Kurt Jurgen Diemer (BRA)
“Meu coração tem formato de narceja”
(This is a very emotional declaration from Lemão on June 2020, during the lives we did to tell the story of the Snipe class builders in Brazil during the COVID19 lockdown, saying his heart has the shape of the snipe bird.)
Born in Germany on November 14th, 1953, his family moved to Brazil when he was 2 months old. He began sailing Snipe at 15 in Rio, as he had fallen in love with the Snipe although the Penguin was the popular boat at the time. In 1983 he began to build Diemer masts to sell with the Thor boats built by Torben Grael. When Thor moved/sold to Lillia in Italy, there was a need for a Snipe builder. Lemão stepped in, using the Thor mold and redesigned the hull with input from sailors Alexandre Paradeda, Bruno Bethlem, to name a few. In 2019, Henrique Haddad/Gustavo Nascimento won the Snipe Worlds with a Lemão built 18 years prior, proving that the shape of his boats remain fast, competitive and affordable.
Kurt has built approximately 500 boats since 1995 and continues to improve upon them with input from sailors.
Marco Aurelio Ribeiro president of CBVela: “Snipe’s big secret in Brazil is the selfless producers who have always developed equipment and materials, transforming the class into a protagonist class of sailors and equipment. I’m proud that our industry has produced equipment among the best in the world.”
