Our featured boat for September is a regular participant in East Coast events based in the Netherlands. Dutch OGA member Rik Homan shares the story of her design, build and some of the places she’s visited.
In 1991 a friend of Rik Homan bought a nice clinker build wooden lifeboat and asked Rik to make drawings of her as he intended to build luxurious motor launches in fibreglass. After about 200 boats of this type had been built, Rik started thinking about a sailing version. In 1993 Rik modified the design and acquired one hull to complete as a sailing version.
Due to other work in Rik’s boatyard the hull was stored for many years. More drawings were made and he managed to make a slow start during a lull in work at the boatyard. It was not until 2014 that the boat was finally launched by Edith. She was named ‘Jan Blank’ after a similar boat belonging to Rik’s uncle on which he had learned to sail.
The fibreglass hull is of good quality vinyl ester, the lapstrakes giving extra stiffness. The deck and cabin are made of good quality multiplex with gunwale and exterior in teak or mahogany. There is a teak deck on the cabin top, not the deck. The yellow cedar mast is hollow of with an invisible cover of epoxy and glass. Other spars are pine, re-using left-over materials when possible to reduce costs. The boat was designed for two people sleeping and staying on board for longer cruising. The board to board cabin gives ample space, with no centreboard casing as this is built partly into the keel and stays just under the floorboards. The engine is placed in the cockpit as a table, leaving the entrance free with only a step of less than one foot to the cabin floor. A large, asymmetric sliding hatch is provided giving an easy entrance. With the sprayhood on, there is just enough standing headroom at the galley.
The cutter rig gives a traditional look with gaff main, topsail, foresail and jib on a retractable bowsprit. The mast is short with easy lowering in a tabernacle, where it does not extend far beyond the rudder. The mast can be lowered or hoisted with a tackle on the foot of the mast, leading via a sheave in the foredeck to an electric winch mounted under the foredeck. The winch has remote control to be able to correct possible jamming of lines. The gaff topsail extends the mast by 10 feet giving a much better performance in light winds. For easy reefing the main has a worm gear to roll the sail around the boom; for jib and foresail Rik made electric rollers using windscreen wiper motors. The Bruce anchor on a bronze roller has 50 m chain in the forepeak.
From the year after launch we sailed first in Holland, Zeeland and the Frisian Islands to test the boat. The following year Rik bought a trailer .With the shallow draft of 2 feet, the boat can easily be placed on the trailer, on a good steep slipway. The total weight of the boat is 1800 kg, so rather heavy, needing a 4-wheel drive car to launch without a crane. Under the floorboards in the cabin two legs are stored for use when drying out, with a stainless foldable foot. The backstay tackle is connected to the upper end of the leg; with this tackle the boat can be adjusted to stay upright.
Rik and Edith have travelled to several events for classic boats, such as la Semaine du Golfe, Sail Douarnenez, East Coast OGA, Isle of Wight Classics, but also cruised along the North and South coast of Brittany from Plymouth to the Scillies and from Stockholm to Mariehamn. The boat is proving to be much more seaworthy than expected and the reliable Beta marine diesel helps to avoid difficult situations.
Words: Rik Homan
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