ATTENTION
Due to Ascension day we are closed on Thursday 9th May
“Everything you see and touch is quality on a Linssen”
Harry Kramp bought a Classic Sturdy 400 AC from Peter Linssen in Maasbracht in the 1990s. His son Jim Kramp recently bought a Grand Sturdy 590 AC Wheelhouse from the official Linssen dealer Jonkers Yachts in Ouddorp (South Holland). Father and son both praise the quality and service provided by Linssen. They talk about it while they are on the boat in Cadzand, where they arrived the previous evening.
Father and son Kramp are Linssen fans
“I passed on the love of boats to Jim,” Harry says. “That love started with me. I didn’t get the sailing bug from my parents, who didn’t have a boat.” Kramp senior already had a sloop with his family on lake Kagerplas, and he thought it would be fun to sail longer and further with his wife and children. “I read all kinds of boating magazines and brochures and toured the Netherlands, visiting various dealers, including suppliers of hybrid boats with a sail. I thought the Linssen yachts were the most beautiful. I had heard the best stories about them, too. At 12.5 metres, it was the biggest boat they had at the time.”
Looking at the construction
“I was about 10 years old when that boat arrived,” Jim says. “A great boat. I have fond memories of those days.” During the year and a half it took to build the boat, Jim and his father regularly drove to the yard in Maasbracht, two and a half hours there and two and a half hours back.
“I thought it was super to see how the boat was made, how the boat moved along the different ‘workstations’. My brother and sister were less interested in that.”
After about ten years, the Kramp family bought a summer house in France where they spent as much free time as possible. The Linssen was sold. Harry: “But we couldn’t do without a boat. In France we had an open boat, a Boston Whaler."
You see and feel quality
Jim has four children and, about a year ago, he thought “now is the ideal time to get a boat, the children are the right age and they all still tag along”. It was a no-brainer that it would be the Linssen he’s had for a few months now. “Linssen only delivers quality-build boats. Everything you see and touch is quality, you just feel it.” And the finish is super neat, which makes everything look nice,” Jim says. “’Verarbeitung’ is what they call it in German,” his father adds. “Sound workmanship. A Linssen is still the Mercedes of the boating world.” The fact that it’s a steel boat is an added bonus for Jim. “That does make you feel extra safe and sound.” He already has the first holiday plans in his head. “Next year we’d like to go to southern England. And the year after we’ll maybe head for Scandinavia or sail along the French coast. In any case, we intend to stay on board for longer, at least a few weeks. That’s easy to do, because it’s all there: kitchen, toilet and plenty of living space.”
Jim and his family chose the 590, the largest yacht that Linssen has built to date. “We really wanted this model, because we have a big family, so we need a lot of space. The boat has spacious cabins with air conditioning and is very comfortable.”
Going the extra mile
The reason Jim never wants another brand of boat is not only the quality, but especially the service as well. “Alexander Jonkers and his team have lavished all their attention on me and my requirements since the first time I came to look round. In total I have been there ten times, sometimes with the children in tow. It is of course a major purchase and you want some advice on that. Alexander can do that like no other. And that doesn’t stop once you’ve taken possession of the boat. If something’s not quite right, or I see a light on, for example, and I don’t know what it means, I call or send an app and he responds immediately. Linssen does that very well, I think they only sell their boats through people who go the extra mile for their customers.”
That’s exactly the memory Harry has of buying one in the 1990s. “Fred Spadlo was the salesman at the time. He provided me with excellent guidance and often gave more information than I asked for. A great guy.”
Jonkers Yachts BV
Kabbelaarsbank 11
NL-3253 ME Ouddorp (ZH)
The Nederlands
T: +31 (0)111 673 330
M: +31 (0)622 662 540
E: