[Paddlewise] Oskar Speck

	Thankyou, Hermann and Marian for your responses.   Pionier must have been
quite a substantial kayak manufacturer.  I wonder if any memorabilia
survived the closing of their factory?   Looking at my atlas I see Bad Tolz
is south of Munich and quite close to Rosenheim,  which of course is Klepper
territory.  Must have been some keen competition back in the 30s.
Looking at the photos and film of Oskar's double, the Pionier was very
similar to the Aerius 11,  but with a pronounced chine.  It also looks as
though the Pionier was designed for sailing which would have made it a
direct competitor with Klepper in those days.  Oskar's films show
tantalizing glimpses of his kayak,  and sometimes he had his lugsail rigged,
usually pulled up on a beach somewhere.
To answer your question Marian, yes the address we have for Pionier is from
the 1930s.  It was taken from a Pionier pamphlet which is among Oskar's
possessions at our National Museum.
>From interviews in Australia,  we believe Oskar was from Hamburg, and was an
electrician with his own company, either in Hamburg, or in Ulm, before he
went broke in the depression.  He also told friends here that he was quite a
keen competitive paddler in his youth,  but we are not sure whereabouts in
Germany.
If you find anything else,  please let us know, and we shall keep you posted
as we continue our research here.
Cheers, Peter Rattenbury, Wollongong, Australia.

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