About Lilli and HC
Lilli and HC are the couple behind Til Sjøs med Lilli og HC – At Sea with Lilli and HC – a Norwegian YouTube channel documenting life on board, boating adventures and voyages along the Norwegian coast.
Together, they live, travel and produce their programmes aboard T1, their 56-foot Norwegian-built motor yacht. Their videos combine practical boating experience with personal encounters, coastal culture and the everyday realities of life at sea.
HC has more than 35 years of boating experience and a long professional background in Norwegian radio and television. Lilli brings warmth, curiosity and her own perspective to their shared adventures – both at the helm and in front of the camera.
Their ambition is simple: to share the joy of boating, inspire others to explore the coast and tell the stories of the people and places they meet along the way.
T1 – the unique Norwegian cruising yacht that took 20 years to build
T1 is no ordinary production boat. She is a 56-foot, Norwegian-built one-off motor yacht, designed and constructed as a completely unique vessel by Jan Christophersen in his own boatbuilding workshop at Husvik, just outside Tønsberg.
When your dream boat cannot be found in any brochure, you have to build it yourself. That is exactly what Jan did.
He wanted a large, safe and comfortable cruising yacht with classic Norwegian lines, excellent seakeeping qualities and enough space to live aboard for extended periods. The result was T1 – the boat that is now our floating second home, our workplace and the very heart of our voyages along the Norwegian coast.
Inspired by Norway’s boatbuilding heritage
Jan has been fascinated by boats and boatbuilding since childhood. When he began shaping his own dream yacht, he drew inspiration from the renowned Norwegian naval architect Richard G. Furuholmen.
Furuholmen was particularly famous for his beautiful, seaworthy double-ended boats. T1 was given a transom stern rather than a double-ended hull, but her connection to Furuholmen’s classic designs is still clearly visible in the shape of the hull, her overall lines and her distinctive bow.
“There is something about the stern and the hull that fascinates me. She is large and sophisticated, yet she also has a wonderful air of nostalgia,” Jan explains.
The boat was built on a property with a long tradition of boatbuilding. It was once home to Berg-Olsen’s boatyard, a respected Norwegian yard that built a number of vessels designed by Furuholmen.
The yard was established by Hans Berg-Olsen in Tønsberg in 1917 and later moved to Husvik. At its peak, it employed 14 people, and a total of 482 boats were built there over the years. The yard was renowned for its exceptional craftsmanship, high-quality finish and robust construction.
It is therefore no coincidence that T1 was created in this particular place. She is a modern motor yacht, but she also carries a clear legacy from the classic Norwegian tradition of boatbuilding.
A 20-year project
The idea for T1 first emerged approximately 20 years before the boat was completed. Jan is a qualified civil engineer with extensive experience in industrial buildings and large-scale structures. At home, he had his own boatbuilding workshop, with only a short distance between the house, the workshop and the sea.
This allowed him to devote countless hours to the project.
“The build became an endless hobby project, but I never set a specific deadline for when the boat had to be finished,” he says.
T1 was constructed piece by piece, with Jan serving as project manager, designer and boatbuilder. The technical drawings were developed in collaboration with Aamle & Stokke, while companies including Yamaha Marine, Vestfold Elektro-Diesel and Husvik Elektro contributed to some of the technical installations.
The boat was launched in 2015, although work on the interior, technical systems and final details continued after she entered the water.
For Jan, the objective was never to finish the boat as quickly as possible. His goal was to create something solid, carefully considered and built to last.
“Don’t ask what she cost or how many hours went into building her. That isn’t what matters. The result was good, and that was the whole point,” he says.
An exceptionally strong sandwich construction
T1 was built using an extremely robust epoxy sandwich construction. Jan wanted a hull capable of withstanding substantial loads and providing security in demanding conditions.
“I used what are technically known as stitched fibreglass mats to provide additional strength,” he explains.
The hull incorporates extensive internal reinforcement and is more heavily engineered than that of a typical production leisure craft. Jan describes the construction himself as “overbuilt”.
This does not simply mean that additional materials were used. It also means that every solution was developed with safety, longevity and practical use in mind. Jan wanted to know exactly how the boat was constructed, how loads were distributed and how all the essential systems could be inspected and maintained.
The superstructure is made from polyester composite and has additional insulation in the roof. This creates a comfortable interior environment, even as temperatures fall and the Norwegian boating season moves into autumn and winter.
T1 weighs approximately 14 tonnes. She is heavy and solid, and therefore responds more calmly than a lightweight planing boat.
“With that weight and hull form, she behaves differently at sea. She was designed to be safe and stable,” Jan explains.
Twin Yanmar engines and 740 horsepower
Beneath the large aft deck are two 370-horsepower Yanmar diesel engines, providing a combined output of 740 horsepower.
Jan wanted a boat that could cruise gently and economically over long distances, while still having sufficient power when conditions demanded it. T1 can therefore travel comfortably at a moderate cruising speed, while also having a reported top speed of approximately 25 knots.
The engine installation was designed with a strong emphasis on operational reliability. Each engine has its own seawater intake and cooling system. The seawater passes through separate pumps and filters before being fed into the exhaust systems.
Here, too, Jan’s philosophy was clear:
“You never know what might happen on a boat, so you need to prepare for every eventuality.”
The spacious engine room provides excellent access to both sides of each engine. This is essential for a boat that is used frequently and over long distances, as T1 is today.
Designed for life on board
Inside, T1 was designed as a true long-distance cruising yacht. She has six permanent berths across three cabins, two bathrooms with electric toilets and showers, a spacious galley and a large saloon.
T1 was built for extended periods on board, not merely for short day trips.
The interior offers generous headroom, large windows and numerous mahogany details. The combination of natural wood, light-coloured surfaces and expansive windows gives the boat a warm and airy atmosphere.
The interior helm position provides the skipper with excellent visibility. The large windows offer clear views both ahead and to either side, while the helm remains closely connected to the boat’s main living areas.
Aft of the superstructure is a large outdoor seating area. The engine room is located beneath the aft deck, while the wide bathing platform provides easy access to the sea and makes boarding from a low pontoon straightforward.
The foredeck offers ample room to move around, and the substantial guardrails provide reassurance when we are working outside in demanding conditions.
Quality before ornamentation
Jan’s primary ambition was not to build a showy yacht. He was far more concerned with quality, functionality and robust engineering.
“Generous headroom, large and airy rooms and attractive mahogany details characterise this solid yacht. Greater emphasis was placed on strength and quality than on elaborate styling and decorative trim,” he explains.
That philosophy is still evident today. T1 contains many features that may not be immediately visible, but which become invaluable when the boat is put to practical use: additional reinforcement, excellent access to technical installations, spacious working areas and systems designed with safety and maintenance in mind.
This is precisely what makes the boat so special to us. T1 was not created by a marketing department or designed to fit into a manufacturer’s model range. She was developed from one experienced boatbuilder’s personal vision of what a proper cruising yacht should be.
A new chapter in T1’s story
Jan built T1 as his own dream yacht. Today, we have been given the honour and responsibility of carrying her story forward.
For us, T1 is both a boat and a second home. She is the platform for Til Sjøs med Lilli og HC – At Sea with Lilli and HC – through which we document life on board and our voyages along the Norwegian coast. We use the boat exactly as she was intended to be used: for long passages, changing weather conditions, sheltered harbours, small coastal communities and encounters with people who live by and from the sea.
She is large enough for us to live, work and produce television programmes on board, yet she was designed so that the two of us can operate her ourselves.
T1 is a modern motor yacht, but she also represents something that is becoming increasingly rare: a boat designed and built by one man, in one place, with a clear purpose behind every detail.
She is a genuine Norwegian one-off vessel – inspired by Richard G. Furuholmen’s classic lines, built in the tradition of Berg-Olsen’s boatyard and created by Jan Christophersen through some 20 years of knowledge, patience and craftsmanship.
There is only one T1.
And now it is our responsibility to carry her story forward.
