h.dirix
A ruthless battle in a beautiful landscape........
This is the most beautiful Dutch province of Friesland all over. Flat, green, vast and lots, lots of water.
In former times, almost all transports were equipped with sailing ships and through the canals and lakes all kind of goods were transported.
The skippers of these flatboats were masters of sailing in all weather conditions and commanded respect outside the province of Friesland throughout the Netherlands.
Virtually everything marketable was transported on this sturdy ships from peat, manure, agricultural products, grain, bricks and so on.
The ships very often had to navigate through shallows to their destination and therefor these ships had very little draft.
To prevent drifting during crosswinds, they were equipped with "swords", movable wooden boards on each side that could be lowered into the water to prevent the ship from drifting.
The sword on the port side (left) is clearly visible on the forward ship in the picture.
These ships are no longer used to transport goods,but to participate in the most famous sailing competetion "Skutsje Sylen" (barge sailing). All non-essential ship superstructures such as wheelhouses, cabins and other obstacles have been removed as they have an inhibiting effect on speed.
These ancient vessels weight 30 tons and are sail-optimised with a sailarea of 142 square meters.
Their average draft is 42 cm, have a length of 20 meters and a width of 3,97 meters.
The bow and the stern are constructed in such a way that this sphericity means the ship glids over the water, when unloaded, causing little wave action.
During the famous "Skûtsje Sylen", the ships sail with a crew of 12 persons and reach a speed of 20 km/h. This may not seem like much, but bear in mind that all the ships sail at full speed towards the buoys and that there is absolutely no possibility of slowing down!
The competition rules also provide for strict rules of precedence and, due to the extreme concentration required, sailing in this battle of regatta is a real battle of attrition.
The "Skûtsje Sylen" race is a very old tradition that finds its origins in the summer when all cargo supply was always very low and to earn some money for the skippers, the innkeepers would organise hard-sailing days during village festivals around the Frisian lakes.
This grew into a provincial tradition with many annual celebrations in the mont of August.
Here we are at a crossroads of canals, one runs straight to the "Sloter" lake and the other turns to the beautiful ancient little city of Sloten (Sleat) which we will still visit....
A ruthless battle in a beautiful landscape........
This is the most beautiful Dutch province of Friesland all over. Flat, green, vast and lots, lots of water.
In former times, almost all transports were equipped with sailing ships and through the canals and lakes all kind of goods were transported.
The skippers of these flatboats were masters of sailing in all weather conditions and commanded respect outside the province of Friesland throughout the Netherlands.
Virtually everything marketable was transported on this sturdy ships from peat, manure, agricultural products, grain, bricks and so on.
The ships very often had to navigate through shallows to their destination and therefor these ships had very little draft.
To prevent drifting during crosswinds, they were equipped with "swords", movable wooden boards on each side that could be lowered into the water to prevent the ship from drifting.
The sword on the port side (left) is clearly visible on the forward ship in the picture.
These ships are no longer used to transport goods,but to participate in the most famous sailing competetion "Skutsje Sylen" (barge sailing). All non-essential ship superstructures such as wheelhouses, cabins and other obstacles have been removed as they have an inhibiting effect on speed.
These ancient vessels weight 30 tons and are sail-optimised with a sailarea of 142 square meters.
Their average draft is 42 cm, have a length of 20 meters and a width of 3,97 meters.
The bow and the stern are constructed in such a way that this sphericity means the ship glids over the water, when unloaded, causing little wave action.
During the famous "Skûtsje Sylen", the ships sail with a crew of 12 persons and reach a speed of 20 km/h. This may not seem like much, but bear in mind that all the ships sail at full speed towards the buoys and that there is absolutely no possibility of slowing down!
The competition rules also provide for strict rules of precedence and, due to the extreme concentration required, sailing in this battle of regatta is a real battle of attrition.
The "Skûtsje Sylen" race is a very old tradition that finds its origins in the summer when all cargo supply was always very low and to earn some money for the skippers, the innkeepers would organise hard-sailing days during village festivals around the Frisian lakes.
This grew into a provincial tradition with many annual celebrations in the mont of August.
Here we are at a crossroads of canals, one runs straight to the "Sloter" lake and the other turns to the beautiful ancient little city of Sloten (Sleat) which we will still visit....