Pieter Beeldsnijder (below), whose contributions to yacht design date back more than half a century and resulted in more than 2,500 craft, died on March 21. He was 78 years old.
Beeldsnijder got his start in the marine industry in 1957. He landed a job at a shipyard in Amsterdam that was then known as G. De Vries Lentsch, Jr. (On a related side note, the builder was one of the Feadship yards in the 1950s.) Beeldsnijder was hired to work on the build of a significant project, christened De Groene Draeck, a.k.a. “The Green Dragon”. The 49-footer (15-meter), a traditional Dutch round-bottomed sailing vessel, was commissioned as a gift from the Dutch people to then-Princess Beatrix for her 18th birthday. The yacht remains in the Dutch royal family’s hands to this day.
Beeldsnijder soon proved his aptitude for drawing yachts. He therefore switched to the in-house design department at G. De Vries Lentsch, Jr. While a number of commercial craft were on order, so, too, were pleasure yachts. The in-house design department later split off and became De Vries Lentsch, still operational today.
Beeldsnijder hung his own shingle, the Pieter Beeldsnijder design studio, in 1979 in Edam, The Netherlands. Growing in prominence in the ensuing years, the company collaborated with prominent Dutch builders. These include Royal Huisman, Jongert, Hakvoort, and Bloemsma Van Breemen.
In fact, the partnering with Royal Huisman resulted in more than 20 sailing superyachts being delivered. These include Hanuman, Ethereal, Athena, and Hyperion. Hyperion, plus the Royal Huismans Juliet and Gliss, further earned the Pieter Beeldsnijder studio five International Superyacht Society design awards.
Motoryachts were in the mix for Beeldsnijder as well. The famed Feadship Mylin IV and the Kingship Princess K bear his handiwork, as do several smaller craft.
Whether sailing yacht or motoryacht, or even a tender, the projects that Beeldsnijder created all have one thing in common: classic, simple elegance. The designer eschewed clutter. On his own website, he wrote:
A new yacht is similar in many ways to a great building. It must be functional and efficient—it should have no extra parts that can complicate operations, no extraneous elements that will compromise pleasure. With this in mind, it is then easier for me to translate function and efficiency directly into beauty and quality. Then I use only appropriate, exquisite materials, which never need to be fussed over to reveal their inherent strength and aesthetic value.
The Pieter Beeldsnijder studio has a few yacht projects in the works. These include the J-Class Svea.
Gérard Perrottet
bonjour
je m’appelle Gérard Perrottet, je suis a la recherche de l’historique d’un bateau que vous avez fait construire en 1979 /80 a TAIWAN. il sagit d’un Trawler Grand ocean 41+2 , derniers noms connu , TIOLI, ASTARTE 4, THIRANYSI , aujourd’hui
j’ai acquis ce bateau en 2015. , j’ai besoin de la date d’importation de ce navire, en Europe
merci d’avance cordialement
Diane M. Byrne
Monsieur Perrottet: Thank you for your comment. However, you should send it to the design studio directly; this website is a news website, and the design studio staff does not read it every day.