Wood, always wood. The passion for this natural material has been anchored in the DNA of the van der Aa family from Holland for several generations. Pieter van der Aa, 59, followed in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, grandfather and father, who were all carpenters or joiners. Even as a young boy, he spent a lot of time on the farm, where he enjoyed playing with all kinds of wood.
At the age of 17, he built a plywood canoe based on a simple drawing. Two years later, he refitted a teak sloop under supervision at his uncle's shipyard. It was then that Pieter developed a passion for his current work. Shortly afterwards, the sailor restored a classic from the pen of English designer Alan Buchanan. It was an East Anglian 28, a long keeler from 1963 reminiscent of a folk boat, which he sailed himself with his family.
Wood defines the life of Pieter van der Aa
Van der Aa then developed more and more into a very experienced boat builder and carpenter for unique pieces of wood in exquisite craftsmanship. After working at several shipyards and gaining a lot of experience there, he decided to become self-employed and set up his own company. He started by importing oak from France, mainly in special long formats that are more commonly used as industrial flooring.
After a very successful period until 2009, he sold his company and opened a sawmill in Suriname, which processed hardwood trees felled by divers underwater in a reservoir, which van der Aa mainly had cut into roof tiles. On the side, he continued to devote himself to his passion, yacht building. As a passionate boat enthusiast and with more time at home, Pieter felt the urge to combine wood and sailing more and more.
One of the following projects was the production of deckhouses, skylights and hatches for the 176-foot-long schooner "Ingomar" - a Herreshoff design. Van der Aa was also entrusted with the overhaul of the classic tender "Fiona Mary", which was built in 1932 by the British shipyard Camper & Nicholsons.
Boat builder going it alone
Over a period of several years until 2010, the wood expert single-handedly built a design by Olin Stephens, a classic New York 32 type sloop, which he called "Masquerade". Henry B. Nevins' shipyard in New York built 20 of the series in the 1930s. Van der Aa obtained a special licence from Sparkman & Stephens to build another in the series. He chose a modern construction method with the moulding method and the use of epoxy resin - which was not visible on the newly built classic and led the boat builder to give it its name.
Olin Stephens, the great man of design history himself, was delighted: "She is a truly unique yacht", and described her as one of his favourite projects. Nevertheless, "Masquerade" was sold in 2013; Pieter's wish was to build an even bigger yacht for himself. Big enough for longer cruises and with the option of living on board.
Pieter's wish was to build an even bigger yacht
Pieter van der Aa: "I studied the books and drawings of Olin Stephens' designs closely. Each time I was struck by the beauty of the Jawl rigged boats. One day I sailed with the Dutch owner of the 52-foot S&S yawl 'Baccarat' and was completely blown away. The ship was built in 1953 by Abeking & Rasmussen on the Weser. She is still beautiful today."
This meant that Pieter van der Aa was finally hooked on the classic Yawl from Sparkman & Stephens. In 2013, the boat builder enquired with the head designer of the still existing S&S design office about a possible new project. Shortly afterwards, the same Bruce Johnson drew the attention of the wood expert to "Avanti".
"Avanti"- From pleasure yacht to warship
This 56.8-foot Yawl based on an S&S design was built in 1935 at the Herreshoff shipyard in Bristol, Rhode Island. This meant that the two biggest names in US boatbuilding history had worked on a joint project. The client for "Avanti" was the second Baron von Rothschild, Walter N. Rothschild. After her launch, the yacht was successful in many local regattas and gave her owner many happy days on board.
The "Avanti" was used for a completely different purpose during the Second World War. In the spring of 1942, German submarines in the Atlantic attacked merchant shipping to and from Europe, mainly on the east coast in the New York area. The US Navy and Coast Guard forces did not have enough ships available to combat these submarines.
They then recruited fishing boats and private sailing yachts with men experienced at sea to monitor the coastal waters. "Avanti" was painted navy grey, received the registration number CG R-3042 on the hull and was equipped with a radio telephone and generators. A cannon was mounted on deck for defence purposes. "Avanti", along with dozens of other ships, was to sail daily for many months and report several encounters with enemy submarines. On one occasion, she missed a submarine that had just surfaced by just a few metres. She herself met her end in 1954, being swept ashore by Hurricane Carlon in Massachusetts.
"Scarabee": classic lines in a modern design
For van der Aa, however, it was its lines that inspired him even more than its history; it was love at first sight when he studied the original sketches, recalls the Yawl enthusiast. He bought the drawings and the construction process began in Heukelum in 2013. Pieter chose the name "Scarabee". Although the scarab is a dung beetle and as such less suitable as the patron saint of a very pretty sailing yacht, it goes back to Egyptian mythology, where it is considered a lucky charm and symbolises resurrection. Fits.
And the rebirth was now also taking shape for "Avanti". This had been built conventionally with planks on frames at the Herreshoff shipyard. For "Scarabee", the drawings were translated for a modern construction method. Red cedar mouldings were screwed and glued onto a mallen frame. The composite was given three inner and outer layers of fibreglass and epoxy resin and braced with frames made of mahogany. The process took three years and van der Aa worked completely alone. He still remembers one of the highlights: "The moment when we turned the hull over and erected it was almost magical. Suddenly you could see a real boat in front of you!"
The moment when we turned the hull over and set it up was almost magical"
This was followed by four more years of expansion. Pieter modified the original "Avanti" interior to modern standards. At the front is the owner's cabin with adjoining bathroom. Amidships there are two comfortable sofas with a folding table for eight people. Behind this is the galley on the port side and the navigation table on the starboard side. Two guest cabins are located under the cockpit on both sides.
Combination of exquisite woods
The finish, the woods used, the exposed deck beams and the light-coloured contrasting surfaces convey a pure classic yacht feeling and are reminiscent of the design of classic yachts from the US East Coast. Van der Aa's knowledge and passion for wood really comes to the fore again in all the types of wood used. He adds: "Combining exquisite woods fascinates me. Western red cedar for the hull, teak decks, teak-clad deckhouse, gangway frames, hatches, skylights and cockpit. In the interior, I used varnished oak frames with white-painted ceiling battens. The deckhouse has a thickness of 14 millimetres of teak on the outside and the same thickness of mahogany on the inside. I don't like veneer and this way the yacht will last for many generations. The interior floor is made of varnished light-coloured Oregon pine, which can withstand water from wet sailing boots."
His aim was to build "Scarabee" with the utmost respect for the original "Avanti" design while retaining the sail plan. But he also utilised the achievements of modern technology: up-to-date navigation equipment is installed on the veritable long keeler, as is a bow thruster.
After careful consideration, aluminium was chosen for the rig instead of wood, as the material is easier to maintain. However, the Dutchman made the trees himself from Sitka spruce. These were protected and reinforced with two layers of glass-epoxy laminate.
The cloths by sailmaker Simon den Boer are snow-white with caramel-coloured details and, like "Avanti", bear the construction number 85. The rig with jib, foresail, mainsail and mizzen is designed for easy handling and is suitable for single-handed sailing. The running rigging consists of modern high-performance ropes. The deck fittings are colour-coordinated. The cleats and other details are made of stainless steel and harmonise with the chrome-plated Andersen winches. The genoa rails are custom-made from anodised aluminium.
The Baltic Sea is at the top of the Scarabee's bucket list
And in the summer of 2021, the time had finally come: "Scarabee" was ceremoniously launched in Heukelum after seven years of construction. A week later, the rig was in place. And then the Colijnsplaat marina on the south bank of the Oosterschelde became the snow-white beauty's new home port.
After various small and large jobs on the boat and its equipment, the first test strokes took place. The sunny day began with a light breeze, later the wind freshened to force four. To the great delight of the proud owner, his work responded immediately and proved to be very agile, with "Scarabee" effortlessly reaching a speed of eight knots and proving to be very true to course. A wonderful day at the end of a very long process.
Pieter van der Aa is planning longer trips to Europe in the near future; the S&S replica has already visited France and England. The Baltic Sea is at the top of his bucket list. And classic regattas are also on the agenda.
Pieter: "I have worked hard and for a very long time on this big dream of building my own yacht, and now I want to strike a better balance between work and leisure. If someone comes along and orders a boat like this from me, I'd be happy to build it again, but this time not on my own." He would then realise the project with other qualified shipbuilders and be able to complete the construction in a much shorter time. He would also like to help preserve the profession of wooden boat builder and train enthusiastic young apprentices. In addition to boat building and restoration, van der Aa is available for advice on all kinds of wooden projects and is an expert on two restoration projects in the Netherlands.
After several months of further extensive detail work, the boat builder and wood expert decided to apply for a nomination in the highly prestigious Classic Boat Awards organised by the British classic boat magazine "Classic Boat". And it paid off: "Scarabee" won the prize in the important category "Traditional New Builds of all Sizes". Well deserved.
Text: Kees Sluip
Technical data "Scarabee"
- Designer:Sparkman & Stephens
- Shipyard:Pieter van der Aa
- Construction method: Mouldings/GFK
- Year of construction:2021
- Length:17,00 m
- Waterline length:12,20 m
- Width:3,80 m
- Depth:2,30 m
- sail area: 126,0 m²
