Jager 37: Hard shell, soft core - an aluminium yacht like Clint Eastwood
Alexander Worms
· 27.07.2025
If Jager were an actor, he would be Clint Eastwood. The old Hollywood warhorse embodies the outwardly grumpy, dismissive anti-hero like no other, but who lovingly cares for the people around him who are worth it. Hard shell, soft core.
And let's be honest: the shell of the Jager is really hard. Raw aluminium, sanded to a fine surface quality in 400 (!!) man-hours, but still industrial grey, raw-looking, archaic somehow. Sanding is better than sandblasting, by the way, because the surface remains finer and less dirt can accumulate, but it takes much longer.
Other special boats:
Apart from a few tiny round hatches in the superstructure, the Jager has no windows, a sober, straightforward cockpit paired with a very discreet Esthec deck, also striped in grey, so-called fake teak. This is exactly what a workboat that is used to haul muddy eel traps on board day in, day out looks like. Objective. Simple. No frills. Yes: repellent. "This is exactly how I wanted it on the outside," explains Emile Ruys, owner of the "Willem Ruys" to Jager from his shipyard. "This is a boat for me to show what I can do. And I don't have time to clean it all the time. The boat has to work. And it does".
Symbiosis of robustness and cosiness
But just as there is something about the film Grandpa Eastwood that allows his true nature, his soft inner self, to shine through at first glance, the Jager also has this friendly nuance in her appearance. In her case, it's the small portholes mentioned earlier. They really are miniature. But they look friendly, almost harmless. And that's why they immediately catch the eye when you look at the Jager, which is otherwise a typical Koopmans design: high freeboard, low superstructure, almost open foredeck, interrupted only by a slight elevation that at least provides almost standing height below deck at the front. This is what they look like, the Victoires and Sentijns and the many other designs that originate from the pen of the Dutch designer known for his chunky designs.
But the Jager also has these friendly eyes. And because Emile Ruys has invested in very high-quality lighting below deck, the eyes also shine outwards in a warm, yellow light when she is lying there on the jetty. And the way below deck, the first impression, a glance at the Pallisander interior reveals immediately: Yes, the interior of the Jager is as soft to its users as the teddy bear from the fabric softener advert. As inviting as a ski lodge with an open fireplace or the box-spring bed in a luxury hotel. This is where you want to be.
The finely grained dark precious wood contrasts perfectly with the off-white walls or the peculiar pink seat covers. Add to this the high-quality brass lamps, the diesel stove in the lounge and the very fine workmanship that is evident everywhere. The inside of an oyster, somehow. Because on the outside there is this hard shell made of seawater-resistant aluminium, four millimetres in the superstructure to keep the centre of gravity low and 5 to indestructible 20 (!!) millimetres in the hull. Plus 40 centimetres of frame clearance and cleverly positioned extra reinforcements in the keel area and, of course, a watertight compartment around the rudder. All this creates safety.
Jager 37 is a real sailor and fast too
The vessel therefore not only looks like a go-anywhere boat, it actually is one. Koopmans designed her at the time to sail the Round Britain and Ireland Race or the Azores and Back Race, but also for travelling to Spitsbergen, for example. The foam insulation above the waterline, which together with the stove ensures cosy warmth, ensures that you feel comfortable on the Jager there too. "We spent two weeks with the family on the islands here in the mudflats after Christmas, which was very cosy." How much anticipation there must have been for the warm lounge on the way across the IJsselmeer and through the Wadden Sea. Outside, drizzly grey in grey to match the hull, inside, cosy comfort. Even the most enthusiastic sailor looks forward to arriving.
The Jager is characterised by the contrast between a robust, rough shell and a cosy interior.
The journey to the island did not take too long. After all, the Jager is by no means a lazy residential vessel - Koopmans had racing in mind. And: "I am a sailor, I always wanted a sailing ship. I also always liked Dick Koopmans' designs, so I bought a second-hand one a few years ago," reports Ruys. "But it turned out to be too ponderous on the ferry. A great sea-going vessel, but too heavy, with too much focus on comfort and therefore too slow. That didn't work!"
And so the idea of having Koopmans design a special Jager matured in the enterprising thirty-something: A real sailing boat, it had to be fast. And with a fat-head main, carbon mast and a deep, fixed keel. After all, you always pay for variable draughts with a loss of sailing performance, unless you opt for an expensive lifting keel.
Seven tonnes can be controlled with two fingers
Koopmans Junior set to work with these specifications. The result was a draught of just under two metres, a weight of 2,250 kilograms only in the deep keel bulb and the aforementioned mast from the sixth element. Boat builder Ruys did the rest by building consistently light. The walls are made of foam sandwich, the engine is located in the saloon directly behind the keel, there is no hot water tank, nor is there a closed transom. Of course, all of this would be possible if the owner of a possible build number two wanted it. But: "The more clearly you pursue a concept, the fewer compromises you make, the better the end result will be," Ruys is certain.
And he's right: during the trip it's blowing at 16 to 18 knots, sometimes even 20. 4 in gusts of 5. It doesn't get any better than that, because you're right at the reefing limit. This is a great way to test the limits. And it's big. At first, the ship reports back very clearly that it thinks there is now enough pressure. It then reacts extremely obediently to trimming efforts: a little backstay, release the downhaul and the main lifts up and the pressure is right again. Incidentally, this works on a tiller.
The owner likes them just as much as the author: "It had to be a tiller, it's much more direct and simply more fun," says Ruys. How right he is. And in the harbour, it is simply folded up and no longer gets in the way. On the notoriously unpleasant IJsselmeer waves, the rudder bar is a joker: the seven-tonne yacht can be steered perfectly through the waves with two fingers. The ship remains a genuine Koopmans: they are known for their seaworthiness. She takes waves extremely calmly and dryly. The heel remains moderate even in windy conditions.
Squaring the circle
As the gusts increasingly reach the 20-knot mark, last longer and the backstay cascade gets shorter and shorter, at some point it is time for the first reef. Then we head upwind: we tack slightly under 90 degrees, travelling at 6.5 knots and more. Mind you, on Leegerwall off Andijk in a northerly wind. In other words: the waves don't help to paint super figures in the water. However, the Jager 37 simply remains comfortable and achieves exactly the speeds that the designer's calculations dictate. At the same time: communicative, controllable, direct. The mixture of a deep, rather narrow foredeck, large beam and a slightly retracting stern simply fits well in the waves, no comparison to a modern, flat-fronted U-frame. Nothing bangs or rumbles here, even larger water bumps are simply parried. At the same time, the ship's movements are simply pleasant.
It's a bit like squaring the circle: a stiff, direct, communicative boat that is simply fun to tiller. At the same time, it is fast and good-natured in moving water. Such combinations arise when Koopman's passion for seaworthy designs meets the owner's youthful urge for lightweight construction and speed. This is a real success. The halyards that have been redirected into the cockpit are unusual. The designer didn't like them at all because he thought that friction was the biggest problem on a sailing boat. On the Jager, this problem was solved simply by using good material. Everything runs smoothly.
Incidentally, the mast also has a cutter stay and corresponding back stays in case things get really rough. Coupled with the great stability of the design, it can then blow really hard before it gets uncomfortable on the Jager. Otherwise, the mast gets by with hardly any swept spreaders. Ideal for deep courses, as the main can be opened very wide.
Below deck, the Jager 37 is above all cosy
There is only one place below deck that is actually uncomfortable: the inner bunk in the aft cabin. This is because the cockpit floor is 20 centimetres above the mattress. Not enough to sleep comfortably underneath. This leaves only 1.32 metres of the 1.60 metre wide berth. That's tight, especially as the edges of the recess are quite angular. You'll bump into them at night. Unattractive.
The wet room on the opposite side is just a toilet room. And it's small. There is no washbasin. It is only available in the kitchen island in the centre of the saloon. This is where people wash up, brush their teeth and vegetables and wash themselves. This certainly takes some getting used to, especially as there is no privacy when it comes to daily hygiene. You also have to get used to the sudden lack of headroom on the way forward. The headroom simply decreases - as is typical for Koopman. Bowing to the ship is therefore mandatory, unless you are shorter than 1.60 metres. In the aft area of the saloon, however, the headroom is 1.92 metres. But that's where the box with the washbasin is, under which the engine is hidden. The great thing about this is that all sides can be removed, making the drive unit even more accessible. Incidentally, the bunk in the foredeck is again spacious: 2.15 metres long and 1.68 metres wide. Fits.
Incidentally, Emile Ruys doesn't want to head off into cold waters with his Jager 37 for the time being. His boatyard is doing far too well for that. He builds aluminium sloops and tour boats, mostly with electric propulsion. The boat is for him and his family, easy to sail, cosy and low-maintenance. He has created something very special: an aluminium touring yacht that is two tonnes lighter than the Bestevaer 36, which is roughly the same length, and weighs one tonne less than the Hallberg Rassy 370, which of course offers more space below deck and also sails well, but it is not made of aluminium. And not nearly as individualised.
A ship for individualists
And anyone who, knowing all this, would like to have a Jager 37 immediately and not in a year and a half, in other words this first one, will be disappointed: "I think I'd rather keep it," says Ruys. He has virtually immortalised this on the stern: The name is proudly emblazoned in welded letters: "Willem Ruys". This was once the flagship of Rotterdamsche Lloyd, a shipping company that primarily connected the Netherlands with Asia. This Willem Ruys was the founder of the shipping company and a "distant relative" of the current owner. During construction, he adopted elements of the ship's interior from back then, such as the doors or the moulded planks in the white wall panels or the brass lamps.
The ship is therefore more a part of the family and should remain so. It is to be hoped that this "Willem Ruys" is luckier than the ship that gave her her name: at some point, she was renamed "Achille Lauro" and caused quite a stir in world politics when she was first kidnapped and then forced to make an odyssey through the Mediterranean. A few years later, she sank after a fire in the engine room. The Jager had better be spared that.
You could get a new Jager 37 from around 800,000 euros, but not with a rosewood interior, as the cubic metre of wood alone would cost three to four times as much as one made of oak, for example. What remains, however, is a boat for individualists, one that not everyone has. As aluminium always means semi-custom, it is essential to discuss the owner's wishes in detail at the beginning. The shipyard, owner and designer then sit down together to put the exact boat that the new owner wants on paper. "Then we need a year. We schedule two hours of consultations with the owner every week. That way, he always knows what's coming up and we make all decisions together to avoid surprises and rework," says Ruys, describing the construction process.
And so something very special is created, this unique mixture, this Clint Eastwood of water. Hard on the outside and very soft on the inside.
Technical data of the Jager 37
- Designer: Dick Koopmans
- Torso length: 11,20 m
- Waterline length: 10,25 m
- Width: 3,80 m
- Depth: 1,95 m
- Sail area on the wind: 76,0 m²
- Weight: 7,1 t
- Sail carrying capacity: 4,5
