Does an old hull mean you have to settle for old tech? Amsterdam Yacht Service says no, and they are set to prove it as they take on a 25-year-old, part-completed 17-metre Pieter Beeldsnijder steel hull, re-imagine the build, and re-engineer the design to skilfully blend classic style with modern hybrid systems and amenities. Follow the AYS team through each stage of the process as they work from the purchase of the hull through to the launch of the completed (re)build.
With the classic Pieter Beeldsnijder 17-metre steel yacht hull – known as Hull 405 – safely ensconced in our advanced facilities, the team has been able to begin the detailed engineering work needed to bring the hull to completion. Consideration of the technical aspects of any project – whether maintenance, refit, rebuild or newbuild completion – has always been a key focus of the AYS team here, which boasts extensive inhouse expertise across design, engineering and fabrication.
The Hull 405 project is a classic example of why this approach is essential to ensure a successful project. “We have very minimal copies of the designs for Hull 405, and even the ones we do have are hand-drawn and copied, and as such as not much use in terms of modern computer-based engineering and CAD systems,” says Robert Binnekade, managing director of AYS. “Therefore we have undertaken a complete 3D scan of the partially completed hull and superstructure which we can use as the basis for the rest of our engineering and design work on the yacht.
“However,” he continues, “it is important to realise why we need to make the scans, because that’s central to our philosophy here at AYS. As with any project, we start by considering what we want the ship to be able to do and assessing what its capabilities are. We ask ourselves what we need to ensure those capabilities in terms of machinery and systems, then we extend that to factors such as weight and hydrodynamic properties that we adjust where necessary. Then of course we consider the aesthetics – but the twist with Hull 405 is that we are reusing an existing hull, not starting from scratch with a new design.”
3D scanning is a tool that we often use across a variety of maintenance, repair and refit projects, from redesigning exhaust systems to reconfiguring cabins, although Hull 405 represents the first time we have undertaken a scan of an entire vessel. The scan itself took one and a half days, but this was then followed with the intensive process of translating the scan and its data points into a full 3D model with flat surfaces that can be used for design and engineering purposes. “That part actually took months,” says Binnekade. “What we would view as a flat surface the computer might not, so you have to tell it what is flat and what is curved, and how it is curved. There’s no golden gun that you can shoot and have instant results!”
With the scan complete and the 3D model created, we have been able to move on to the next phase in the project – redesigning the aft end of the hull. Watch this space!
2025 has been a dynamic and rewarding year for Amsterdam Yacht Service. Our team has continued to expand and refine its expertise, successfully delivering a diverse range of maintenance, refit, and custom projects for clients across the globe.
It’s perhaps the greatest compliment we can receive when customers come back for a return visit to our state-of-the-art facilities in Amsterdam. Sometimes it’s for larger works that make use not just of our hardstanding areas or large sheds but also our expert inhouse team of engineers, carpenters and fitters – and sometimes it’s for general maintenance jobs.
The Amsterdam Yacht Service team will be present at the Amsterdam RAI exhibition centre for all three days of Metstrade, 18–20 November 2025. It’s the ideal moment to meet us in person and discover more about our state-of-the-art facilities and onsite expertise: everything you need to ensure your next build, maintenance, or refit projectruns seamlessly from start to finish.
Members of the Amsterdam Yacht Builders team will spend two days in and around Port Hercules this week as they visit the Monaco Yacht Show. If you would like to meet up and discuss any potential project we would be delighted to do so on Thursday 25 and Friday 26 of September. It’s sure to […]
The long summer days are finally here, and it’s time for most yachts to switch from maintenance mode to magical-days-on-the-water mode. For the team at Amsterdam Yacht Service, of course, the work never stops – even during summer, we have vessels coming through for haul-outs, services and all manner of works.
Few things can match the glamour, beauty and sheer elegance of the 64.5-metre sailing yacht Atlantic – a 2010-launched recreation of the original schooner Atlantic which first touched the water in 1903.
While the Amsterdam Yacht Service team can turn its hand to pretty much anything, and while the shipyard itself can handle pretty much any type of vessel, not every project involves complex hull repairs or hotwork.
We pride ourselves on the variety of vessels and projects we work on here at Amsterdam Yacht Service – from yachts to tourist boats to commercial vessels and workboats, they all come to take advantage of our in-water berthing, haul-out and hardstanding, refit sheds and inhouse expertise.
It’s perhaps fitting that a 32.7-metre modern classic motor yacht styled after the Dutch herring luggers of the early 1900s should land in a Dutch refit and maintenance specialist shipyard, and that’s exactly what happened in the Autumn of 2024.
It’s one thing finishing a summer season then heading to a shipyard with a list of works to do over the winter and plenty of time to complete that list – but quite another when you arrive in the Spring and need to get those works completed in time for the summer charter season.
As we make steady progress with the construction of Hull 405 – the Pieter Beeldsnijder-designed 17-metre steel yacht that had laid part complete for two decades, before we acquired her in 2023 in order to finish her build – we are starting to think about some of the fun stuff.
Excellent news reaches us from the Caribbean of a stunning performance by one of our recent projects. A key remit from the vessel’s highly experienced owner for the refit of his 56-metre Perini Navi Panthalassa was to bring her technically up to speed and highly competitive in sailing races.
If there’s one thing we’ve learnt here at Amsterdam Yacht Service after decades of experience working on commercial and, in recent years, yacht and superyacht refit and rebuild projects, it’s that you don’t always need to go for the most high-tech solution in every aspect of the vessel.
When a shipyard’s refit project needed to be lifted out to undertake remedial works ashore, Amsterdam Yacht Service proved to be the ideal choice – and as it turned out, not just for its yard facilities and location. The project in question involved a vessel originally constructed in the middle of the last century, but […]
While the Amsterdam Yacht Service teams are always on hand to assist with serious project work – from hull replating and finding solutions to other engineering challenges to the capabilities of the new woodworking department – the extensive AYS facilities are also highly prized by other shipyards and superyacht builders who need a base for […]
Having acquired a classic Pieter Beeldsnijder 17-metre steel yacht hull that had been laid up unfinished for more than two decades, we faced our first big challenge – how to get the part-built boat back to the AYS shipyard facilities near Amsterdam.
The experienced team at Amsterdam Yacht Service is no stranger to adapting on the fly to the changing demands of projects. This flexibility and expertise was highlighted by the team’s work on a 24-metre commercial vessel in 2024, which came in for a leak to be fixed and left with an extensively rebuilt aft section […]
Does an old hull mean you have to settle for old tech? Amsterdam Yacht Service says no, and they are set to prove it as they take on a 25-year-old, part-completed 17-metre Pieter Beeldsnijder steel hull, re-imagine the build, and re-engineer the design to skilfully blend classic style with modern hybrid systems and amenities.
As the annual METSTRADE exhibition at the Amsterdam RAI from 19-21 November heaves into view, it offers the perfect opportunity for owners, owner representatives, yacht managers, captains and other interested parties to come meet the Amsterdam Yacht Services team. We’re looking forward to talking with you about the superb facilities we offer and the onsite […]
From fishing vessels, steel commercial ships and classic Dutch barges to yachts and superyachts, Amsterdam Yacht Services has welcomed vessels of every type to its extensive facilities. Now, as the shipyard continues to grow its business by offering its broad expertise to a range of sectors including classic yacht and superyacht refit, it is expanding […]
Amsterdam has its fair share of famous features (aside from Amsterdam Yacht Services, of course), from the clattering throng of myriad bicycles to the enchanting fan of canals that radiate through the city centre. Those canals also play host to more than 100 cruise and tripper vessels that offer tourists a unique view of the […]
Steering toward success It’s one thing being able to offer first class facilities for maintenance, refit and rebuild projects, but it’s quite another to be able to back that up with an experienced team for whom the demands of design and the pressures of time are just two more things to be taken in their […]
December 2023 marked another significant milestone for Amsterdam Yacht Service, as its highly experienced team carried out its first ever marriage of a hull and superstructure. The event took place over the course of just one day for the 64-metre Hakvoort motor yacht (build number, xxx, the shipyard’s newest project) which has a steel hull […]
A measure of a good shipyard is the range of services it can offer and the range of works it can undertake, and there’s no doubt that Amsterdam Yacht Services has those elements covered thanks to its background as a commercially orientated shipyard. The measure of a great shipyard, however, is not just the scope […]
It’s fair to say that wooden boats inspire passion like few other craft. For Robert Binnekade, that passion was sparked by a classic Dutch one-design racing dayboat that still draws ardent owners for its competitive fleet. Binnekade acquired a 1947 example of the class, number 61 name Regenbouw (Dutch for rainbow), from an old friend. […]