Before the advent of computers, many reckoned the best way to make sure a yacht was ‘right’ was to build it and try it. If anything needed changing, you just pulled it back up the slip and set to work. To do this, of course, it helped if the designer had a boatyard, as did Nicholson in the UK, Herreshoff in the US, Rasmussen in Germany and De Vries Lentsch in the Netherlands. The owners of these famous yards accumulated priceless experience by putting plans into practice and building the boats they designed. To this list of illustrious 20th-century designer/builders we should add another Dutchman – Ricus van de Stadt.
Born in 1910 and brought up in Zaandam, van de Stadt made an early mark in the sailing world. At the age of 12 he designed and built his own sailing canoe – 5.2m (17ft) long, 74cm (29in) beam and 5.6m2 (60sq ft)sail area – and cleaned up at his local club. So much so, in fact, that the club adopted it as a class. Van de Stadt sold the drawings at 25 cents a pop, thus beginning a long and illustrious career as a yacht designer.
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