The annual Feadship Heritage Fleet Rendezvous was held in Makkum, which is in the north of the Netherlands in the province of Friesland. This weekend-long event started on Friday 9 June as we welcomed the participants for an evening of very pleasant yacht hopping. With all the boats moored up together the owners and their family & friends were serenaded by a shanty choir who gave a great performance as the seventy guests sipped cocktails.
Sijbrand de Vries, director of the Feadship yard in Makkum, also gave a short speech and laid out the plans for the weekend. These included a tour of the yard on Saturday morning, with the participants being thrilled by having the chance to see Project Number 1007, a spectacular 110-metre Feadship due for launch at the end of 2018. This was followed by the members-only general assembly after which the guests rode on a traditional British double-decker bus into Makkum.
Here they enjoyed a tour of the town’s historic architecture, a visit to the Jopie Huisman Museum (dedicated to the life and work of this self-taught master painter) and beers on one of the lovely café terraces that make the Centre of Workum so cosy. The evening was spent back at the yard where we tucked into a delicious barbecue accompanied by live music. The 2017 FHF Rendezvous concluded on the Sunday with everyone being served a special breakfast basket to take on their travels home after a very successful weekend for all.
Meeting of Minds
All Feadship Heritage Fleet members were welcome to join the Feadship directors and boat show team at the annual Monaco Yacht Show at the end of September. Various options were available for people to enjoy themselves whilst taking in the spectacular sights of this world leading event, which included the Feadships Aquarius and Hurricane Run. Members had the chance to embark on a Feadship-spotting safari on board one of the first Aston Martin AM37 powerboats from Quintessence Yachts, and also had access to the exclusive Feadship hospitality lounge for lunch and drinks.
As you can see from the image, the Feadship Heritage Fleet brought an additional air of glamour to the famous canals of Amsterdam during our summer event on 9 September. The gathering was one of the first fruits of the decision at the annual general meeting to set up a committee to organise events.
The day started with a good number of Feadships berthing up together at the National Maritime Museum close to Central Station, where we met for good coffee and a fascinating tour. It was then time for the assembled Feadships to sail together through the iconic canals of the Dutch capital city to the Amstel Boathouse house in Martin Luther King Park where lunch was served.
Feadships galore on the Amsterdam canals
De Vrouwe Christina was also significant in terms of her interior. This was designed by Feadship’s in-house architect Jan van Erven Dorens who was a real innovator by 1950s standards. He commissioned lots of wooden and cast-metal decorations from the renowned sculptor Anton Fortuin and De Vrouwe Christina was launched on 28 September 1957 in the presence of Professor Failey and his wife Christina, after whom the yacht was named (‘vrouwe’ is an archaic Dutch word for lady).
Shipped to New York City in January 1958, Professor Failey expressed his delight in a telegram to the yard: “The tjalk arrived in good shape and has been admired by a number of visitors. I would certainly be glad to recommend anyone to your yard who is thinking of building in Holland.” He and his wife then spent a number of years sailing De Vrouwe Christina on the Intracoastal Waterway and were frequent visitors to the Bahamas.
