Dutch shipwright Edward van Hellemondt has been asked by his local sea rowing club at Naarden to build a new Montagu whaler, as a group of club members are great fans of the design – apparently there are only two Montagu whalers in Holland and they are both in constant use.
So he’s looking for help in finding construction plans or detailed drawings that could help in building the boat – neither of the two existing boats can be borrowed for the time it would take to create a set. Edward says he’s exhausted all his Dutch nautical contacts, reference libraries and museums.
The Naarden club is clearly enterprising. It started three years ago, and now is the largest sloop rowing club in Holland, winning first place in many classes, both women and men – and it all started with an entry for the Buddy for Buddy DMRC (Dutch Marines Rowing Challenge) in which eight boats rowed from Rotterdam to London to commemorate the 450 yrs of the Dutch Marines, and their link to the UK’s special forces.
All proceeds went to the Buddy Program to help ex-combatants with PTSD.
Some of the Naarden boats went on to participate in the Great River Race.
Edward can be reached at wardhell@gmail.com.
