Classic Feadship charter

An export drive that conquered America

Feadship began in late 1949, at the café De Roode Leeuw in Amsterdam, as the First Export Association of Dutch Shipbuilders. Six Dutch yards, among them the De Vries and Van Lent family yards, joined forces in a post-war drive to earn hard currency by selling yachts abroad, and the naval architect H.W. de Voogt soon became their designer.

Their target was the United States. At the New York Boat Show in January 1951 they showed three small steel boats, and all were quickly sold: Americans were astonished by Dutch steel construction, then almost unheard of in yachts there. In 1953 the Feadship Capri became the first foreign-built yacht to be crowned Queen of the Show, and in its first eight years Feadship sold ninety yachts in America.

From 1955 the yards built only in steel and aluminium. In 1956 Malcolm Forbes, the publisher of Forbes magazine, ordered the first of four Feadships he would own over thirty years, all of them named The Highlander.

What makes a classic Feadship

Every Feadship is built to order, yet the early yachts share a family look: ship-like lines, a steel hull with a flared bow, a gentle sheer running the length of the yacht, and immaculately varnished woodwork on deck. Interiors made with Dutch cabinetmakers such as Van der Loo brought a new level of craftsmanship below.

Their design was led by the De Voogt studio: H.W. de Voogt until his death in 1963, then his son Frits, who headed the firm from 1960 to 1995 and drew several of the yachts on this page. From the 1960s the styling grew bolder, with Carlo Riva bringing new flair, raised wheelhouses, and later the dramatic designs of Jon Bannenberg.

Since 1968 Feadship has been a partnership of three: Royal Van Lent at Kaag and Amsterdam, Koninklijke De Vries at Aalsmeer and Makkum, and De Voogt Naval Architects. Together they have delivered more than 500 yachts.

Firsts and famous owners among our Feadships

• Highlander (1986) was Malcolm Forbes’s fifth The Highlander, with a Jon Bannenberg interior, a helipad and a garage for his Harley-Davidsons. Feadship calls her arguably its most photographed yacht of all time.
• Calypso (1978), launched as Claybeth, was bought by Forbes as his fourth The Highlander, and was completely rebuilt in 2016.
• Secret Life (1973), launched as Big R, was the first Feadship with satellite navigation. Feadship records that she was built for the trucking magnate Jim Ryder, who had taken delivery of Alhambra, launched as Jardell, in 1970.
• Mirage (1979), launched as Daria, was the first Feadship with satellite communications.
• Heavenly Daze (1972), launched as Aldebaran, was one of the three founding yachts of the Feadship Heritage Fleet in 2013.
• Monara and Sultana are sisters of 1969, designed by Johan de Vries of the Aalsmeer yard. Both have been rescued and rebuilt in the Netherlands within the last twenty years.
• Pegasus (1995), launched as White Rabbit, has a bulbous bow designed by Frits de Voogt to reduce her bow wave, and a platform aft for swimming, diving and fishing.

The Feadship Heritage Fleet

In 2013 owners of classic Feadships founded the Feadship Heritage Fleet, for Feadships more than thirty years old, in the same Amsterdam café where Feadship began. Its chairman once called it “the classic car club of the classic yacht world”. Members gather each year at a Feadship yard, and the fleet is one of the very few motor yacht groups invited to Monaco Classic Week.

Six of the Feadships we feature are members: Calypso, Heavenly Daze, Mirage, Secret Life, Sultana and Synthesis 66.

Chartering a classic Feadship

The Feadships we feature range from the 25.8-metre sisters Monara and Sultana to the 55-metre Victory, so there is a classic Feadship for a couple or for a large family party. Many have been refitted with modern stabilisers, air-conditioning and water toys while keeping their classic lines. Tell us about your plans and we will suggest the ones that suit you, including Feadships not listed here.