HINDELOPEN – Princess Beatrix’s 65-year-old classic sailing yacht is undergoing an extensive refit. And as befits a yacht owner, the ex-Dutch queen — the mother of King Willem-Alexander — recently visited the refit works.
The ‘ Groene Draeck’ (The Green Dragon) is a classic, round-bottom sailing ship built in 1957 in Amsterdam. A gift from the Dutch nation to Princess Beatrix, on her 18th birthday, the boat lacks a keel but has sideboards to stay the course.
The steel boat was designed by yacht builder Ary de Boer and built by the Amsterdam yard of G. De Vries Lentsch Jr. Early on, the drawings showed the craft had too little displacement. So the hull was built wider to gain more draft and stability.
Now 84, Beatrix named the Groene Draeck after a 17th-century Dutch warship – The ‘Vlieghende Groene Draeck’ (the ‘Flying Green Dragon). The 15m (49ft) yacht has a draft of just over 1m (3.4ft). In 2007, it became the focus of a controversy over maintenance costs of €416,000 in 2005 and 2006.
The Royal Dutch Navy bore these costs, but a confidential report revealed irregularities in the maintenance. It said the engine was overhauled every five years, even though it ran for only 100 hours a year.
In 2020, the government said the defense department would remain responsible for the yacht’s upkeep and limited annual maintenance to €87,000 in the 2021-2025 period. That quickly proved unrealistic as a large-scale renovation and refit became necessary.
In May, the Royal Household explained that The Groene Draeck was built in the 1950s but that over the past 65 years had suffered from corrosion and wear and tear. Onboard electrical and other systems had become outdated, and the vessel no longer meets current safety requirements.
Overhauling the yacht, are specialists carry of Blom Shipyard, a company that makes new, highly finished classic sailing yachts. The costs for the large-scale renovation exceed the five-year budget of €435,000. Princess Beatrix will bear additional costs.
