Shipyard on the verge of a comeback: New owner for Jongert

"This is not just a takeover. It's a declaration of intent," postulated new Jongert investor Hans Kortlevers on Linkedin. The Dutch entrepreneur was previously mainly active in the property and tourism sector with his Swiss company Lmey Investments AG. The group includes four Oku Hotels, which specialise in barefoot luxury. Kortlevers' portfolio was expanded with Jongert, a traditional shipyard founded in 1953. The high level of vertical integration in Medemblik on the IJsselmeer has resulted in more than 320 large formats with and without sails made of aluminium and steel - from sporty deckhouse slips to reliable motor sailers with a Trewes-type clipper stem and elegant supersailers such as the 46-metre flagship.

Jongert restart with 55 metre project

The new shipyard owner is planning even bigger. To announce the acquisition, Hans Kortlevers pulled a motor cat under 500 gross tonnes and a 55-metre ketch out of his hat. Iddes Yachts presented the sailing project in 2022 as the "Sail 55". The design studio, which has branches in Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona, designed a sailing explorer with a high freeboard, ketch rigging and large deck areas under designer Iván Salas Jefferson. It will be travelling the world with powerful battery banks that are charged using solar panels and propeller recuperation. A lift keel, whose draught can be hydraulically reduced from 7.40 to 3.90 metres, provides the necessary righting moment.

Turbulent times for Jongert

In the early 1960s, Jongert established its first sailing boat models, the Zwalkers and Trewes, in collaboration with the designer Willem de Vries Lentsch. In 2009, the Jongert family had to hand over the reins to the Veka Group following financial difficulties. The shipyard facilities were already located in Wieringerwerf. Acico Yachts took over again in 2015 and retained the Jongert brand. In Germany, the shipyard name is closely associated with the brand representative who died in 2024 Herbert Dahm. The Düsseldorf regatta sailor was known as "Mr Jongert", who shaped the brand and the maxi market with his innovative Jongert 2200s "Inspiration" in the mid-1980s.