Scrapped: Belgium’s listed Whitbread racer, the “Rucanor Tristar”, has been cut up

The badge is still prominently displayed on the hull. It can be clearly seen in one of the photos that Dirk Gunst has recently posted on Facebook: a blue and white plaque bearing the inscription “Beschermd varend erfgoed” – protected maritime heritage. Right next to it, square-shaped gaps gape open, revealing the yacht’s empty interior. Worse still: bulkheads have been torn out, the hull sides are bare. What remains of the famous Whitbread racer resembles a wreck, according to the accusatory words directed by the long-standing former owner at the Flemish cultural authorities.

The legendary “Rucanor Tristar”

What remains of the yacht now stands on a steel trestle somewhere outdoors – and was once the pride of Belgium’s sailing community. It was designed in 1984 by the Frenchman Guy Ribadeau-Dumas in collaboration with Staf Versluys and built at Frans Maas’s renowned Standfast Yachts BV shipyard in Breskens (Netherlands). The boat was launched on 6 February 1985 as the “Rucanor Tristar”.

By the standards of the time, the design was revolutionary. This was true both in terms of the materials used – Kevlar, titanium and special aluminium alloys – and in terms of innovations such as a fold-out stern designed to extend the waterline. The hull consisted of a sandwich construction made of fibreglass-polyester laminate with a balsa wood core, manufactured using a negative mould.

In the 1985/86 Whitbread Race, Versluys and his ten-man crew won Class D and finished fifth overall. For this achievement, he was presented by Princess Diana with the coveted Joshua Prize for ‘Most Outstanding Seamanship’ – the race’s highest individual honour. His homecoming in Ostend turned into a public celebration. Versluys, a trained carpenter and boatbuilder, was henceforth regarded as the star of Flemish offshore sailing: “The man who taught the Flemish how to sail,” wrote the website Line Heroes.

During the 1989/90 season, the yacht sailed once again in the Whitbread Round the World Race under the name “Rucanor Sport”, with Bruno Dubois as skipper – this time with a dramatic incident: A few days after setting sail from Auckland, the boat collided with a whale; it was hauled ashore in Wellington and repaired, enabling Dubois to complete the race.

Dirk Gunst had been sailing the boat, which was christened “Tomidi” in 1991, since 1990. Over the course of 36 years, he covered around 300,000 nautical miles in its wake – roughly twelve circumnavigations of the globe – and took part in four Fastnet Races (1985, 1989, 1997, 2005), several Tall Ships Races, the AZAB solo regatta in 1995 and the OSTAR transatlantic races in 1996 and 2000. It is the only Belgian yacht to have competed twice in the Whitbread.

Heritage protection on paper – decay in practice

On 17 September 2009, the “Tomidi” was officially registered as a protected piece of motoring heritage – owing to its innovative design and its unique racing successes. Since 16 June 2017, it has also been recognised as ‘designated motoring heritage’ (listed sailing heritage) classified. Both designations represent the highest protection categories under Flemish heritage legislation.

In practice, however, this protection proved ineffective. Since early 2017, the ship had been jacked up on land – initially in the port of Oostende, then at a storage site on Vismijnlaan, from where the Coastguard (Agency for Maritime Services and the Coast) eventually referred to. The boat was moved thirty metres further on to a tolerated zone. However, it did not find a permanent mooring.

And yet, in 2024, it had briefly looked as though a solution had been found. In March 2024, Bredene’s local council accepted the donation of the ship from Gunst – on condition that it be put on permanent display. The plan was to create a memorial to Staf Versluys on the roof of a building on the coastal road, with an exhibition space underneath for school groups and tourists. However, this complex was never built.

Gunst’s accusation: “Poor Flanders!”

Gunst’s latest Facebook post reads like a chronicle of failure – and like a settling of scores. In a series of ironic expressions of thanks, he addresses, in turn, the Flemish Ministers for Mobile Heritage, the provincial governor, the provincial council, and the mayors and aldermen of the municipalities of Bredene and Ostend.

Poor Flanders! With thanks to all the successive Flemish Ministers for Mobile Heritage."

For more than nine years, he had approached all manner of organisations in an attempt to find a fitting home for the ship as a listed monument on land. To no avail. In the end, he had to sell it “for a pittance” – to, as he writes, “a young Dutchman”. It was not known what the new owner intended to do with the ship; the new owner had made no statement regarding his plans. It is also unclear whether the listed status will have any legal consequences for the current owner’s heavy-handed actions. None of the authorities mentioned has so far responded publicly to the allegation.

What the Flemish funding guidelines actually promise

The “Tomidi” case highlights a system that is well-intentioned on paper – but which, in practice, appears to have significant problems. Since the decree of 29 March 2002, the Flemish Government has had comprehensive legislation in place to protect what is known as ‘floating heritage’. Owners and managers of protected vessels can apply for maintenance and management grants – for all measures aimed at preserving their heritage value, including measures to restore them to seaworthiness.

The Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed (Immovable Cultural Heritage Agency) accepts applications, assesses their content and may reach a decision within ninety days. Work may only commence once approval has been granted by the Minister.

Furthermore, new funding guidelines came into force this year: the Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed has announced that it will replace the previous complicated system, which involved different – and in some cases higher – percentages. In future, a standard funding rate of 40 per cent will apply to maintenance and management measures.

Protection that has no effect? A structural issue

The ‘Tomidi’ case illustrates the central dilemma of Belgium’s system for protecting maritime heritage: protected status alone is not enough. Anyone who owns a listed vessel but lacks the means to maintain it faces an insurmountable challenge. For heritage protection remains a paper tiger as long as there is no provision, at the very least, for a mooring.

The problem is unlikely to be solved by the new standard 40 per cent subsidy rate alone – particularly as a ship such as the “Tomidi”, having spent years ashore and without regular maintenance, would require restoration work that would be almost impossible for private owners to afford, even if they were to contribute just half the costs themselves.

Staf Versluys, the man who made history with his boat, has been dead since 1995. In his home town of Bredene, an events centre is named after him. The boat that made him famous will probably never sail again.

‘Tomidi’ in figures