Der Mast kann unterwegs heruntergeklappt werden // The mast can be lowered while underway ITis as if it is 1920 and we are guests on the yacht of a distinguished Frisian family. Lunch is being served in the cockpit. There is sugar bread, currant buns with cheese and there is Beerenburg, fortunately milk is also allowed. But this time we are not on board a Frisian yacht, we are on one of those modern boats with a centreboard, a novelty that blew over from faraway America. Why the great-great-grandfather of the current owner, Hessel, ever fell for a centreboarder is a story that has been lost in the mists of time. But it was crystal clear that the ship had been firmly anchored in the family since 1909. Today, three generations are on board. For Reinier, the youngest, the first owner of the Stella Matutina is his great-great-great-great-grandfather, whose black and white photo hangs in the deckhouse, next to his wife. For Uncle Sietze, also on board, it was his grandfather. Over a hundred years ago, the skipper Pietersma and his mate would have served lunch. They might have boiled or fried an egg in the mini kitchen in the front of the ship. But for understandable reasons, the custom of sailing with a skipper has long been abandoned. Moreover, the family consists of real sailors who much prefer to be at the helm themselves. Although Hessel still speaks admiringly of the last permanent skipper, Jan Deen, who always knew how to trim the boat perfectly. »I never saw him pulling on the tiller.« ORIGIN Oerpake was a man with an enormous commercial spirit who expanded the existing family business into what can easily be called an empire. He was a special man, as everyone in the family recognises. Self-willed, stubborn and travelling a lot to do business. In Friesland before the First World War, travelling was still mainly done on water. But new ideas were also seeping in. Oerpake read a lot, perhaps that is how he became acquainted with those fast American yachts. But he also often visited Amsterdam, where in 1888 there were already 17 centreboarders sailing against each other in five classes. Meanwhile, the pater familias added farms and other companies to his empire. He had even set his sights on the renowned Van der Zee shipyard in Joure. There, his son Auke was now at the helm, as successor to the legendary shipbuilder Eeltsjebaes, at the location of what is now Jachtwerf De Jong. However, Auke had started building in iron and steel and was given the assignment for making the centreboard. »Maybe my great-greatgrandfather wanted to appease him,« says Hessel. It would not be the first centreboard yacht in Friesland, as the centreboarder de Meeuw had been sailing the Frisian lakes since 1885. If you look at the photos of the Meeuw in the book »Nederlandse Jachten 1875–1945« (»Dutch Yachts 1875– 1945«), you immediately understand where Auke van der Zee got his inspiration from for his design, the drawing of which is still in Sneek at the Fries Scheepvaart Museum (Frisian Maritime Museum). There, you can also read the measurements: 10 metres long with a maximum beam of 3.38 metres. The Stella Matutina was christened in 1909. But the yacht looked very different then than it does now. After 1919 it was lengthened. If you look at the proportions and the position of the mast before the extension, you can see why: the yacht must have been quite hard to steer, something that they hoped to solve with a much larger foretriangle. »In those days and for a long time afterwards, Stella was used extensively,« says Hessel. »Oerpake took her along on his inspection rounds of the farms, but also took her on many trips with family and friends. Everyone loved to go along, and there were many of us, because as good Catholics, we had large families.« There are still many photos from that time. They bear witness to happy outings with ladies adorned with sun hats and wrapped in summery white dresses. However, fashion changes and even the boat’s length. The only thing that always remained the same was the centreboard. Still, it was touch and go as to whether the Stella would stay in the family. At the end of the Second World War, the Wehrmacht requisitioned the yacht. One wonders what they wanted with it from a military point of view, so undoubtedly a German officer wanted to feel like a yacht owner for once. Stella was taken to the Rotterdam Veerhaven, a collection point for requisitioned yachts. After the German capitulation, the family immediately began a targeted search. By 26 June 1945, the Rotterdam Harbour Police could report that the Stella had been found. To speed up its release by the military authorities, the official bureaucracy was greased with packets of scarce tobacco, and that helped. // FOR DECADES, THE STELLA MATUTINA ONLY EMERGED FROM HER BOATHOUSE A FEW TIMES A YEAR. THE HISTORIC CENTREBOARDER SEEMED TRAPPED IN AN ENDLESS HIBERNATION. BUT AFTER AN EXTENSIVE REFIT, THIS FAMILY YACHT IS AS RADIANT AS THE DAY IT WAS LAUNCHED. TEXT: ARTHUR VAN’T HOF IMAGES: BERTIL KOLTHOF read more 64 65
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTA3NTQ=