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Investigations into Dutch Steel; Radboud
Michiel Scholtes has very kindly sent in a couple of photographs of Radboud, a yacht built of steel in the Netherlands in 1935, and said by her owner to be to the Englyn design. About the photograph, below, Michiel comments; “ You can clearly see a canoe style stern, which is not Englyn at all; nor is the width of her cabin and the consequently narrow deck space. Radboub would seem to be an example of a Harrison Butler design adapted to local tradition and private preferences”.
Radboud features in a 2015 issue of ZILT magazine in an article about Ed Conijn, the founder of Conyplex, the Medemblik based wharf. Only the first part of the article, in Dutch, is of interest to the HBA. It cites Radboud as an example of how, before the second World War, Harrison Butler's designs found their way to the Netherlands where they were built in steel by the renowned wharfs of the day. It honestly admits that the builders took liberties with the original design, partly necessitated by the nature of building in steel rather than wood, but also to satisfy the wishes of the owner commissioning the build.
Michael translates, “After he had braved the IJsselmeer in a Staverse Jol (a Frisian fishing smack), Ed Conijn, a law student from Alkmaar, confronted the open sea in his newly acquired small steel cruiser Radboud. This he commissioned following success in the auction trade. His Englyn Harrison Butler design was considered an ideal seagoing craft for the IJsselmeer, the Waddenzee and the North Sea. At the time, this was considered remarkable; few yachtsmen dared venture these waters in small yachts. Ed broadened his seamanship as crew with Kees Bruynzeel, whilst also regularly going to sea in Radboud to sail, in these pre-war years, the German Bight, the Baltic and the coastal waters of Belgium, England and France. Sometimes this was with friends, but singlehanded too. On one of these solo trips on the Waddenzee he carried his double barrelled hunting gun to shoot seals. He liked hanging their fat to dry in Radboud's cabin as well as enjoying the official reward for the killing of what were, at the time, seen as competitors for the fish sought by the fishing industry”.
Radboud Statistics
Built : 1935 by , Netherlands
LOA : 8.3 m
LWL : 6.4 m
Beam : ---
Draught : ---
Displacement : ---
Radboud Custodians & Home Ports
Ed Conijn (pre WWII-?) Amsterdam
Page last updated : February 2016
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