Delightful Dutch Kruisers - Text-only Version

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TO BRING YOU A LOOK AT INTERESTING TRAWLER YACHTS FROM AROUND the world, I’m hitting the road. My goal is to visit many of the interesting companies that build our kind of motor vessel. Large or small, these yards often have a story to tell, and I find it fascinating to see just how similar but unique they are.

Occasionally, boat building yards reflect a special cultural perspective or produce craft suited for the local operating conditions, also adding spice to the normal selection of boat show alternatives.

If you’ve been to a boat builder’s yard, then perhaps you already have an idea of what’s involved in producing a quality trawler.

In many of the small yards, the scene is much the same. A boat (perhaps two) is under construction, workers skillfully crafting each piece in wood, fiberglass, or bits of metal. It is an affair with passion for small yards, as workers must embrace the skills of craftsman, plumber, carpenter, mechanic, and artist.

I find it difficult to believe how such beautiful yachts can come out of some of these yards, given the handmade jigs, clutter from a never-ending lack of storage, and the fact that so many projects occur concurrently during a vessel’s construction. Again, if you’ve ever seen this, you know what I mean.

Now try to imagine a boat building company that looks and acts more like an automobile manufacturer, building beautiful, exotic yachts on its premises, in a facility that spans acres—and includes a showroom.

I went to one such yard, and it is in Maasbracht, in the Netherlands.

Until recently, the Dutch company was content to sell its products to fellow Europeans, cruising boats purposely designed and constructed for the inland waterways of France, Germany, Holland, Denmark, and Scandinavia.

Linssen Yachts is quite a story, and the best part of the story is that its boats are coming to North America. If you’ve never heard of Linssen Yachts, you’re forgiven—unless, of course, you’ve spent time cruising Europe. Linssen Yachts is one of the oldest and best in Europe and has launched over 2,400 boats since 1949.

In a country noted for its steel yacht construction, Linssen Yachts stands out.

But the Linssen story has a humble beginning. Post-war Europe was a real mess, and the daunting task of rebuilding entire countries was on everyone’s priority list. In the Netherlands, particularly, the war years inflicted a terrible toll on the nation’s resources, despite the country’s attempts to remain neutral. In fact, only one other country was occupied by the Nazis longer than the Netherlands. Harbors were destroyed, dikes blown up, and thousands of acres of land were flooded. Little remained at war’s end.

In Maasbracht, an inland harbor town along the Maas River in the Dutch province of Limburg, the harbor became a collection point for damaged barges in need of repair. It was an opportunity to restart the local economy, also sadly in need of repair. Some local craftsmen saw potential.

Jac Linssen was one of these men. In 1949 he opened a small woodworking shop in Maasbracht specializing in wooden ship’s wheels and boat repair. Soon his shop, St. Jozef/Jac Linssen Boatyard & Woodworking Company, had a handful of employees. Business for the small company with the big name prospered as the country rebuilt itself.

A trained shipwright, it was only natural for Linssen to eventually think about building boats. He began with rowboats and small commercial workboats, all constructed of steel, which is the material of choice for Dutch boat builders. Their expertise with steel is well known.

The small steel craft were built to the “vlet” style of boat, a generic Dutch motorboat with shallow draft, flat bottom, and multiple chines. Steel vlets are popular on the inland waters of Europe, strong and able to carry a load. They are ideal small motor cruisers, or “kruisers,” as they are known in the Netherlands.

In the following years, Jac Linssen launched the St. Jozef 600 and 700, eventually expanding the line with six additional models up to the St. Jozef 1050. The company also introduced the Limburg Kruiser, the Mosella and Rheania motoryachts, and a number of other powerboats that followed the style du jour.

In the early years, Linssen launched his sturdy steel vlets rather unceremoniously down an embankment into the water, a far cry from today’s modern travel lifts.

By 1963, the Linssen operation had outgrown its facilities, and the company moved to its present location along the Maas, where future expansion could be fully realized.

And expand it did, as Linssen’s sons in time came to join the family business, beginning with Jos in 1977. Eventually, all four sons took their place in the ranks. Today, Jos, Jan, Peter, and Harry are in charge at Linssen Yachts, which changed its name in 1982 to assert its focus on yacht production.

Today the company occupies 115,000 square feet and numerous buildings. By anyone’s standards, it is an enormous complex for building boats. At any given time there are 30–35 yachts under construction. I think you’ll enjoy the tour of Linssen Yachts, in Maasbracht, Netherlands.

Into The Crowd

I was introduced to the Linssen enterprise in an interesting way. We’d timed the visit to Maasbracht to coincide with the last days of Boot 2001, a huge boat show in nearby Dusseldorf, Germany. An extraordinary watersports event, Boot 2001 boasts indoor beach volleyball (complete with sand), windsurfing in a long tank with ocean tradewinds created by turbine-powered wind machines, and more boats on display than you can imagine. It is a spectacle.

We were to meet Fred Spadlo, sales engineer for Linssen Yachts, at the company’s display in Building 15 on the last day of Boot 2001. We would then accompany Linssen’s staff back to Maasbracht by minibus, an hour-long trip from the Dusseldorf convention complex through the German countryside to the Netherlands.

Stepping on the minibus, already filled with men and women all buzzing with the exuberance and exhaustion that comes from a long boat show, I was introduced around. From my vantage point about two-thirds back on the darkened bus, I watched and enjoyed their enthusiasm while I reflected on how boat shows and those that work in them are the same everywhere. And the crowds are mostly the same, as well, everyone doing the boat show shuffle in an endless congo line of step-pausestep- pause.

The diesel minibus rumbled on past the German town of Ausfahrt, as the cacophony of everyone talking at once slowly quieted down as tired people realized it was over for another year. Boot 2001 had been a great event for Linssen Yachts, with many orders taken.

One by one the men and women fell silent, most nodding off from the release of pressure and boat show energy, as I looked out the window at the changing scenery. A digital clock on the bus overhead marked our progress to Maasbracht: 1830 … 1840 … 1850 ….

I thought about the different boats I’d seen in Dusseldorf; many were the dark-hulled cruisers typically found on Europe’s canals. I was surprised at the number of displacement cruisers, all steel, and all from the Netherlands. Round bilge, hard chines, even multichined round bilge. Single screw, twin screw, all featured fold-down upper helm stations and masts easily lowered for passing under bridges.

Why is steel such a strong element of Dutch boat building? Is it something in their water?

As the bus crossed the border into the Netherlands, people stirred, and conversations began anew, but at a lower decibel level. These folks were tired and glad to be coming home. We arrived in Maasbracht, and the minibus pulled into the Linssen facility at 1936 hours, according to the bus’s precise German clock.

The size of the Linssen facility struck me right off, spotless from the looks of it. The main building where we unloaded the bus has a welllit showroom along the front of the building, and it looked more like a thriving Mercedes Benz dealership than a boat building operation—were it not for the shiny steel yachts in the window.

Given the late hour, there was no time to dawdle at the yard, and we were whisked off to our hotel. Our visit at Linssen would start in the morning.

We were to stay for the next few days in nearby Roosteren at the Hotel De Roosterhoeve, a casually elegant European hotel where service, I was told, is of the highest order. It proved an accurate assessment, as was the fabulous menu.

(During our stay at the family-owned hotel, son Marcel Féron gave us a tour of the basement wine cellar. Europeans truly appreciate wine in its many subtleties, and Marcel was extremely proud of the extensive collection of vintage wines collected since his father first started the hotel.

We sampled a delicate red while standing in the coolness of the hotel’s wine cellar. My nose savored the moment as much as my palate.)

No Small Operation

Over coffee the next morning, our host, Fred Spadlo, explained the evolution of Linssen’s yachts over the past five decades. The early success of the flat-bottom vlets led to the yard’s growth and a string of yacht projects that explored higher speeds and ever-changing styling.

By 1982, Linssen Yachts was building police boats, workboats, and pleasure craft for expanding markets in Europe and Africa.

But fuel remains an expensive proposition in Europe, and fast boats, especially steel ones, are costly to operate and have minimal range. Environmental concerns also made it inevitable that speed limits would be established to protect Europe’s precious waterway systems, making high speed and big wakes less in vogue.

These factors helped bring the focus back to slower displacement hulls, the continued nucleus of Linssen Yachts.

Today the eyes of the four Linssen brothers are aimed at the distant horizon, recognizing the healthy global demand for quality cruising yachts. There is a desire in some markets for high speed yachts as well. So while Linssen displacement cruisers still constitute the majority of new orders, fast and modern has a place at Linssen Yachts.

As a result, the brothers have decided to stay out of the semi-displacement middle ground and concentrate on comfortable displacement trawlers and high speed motoryachts.

Today there are 160 employees at Linssen Yachts, and except for its new 30-knot motoryacht (the fiberglass DS 45) all of Linssen’s production efforts are full displacement steel “kruisers.” And to say the company has perfected the manufacturing process is an understatement.

“It is one big, happy family,” Fred Spadlo shared, and he is gratified to have been there long enough to see the growth. Fred is proud to be Linssen employee #21.

“I like good quality, and there is always something new here,” he continued. “We have the right combination of elements to produce everything we need here in the same company.

“The entire production is at this yard, and you can see everything come together from beginning to end. From cutting steel to welding it, then through shot blast, through painting and finishing. It is all here. I like that.”

It takes seven or eight months to complete a 47-foot Linssen yacht, and the company’s production is about 70 yachts a year. And things have obviously changed since 1949.

“In the beginning, everyone did everything. When I started as an engineer,” Fred went on, “I did many different tasks. Now things are more specialized. People are responsible for specific areas of construction, and their years of experience keeps the quality high.”

The staff is a mix of old-time artisans and younger men and women who bring energy and contemporary thinking. Both are essential parts of Linssen’s ongoing tradition of keen new development.

Fred was excited to show us an example of this development, Linssen’s latest invention, the Variotop. The brainchild of Jos Linssen, it is essentially a convertible top over a fully, equipped helm station.

As the story goes, Jos wondered why the convertible top on his Mercedes could not be adapted for similar use aboard a cruising yacht. This would eliminate the add-on look of a bimini’s snap-on enclosure and combine a flying bridge with an inside helm.

It took lots of time and money to get the Variotop concept right, but the Linssen engineers succeeded. The Linssen Variotop is patent pending and very user-friendly. Darn good idea, too.

A Maze Of Buildings

We started our tour at the beginning, at the metal shop, where steel is handled, cut, and welded into the basic form of a boat.

In one corner of the large building is a computer-controlled plasma cutting machine, and a uniformed worker greeted us as he maneuvered a 4 mm-thick sheet of preblasted steel marked for Sturdy cruiser #36-A0403.

Once he positioned the steel onto the roller bed of the machine, beneath the blue arm of the plasma cutter, he went to the computer console and started the machine. The blue machine made several passes over the steel.

The first pass etched part numbers for each of the pieces invisibly nested across the sheet. Then it passed over the sheet again, stenciling scribe marks to locate where each piece would later be bent and shaped in a metal press that is also computer controlled.

Once the blue machine burned these lines and part numbers into the steel, the plasma cutter began cutting out individual parts from the flat sheet, a high-tech cookie cutter in action.

The precise computer control of this machine allows intricate designs and shapes—far more consistent and accurate than hand cutting.

As parts separated from the sheet steel, the fellow inspected each piece for rough edges or burrs—which he removed on a grinding machine—then stacked them together on a piece of plywood. Each piece clearly marked, I imagined it would only take a quick peek in a particular model’s parts book to identify where it belonged in the jigsaw puzzle of metal boat building.

Next to the plasma cutter is the bending press machine, along with a collection of jigs used for creating internal subframes for each boat. Clearly, great pains are taken at Linssen to make the boats identical. Tolerances are kept close.

We next watched a man welding 10-mm frames to the 8-mm bottom of a boat. Later he would weld 6-mm steel as the sides of the hull. (Lighter 4-mm steel is used for deckhouse.)

As I watched the welding around me, with 15 men busily constructing metal boats, I marveled at the high level of efficiency in the metal shop. For example, instead of having framed and unwieldy scaffolding around each boat, simple steel pipes stick out of holes in the floor. Metal rods through holes along each pipe support the plank walkway around the perimeter of each boat, at the height that is needed for that time.

As a boat takes shape, it gets taller, but it is a simple matter to raise the pipes up a notch or two by moving the metal rods to different holes along the pipe as it sticks out of the concrete floor. This continues until the deckhouse and hull are one solid structure.

A decidedly enthusiastic engineer, Fred Spadlo showed us things few people would ever see—or know exist in a completed boat. But clearly, it’s these small details that torque Fred up and are evidence of the underlying quality that goes into a Linssen boat.

On the inside of one hull, he pointed to a flat steel box, perhaps 18 inches square and four inches high. Someone had welded the box to the hull, between frames just forward of the rudder post.

Fred explained the box would be filled with a special sand mixture that the Linssen engineers developed to deaden noise and reduce vibration from cavitation. It’s all in the details.

The zip-snap-pop-crackle of MIG welding all around the boats added to the sense of vitality in this building, as experienced men shaped metal pieces into luxury trawlers.

I was told all seams are ground smooth above the waterline, for purely aesthetic reasons. The underbody is left alone.

“Fish don’t mind seeing a seam or two under the water,” Fred joked as we passed along the row of shapely hulls.

Glorious Hardwoods

Next we moved into the special wood shop, where carpenters make laminate and composite wood pieces, also with the help of computer control. Intricate wood components are cut and fashioned from cherry, ash, teak, and wenge.

Jigs used to laminate wood pieces hang on the walls of the shop. I saw some especially exotic parts coming together for Linssen’s speedster, the DS45, which has the interior of a New York penthouse.

Humidifiers near the ceiling spray a steady mist of water into the air in the special wood shop, which keeps humidity high for working and bending exotic woods. Computers are used to control the atmosphere as well, and all of the saws and sanding machines have vacuum hoses to minimize airborne dust.

Finished prefabricated parts are stored together in batches by hull number. Each set of parts gets wrapped in black plastic to keep the untreated wood’s color from changing in the shop light.

In a separate room, pallets hold raw wood stock, tagged with Lloyd’s Register of Quality Assurance. All work is done to comply with “CE” rules for sale in the European Community.

I noticed unusual marine plywood and other materials in the storage area. Fred explained what it was. The marine plywood is only used for flooring and contains a rubber middle layer between the outer wood skins. The plywood does a superior job of absorbing vibration and noise in the boat. It is as expensive as it is exotic.

Another pallet had furniture-grade plywood intended for bulkheads, hardwoods sandwiched with a middle layer of thick plastic honeycomb. It also reduces noise.

One will not see such materials in a completed yacht, but their presence makes for a better boat. They are a good reason why yachts are expensive. Again, it’s all in the details.

North American Connection

Walking across the complex yard back to the main reception area, we strolled through the ground floor of the showroom. The boats on display were mostly preowned and for sale, but there were a couple of new boats as well, waiting for delivery to their new owners.

One rugged craft stood out when it was pointed out that it was a 21-year-old St. Jozef vlet that had come in as a trade. Freshly painted, it looked brand new, the only evidence of its age being the steel cleats long since changed over to stainless steel.

Our tour was briefly interrupted by the arrival of Charles Mallory and Eric Jakobson, who had just arrived from New York for meetings with the Linssen management. Their Connecticutbased Clearwater Yacht Sales is the new North American distributor for Linssen Yachts and will be selling the Dutch Sturdy and Grand Sturdy lines through a developing dealer network.

The Dutch Sturdy Linssen is the most traditional, the vlet of the line. Designed by Dick Lefeber, the 32-foot and 38-foot Dutch Sturdy trawlers cruise comfortably at displacement speeds (with a top speed of nine knots) and have large, double-pane insulated windows, lots of space, and a look that really sets them apart from other boats.

For the Great Circle Route (the popular East Coast circumnavigation), these yachts are ideal. Easily handled by a couple, they are for relaxed waterway travel, with a three-foot draft and low bridge clearance. They define boats built for canals and inland waters but are rugged enough for serious coastal cruising in style.

The Grand Sturdy Linssen is a more modernlooking design by W. de Vries Lentsch, offered in three models from 41–47 feet. Aft cabin layouts, the Grand Sturdy line are also full displacement cruisers, competent to go about anywhere I can imagine—except across oceans, for which they haven’t the range.

Both Sturdy lines are designed for “smell-theroses” speeds of five to eight knots. With single or twin Volvo Penta diesel engines, they should prove popular in North American waters to those who choose comfort and style over big wakes and “get-me-there-NOW” attitudes.

While on the subject of speed and powerplants, Linssen and Volvo Penta have been R&D partners for years, and Linssen’s exclusive use of Volvo diesels is the result of this partnership.

Linssen Yachts enjoys a similar relationship with coatings manufacturer Akzo Nobel, makers of Sikkens and Interlux coating systems. Linssen and the Sikkens company actively cooperate on research into new coating technology to make steel boats even more durable and protected.

A Real Dutch Treat Before we left the main building to continue the tour, I had a most impressive moment while sitting at a corner table on the upper level of the showroom. It put a look of what I saw in perspective.

Our little group was deep in discussion of these boats coming to America, when two gentlemen walked into the showroom. They expressed interest in a Grand Sturdy.

What happened next epitomizes to me the continental flair, business savvy, and class of the Dutch. The men were greeted as if they were the most important people in the world.

Fred excused himself from our table and went over to these men, formally greeting them. As they were ushered over to hang up their coats, Fred arranged for fresh coffee. (There is a bar in the showroom, complete with espresso and cappacino machines.)

The gentlemen were soon seated in comfortable leather chairs, arranged to create privacy, while Fred and the Linssen staff focused on the interests and needs of these two men. It was most civilized, and a study in how to run a business, especially one that involves the significant investment of a yacht purchase.

It was quite a different experience from an office secretary handing you a brochure over her computer screen while she remains seated, not showing the least interest. We’ve all been through that.

I much prefer the Linssen way. Now back to the tour.

Blast, Fair, Paint

Next stop was a room dedicated to shot blasting each boat prior to fairing and painting. (It’s also known as sand blasting, although shot blasting is perhaps more technically correct, as sand is not always the material used.)

Since Linssen’s metal boats are constructed in steel that has already been shot blasted, the goal is to remove any oils and residue from the welding process, rather than remove rust from an unpainted boat. At no time did I see rust, as all boats exist in climate-controlled buildings throughout construction. Boats do not sit outside waiting their turn. Every one is indoors, protected.

Every inch of the interior and exterior gets blasted over a period of one or two days. Men in climate-controlled space suits perform the arduous work.

Fred warned us not to touch the boat they had just completed—the oils in one’s fingers will contaminate the hull surface and can lead to paint problems later on. Such is the extent of care taken at Linssen to ensure the best paint schedule. It’s all about detail…and prevention.

The boat then moves to another shop where men coat it with primer. I could only briefly look through this shop, as its air was thick with searing primer fumes that were actually painful. The work area’s ventilation system recycles the air to keep temperature, humidity, and oxygen content at specific, optimum levels. Masks are necessary to work in this area.

Paint specialists use electronic equipment to monitor the primer coating (measured in microns) to ensure adequate protection. The underwater portion of the hull, for example, must have a minimum coating of 1,005 microns before any further coating is applied.

By now, it was clear this yard was no typical boat yard. Each phase of construction involves a dedicated building and crew. Linssen is a bigtime operation.

There were four boats in the fairing shop, and on each men troweled on epoxy and others sanded it smooth. Then more epoxy, and more sanding. Over and over the process continues, and a boat will spend several weeks in this shop.

As it gets very close to smoothness nirvana, a boat is sprayed with a light gray coating that allows experienced eyes to find even the smallest imperfection. If they find any, more epoxy and sandpaper!

When these men are satisfied they have made the boat as good as they can, the boat is moved into a special building for its first coat of thick paint, in a color different from the final coating. They bake the painted boat overnight in a tightly controlled environment at 40 degrees C. Then Linssen workers return it to the fairing shop, and the paint is almost completely sanded off, which produces the final smooth finish.

The paint shops are unique among the Linssen buildings in that special chemicals are regularly applied to the walls to keep them sticky. It is an effective way to remove dust from paint shop air. Also on a regular basis, the walls are stripped clean, and the sticky stuff is again sprayed to keep the room free of all airborne particulates.

Each boat ultimately receives a glorious and luscious paint coating system, inside and out, and the result is a beautiful steel yacht, smooth as silk, durable as nails.

Systems And Interior Installation

Before a wood interior goes into a Linssen yacht, the hull moves to a large area within the main building. This stage in construction is the best time to install major internal systems, such as engines, tanks, plumbing, hoses, and wiring harnesses.

EC1 is the first phase of equipment installation. Once the major internals are in, boats move on to receive wood interior, then they return here for EC2, the second and final installation of mechanical and electrical systems. EC2 is where plumbers, mechanics, and electricians finish installing systems inside boats with interiors: adding light fixtures, switches and control panels, connecting controls.

More mechanical than anywhere else in the complex, the EC1 and EC2 work space houses racks of parts, spools of wire, and engines in crates. The area vaguely looks like the service bays of that analogous Mercedes dealership, each worker wearing a blue Linssen outfit and working alone but alongside others.

All prefabricated interior pieces from the special wood shop are brought together when the boat leaves EC1 for its interior installation, inside one of the largest buildings in the Linssen complex. We saw 14 yachts in two rows, all stern to around a large carpentry shop floor.

Each yacht has a woodworking station by it. With blanket-like material draped over the exterior of each boat to protect the paint, it’s difficult to distinguish one model yacht from another. They all look the same, but at different stages of completion.

Interiors take time to build, and they are involved. Men glue thick foam blocks between the frames in the primed steel interior above the waterline, and use cork as a substitute for areas behind lights. The blocks are for insulation. Unlike other steel yards, Linssen prefers foam blocks to sprayed-on foam insulation.

Each yacht interior is entirely handcrafted, each piece fitting exactly into a puzzle of hardwoods. It’s an amazing thing to see, and I’m in awe of those who can build a boat interior containing not a single straight line.

When the interior is finally complete—and drop-dead gorgeous—the boat returns to the mechanical shop for the final EC2 treatment. Workers fit remaining teak decking, and finished yachts are readied for delivery.

Linssen Yachts is indeed quite a facility, a successful blend of modern, high-tech manufacturing with traditional skills befitting the Dutch reputation for craftsmanship.

The Linssens built a new onsite marina in 1996, where they can lift, store, and service any of the yachts they build. It is no surprise the yard is popular among Linssen owners.

In fact, brand loyalty is so high it is common for owners to trade one Linssen cruiser in for another, a cycle that repeats itself over and over.

They just love these boats and the service.

The Legacy Lives On

I had dinner with Peter Linssen, the youngest of the Linssen brothers. Peter is an avid boater himself, and enjoys cruising the French canals with his family whenever he has the opportunity.

Peter told me the four siblings get along most of the time, which is a good thing, although oldest Jos has the final vote. Surprisingly, each of the four men brought different talents, skills, and interests to the business, and it is a key element of their success.

When we discussed the history of the company, I asked Peter if his father ever comes by the yard. Now well into his 80s, Jac Linssen must be quite proud of his creation and the continuing accomplishments of his sons.

Peter told me his father does still occasionally stop by the yard—although the expanded facility complex and increased pace of operations makes it largely unrecognizable from his early years at the St. Jozef/Jac Linssen Boatyard & Woodworking Company.

“But when he comes,” Peter said, smiling as it crossed his mind, “he thinks the scraps of wood we have left over and put aside are still too big.

“In his day there was very little to work with, and he had to use every bit, even tiny scraps.”

Some things never change.

Sweet Smell Of Success

The family Linssen is doing well, and Maasbracht is a humming country town whose thriving economy is characteristic of towns all across the Netherlands. The economy brings guests to Hotel De Roosterhoeve, as well, and Marcel Féron continues the family tradition of casually elegant service with a wine cellar suiting a large castle.

There’s affiliation between these families and their businesses. Their Dutch heritage is strong, yet they look to the future. It is the way of the modern Netherlands.

Linssen Yachts has indeed set its sights on distant shores, and we’re getting ready on this side of the Pond.

Clearwater Yacht Sales is doing its homework and is also currently exploring stocking dealer opportunities in Florida and the Pacific Northwest.

Pricing for the boats is set, with the 32-foot, Dutch Sturdy (with aft cabin) coming with a price under $250,000. The other models follow comparable pricing, with the larger Grand Sturdy 470 Twin (47 feet) at under $590,000. And the boats are complete.

If Linssen’s past success is a measure of its chances globally, I’d say we’ll be seeing more of these beautiful trawler yachts on our waterways soon. And other European builders may follow them to our shores.

Perhaps it’s time for me to add kruiser to my vocabulary.

Reprinted with permission. Copyright 2001 © Dominion Enterprises (888.487.2953) www.passagemaker.com

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