Feadship Yachts History

Feadship Yachts is the combination of two Netherlands shipyards, who started independently and came together in 1949. The De Vries and Royal Van Lent families were the founders of Feadship yachts. The name of Feadship is an acronym for the First Export Association of Dutch Shipbuilders. The marketing of Feadship began in the United States, where an active market for pleasure and luxury yachts was emerging.

Feadship has produced custom-built displacement motoryachts, which can range from 70 feet to their largest 282 foot “Ecstasea”. De Vries Scheepsbouw is at the heart of Aaslmeer, and the Van Lent shipyard is on Kaag Island. The design center, De Voogt Naval Architects, is in Haarlem. Feadship uses steel and aluminum for construction of their yachts.

Orders began flowing for yachts by the mid 1950's. By the 1960's, Feadship achieved steady growth - both in the organization's reputation and the size of the vessels built. By the early 1970's however, Feadship's popularity was soaring, with several yachts being launched each year. Notable business magnates such as Henry Ford and Malcolm Forbes became owners of Feadship yachts, which helped give Feadship a global and corporate identity.

With over 200 Feadships gracing the world's oceans, a commitment to supplying total reliability has clearly paid off. On average five major craft are launched annually, and Feadship is acknowledged as a global leader in the construction of premium quality displacement motoryachts.

De Vries Scheepsbouw was founded in 1923. The yard is now solely dedicated to building custom-built motoryachts. Today the workforce has expanded to 250 highly skilled craftsmen and two motoryachts are built each year. The Shipyard encompasses two dry docks and one slipway with building capacity up to 80 meters in length. The Van Lent yard was founded in 1849. Today the workforce has expanded to over 250 highly skilled craftsmen as well and the yard builds two motoryachts per year. The Shipyard encompasses two dry docks and two slipways with building capacity up to 100 meters in length.

De Voogt Naval Architects was established in 1912 and was one of the original founders of the Feadship organization. Today 58 permanent staff members and a number of freelance specialists cover every discipline of yacht engineering and yacht design: naval architecture, mechanical engineering and interior design drawing. The close relationship between De Voogt and the yards ensures a fundamental understanding of the construction techniques of the builders as well as the utmost quality in design, engineering and construction.

So many of the world’s most famous yachts carry the Feadship insignia, including no less than 6 Gallant Lady’s. Feadship’s most recent launch, which is a testament to their craftsmanship is the 235’ “Utopia”.