The Lemsteraak

Where we sail, traditional wooden vessels are quite a common sight. These vessels are called 'flat-bottoms' because they lack a keel. Instead, they have two dagger boards, one on each side. This gives them a very shallow draft, wich enables them to sail the shoals of the Frisian lakes and the Wadden Sea.

The vessel I drew is a 'Lemsteraak'. It is called after the town of Lemmer, the place where the first of these vessels were designed in the late 19^th century. These vessels were originally used for transporting herring from smaller fishing vessels to the shore. Soon however, wealthy citizens recognized that these boats would make excellent sailing yachts too. The yachting version had a cozy cabin instead of a fish container, often adorned with wood sculpting and stained-glass windows.

These vessels may look old-fashioned, but many Lemsteraaks actually are modern designs, built for racing. Computer models, wind tunnels and towing tanks are used to create ever-faster boats. What appears to be an old, restored vessel may actually be a brand new, cutting-edge racing yacht!

If you want to learn more about the Lemsteraak, here is its Wikipedia page. Unfortunately, there is only a Dutch-language page. So if you don’t read Dutch, you'll have to use Google Translate.