Anniversary: Royal Huisman has been building tall ships believed impossible for 140 years
Sören Gehlhaus
· 18.08.2024
Returning customers are a blessing for shipyards. Especially when they speak openly about their good experiences. An owner who ordered three yachts over 40 metres from Royal Huisman and managed them all at the same time has become an excellent shipyard ambassador. In the case of US American Jim Clark, these are "Hyperion" (1998, 47 metres), "Athena" (2004, 90 metres) and the J-Class beauty "Hanuman" (2009, 42 metres), whose 37-metre-long companion yacht "Atlantide" was rebuilt by Huisman's refit division Huisfit. Netscape founder Clark spoke out on the occasion of the 125th anniversary in the editorial of a shipyard publication. He identified two quality pillars for Royal Huisman's success, first and foremost the spirit of Wolter Huisman: "He himself would hardly have thought that he would get involved in the construction of 'Athena'. But his positive attitude and enthusiasm inspired everyone." The second guarantee: the seclusion of Vollenhove. The place is defined by the shipyard. Many people who grew up in the community learnt their trade from Huisman. And because the wages paid are fair, the employees remain very loyal.
Beginnings with wood
Yet the land on which the halls now stand did not even exist when the shipyard was founded in 1884. Not even the IJsselmeer. The rough arm of the North Sea still reached into the interior of the Netherlands when Jan Huisman began building small wooden workboats and fishing boats seven kilometres to the east in Ronduite. Shortly before the Afsluitdijk dam was completed and the Zuiderzee (today's IJsselmeer) was sealed off as a result, brothers Jan and Jacob decided to focus on wooden sailing yachts instead of fishing boats. They feared that they were moving too far away from their customers, to whom the brothers had previously supplied an extremely seaworthy fishing boat in the form of the Vollenhovense Bol. So they developed a cruising version and took the plunge.
Steel is used from the 50s Royal Huisman used as a building material
Twelve years later, the Noordoostpolder, on which today's Vollenhove is located, was created by a large-scale embankment. It was not until 1971 that Huisman yachts were to be built on the drained land below the water level. In between, the young Wolter Huisman decided in 1954 in Ronduite in favour of steel instead of wood as a building material. Two steel motor yachts were soon followed by the wooden sailing yacht "Beulakermeer", which was built around 70 times. Wolter Huisman took over his father's company in 1959, introduced aluminium and broke new ground by bending and welding the light metal for the construction of ship hulls. Five years later, Huisman presented the first aluminium yacht, the 30-foot Van de Stadt design "Avenir", of which more than ten were quickly sold. In 1973, Huisman launched the first "Saudade", a 14-metre sloop. Albert Büll won the Admiral's Cup with the German team on the "Rote Sau".
With the 80s come performance cruisers
In Vollenhove, the company gained access to deeper waters and expanded. Regatta successes also materialised. In 1978, Conny van Rietschoten's 20-metre maxi "Flyer", designed by Sparkman & Stephens, won the Whitbread Round the World Race. In 1981, Huisman showed that it was also capable of designing large performance cruisers such as "Belle Fontaine" (24 metres). In the same year, "Helisara" (23 metres) was created for Herbert von Karajan, the first real maxi. "Il Maestro" is said to have told Wolter Huisman that the touch and movement of his sensitive fingertips could put the steering wheel to the ultimate test and express the quality of the construction. This was the first thing the chief conductor put to the test - with one finger. And to his satisfaction. Von Karajan won the Maxi Rolex Cup in the year of delivery.
Royal Huisman: Honorary title for his 100th birthday
The royal title of honour was awarded to the shipyard in 1984 on its centenary; at the time, the largest delivery measured 28.30 metres from stem to stern, the "Cyclos II" designed by Sparkman & Stephens. The construction supervisor at the time was Jens Cornelsen, who was to oversee many more projects in Vollenhove with his Glückstadt office. This included the reconstruction of the J-Class "Endeavour", which challenged the yacht builders from 1989 onwards. The aluminium mast and boom were manufactured by Huisman's sister company Rondal. A few years later, the company began laminating carbon fibre components in a new production facility.
The acid test came in 1995, when the specification of the "Hyperion"-project team was that the 60-metre mast had to be made of carbon. Rondal accepted and manufactured it in one piece. Later, "Athena's" gaff spars were made of carbon fibre. The masts and hull were welded from Alustar. At the launch in 2004, "Athena" surpassed the previous flagship "Borkumriff IV" (2002, 51 m) by an impressive 39 metres. Wolter Huisman watched the three-masted schooner sail away, but succumbed to cancer a few weeks later. His daughter Alice took over the shipyard's fortunes at the age of 43 after joining the family business via marketing.
In 2014, the Dutch shipping company Royal Doeksen became the main shareholder, and Alice Huisman stepped down three years later when the company was fully acquired. Under her aegis, pioneering formats such as "Ethereal" (2009, 58 m), "Kamaxitha" (2012, 49 m) and "Elfje" (2014, 46 m) were created. The fact that Vollenhove is by no means just about retro classics was demonstrated by "Ngoni" 2017 - A sailing statement. The 58-metre sloop fascinated with its streamlined crack, the last by master designer Ed Dubois.
Refits in Zaandam
In 2019, Royal Huisman presented an easily accessible contact point for refit customers and a base for sea trials and deliveries at the former Holland Jachtbouw site. A permanent lease was agreed with Port of Amsterdam for the 12,000 square metre facility in Zaandam near Amsterdam. Two years after the inauguration, another surprise moored there, the 58-metre-long "Phi". A motor yacht, certainly not the first in the shipyard's history. Previously, the "Arcadia" (2006, 36 metres) showed that it is also possible without masts. Nevertheless, the "Phi" construction was linked to the sailing sector. This is because the shipyard played to its strengths in the interior fittings, which have always been carried out in-house. Those who can fill the limited space on sailing yachts extremely efficiently have no problem with the interior of the flat and slim "Phi" motor format.
Royal Huisman underpins its reputation as a maritime dream factory with a constant stream of new superlatives. "Sea Eagle" came into the limelight in 2020 with a length of 81 metres - and 3500 square metres of sail area, a third more than "Athena". XXL slips are currently on the rise. The 350 employees have recently been working on two single-masters: the 81-metre-long Project 411 and Project 410 with 85 metres. Both made of aluminium. If that's not enough: In the concept drawer is "Wing", a 100 metre two-master with a modern look and free-standing wing masts.
