View our sailing boats
We have 7 beautiful ‘Vollenhovense Bollen’, 2 Tjalks and 1 Grundel for rent. All very suitable flat-bottomed boats for rental, where you sail yourself and do not need any experience with flat-bottomed sailing. Finding it difficult to make a choice? Please feel free to contact us! We are happy to advise you in your flat-bottomed rental adventure!
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Read more about Vollenhovense Bol flat-bottomed sailing boats here
The Vollenhovense Bol was designed in the early 1900s. There was a need for an affordable, seaworthy ship of what was then the Zuiderzee. After all, it could be quite wild at sea, especially at lee shore !
Shipbuilder Kroese built the first Vollenhovense Bol in 1902 on behalf of fisherman Jongman. A sailiing boat with a flat surface but with rounded sides and bows and a round stem, therefore also called a flat bottom. The builder was inspired by both the Botter and the Schokker.
After the Second World War, in 1961, designer J.K. Gipon sketched a Vollenhovense Bol of 8.50 meters that became the first of a whole series of Vollenhovense Bollen, most of which were built by the shipyard Kooijman and De Vries in Deil on de Linge.
Gipon drew the Vollenhovense Bollen in various sizes:
8.10, 8.50, 9.00, 9.30 en 9.75 meters
The 8.10 meter is the smallest and the most manageable and nevertheless has enough accommodation for 4 to 5 people. The 8.50 meters to 9.75 meters Bollen provide more space and comfort, but are also harder to sail.
Our flat-bottomed boats: Jan Steen, De Goede Hoop, Vrouwe Klazina en de Vrouwe Fortuna were also designed by Gipon and built by Kooijman and De Vries. The Vrouwe Fortuna was built in 1996 by Van Rijnsoever, the successor of Kooijman en de Vries. Elegant, spacious ships and very ‘Wadden seaworthy’. Renting a Vollenhovense Bol is like sailing on the Wadden Sea with a jewel.
Someone who has owned an 8.10-meter long Vollenhovense Bol for 8 years, says the following:
“Our ship met all criteria: not too big, easy to handle with 2 people, comfortable interior with headroom and plenty of space for our family of 4. With a sturdy exterior and round shape. The round stern meant we had no problems with incoming waves from behind.”
Vollenhovense Bollen have excellent sailing characteristics, as the results in various competitions have shown.
It owes its excellent sailing qualities to the balanced rigging and good hull shape. The stability curve for a flat-bottomed boat is great and no deep bow-down angles are needed to perform well. In fact, from a 20 degree angle it is advisable to reef the sail. At a larger angle of inclination, you use the wind as leverage instead of propulsion. As a result, safety on board is assured.
Want to read more about Vollenhovense Bollen? Click here. Or what a flat-bottomed sailboat is? Click here.
The Vollenhovense Bol is the most sea-worthy flat-bottomed sailing boat at this length.
