the cockpit. Over time, the design was harmoniously integrated into the lines of the boats, functionally refined, and aesthetically enhanced. In 1991, the last pure sailing yacht was launched, followed by the successful 32 DS and the 36 designed by Georg Nissen, which later evolved into the 38 DS. From a daring idea, a trademark was born – one that will forever be associated with the name Klaus Peter Schmidt.
More than 55 years after the founding of the shipyard and with around 900 yachts built, deck saloon yachts are still being produced at Sirius-Werft today – continuing a brilliant concept that has been consistently refined. These yachts are highly regarded around the world for their exceptional quality, individuality, thoughtful design, and the consistent implementation of the unique deck saloon principle.
In the mid-1990s, Peter Schmidt handed over production management to his son Torsten, who fully took over the shipyard in late 2000 and continues to run it successfully to this day.
Throughout his life, Schmidt remained a dedicated sailor and a passionate tinkerer. He personally sailed every model each year and was highly successful in Jollenkreuzer regattas, even achieving the title of German runner-up champion.
Even in retirement, Peter remained deeply connected to the shipyard, to sailing, and to the water. He spent eight years cruising aboard his own Sirius 38 DS. Until the very end, he remained in excellent health and always needed projects to keep him busy. He continued to observe the goings-on at the shipyard from a distance – always with a sharp eye and surely the occasional critical remark.
Klaus Peter Schmidt leaves behind not only family and friends but also a life’s work widely recognized among sailors. His curiosity, entrepreneurial spirit, and unconventional approach left a lasting mark on German yacht building during its most formative period. He was a man who didn’t just build yachts – he brought to life dreams of comfortable sailing, traveling, and living on the water – and lived those dreams himself.
Sirius-Werft, his family, friends, and countless companions on sea and land will miss him – as a visionary, a doer, a man with character and passion for the things he loved most.
Klaus Peter Schmidt
1940 – 2025
