E.G van de stadt

Ericus (Ricus) Gerhardus van de Stadt (1910 - 1999) was a Dutch designer of recreational vessels, especially sailing ships. He was the founder of industrial yacht building in the Netherlands. [ [http://www.astolat.nl/Ricus Articles from "de Waterkampioen"] ] [ [http://www.natrix.demon.nl/bries/vdstadt.html Boats for the common man] ]

Ricus van de stadt went through the HTS and started a shipyard in Zaandam and a shipswarf and design company for small wooden boats. In 1936 he went to the olympic games as a reserve for the Olympia-boat in 1936.

In 1939 van de Stadt designed the "Valk" for the company Bruynzeel to demonstrate the possibilities of their new product "hechthout" (a type of plywood). The "Valk" is a resounding success. If we are take into account the modern sailing boat made in polyester (the Polyvalk), this boat is now probably the most popular open sailboat on the Dutch waters.

Cees Van de Stadt later designed for Bruynzeel a seaworthy raceversion of the Valk, the "Zeevalk". In 1952 this boat would win the Fastnet race.

In 1958 followed the Pioneer, a 9-metre-long sailboat with the then relative new polyester. The design was a great success. The light boat won many international matches.

A few other boats that Van de Stadt designed are the Efsix, Stern, the Spanker, the Randmeer and Wibo. Key to the designs of Van de Stadt are their daring design, simplicity and good sailing.

From 1973, Van de Stadt company fully concentrated on design, and the yard was sold to Dehler. The name was changed to "EC van de Stadt & Partners. Cees would continue working there until 1978.