Ericus Gerhardus van de Stadt (1910-1999) was one of the pioneers of modern yacht design. (Extract from the book: “E.G. van de Stadt YACHT DESIGN PIONEER”) In 1933, he and his wife Lies started a boatyard at Zaandam, where they lived aboard a houseboat, designing and building canoes and dinghies. They developed a successful business despite the set back of World War II, and not overcoming their starting losses until 1950. Among many innovations in yacht designs: the wing section fin keel and balanced spade rudder combination, the first very fast plywood yachts, the world’s first series production fiberglass yacht, and the world’s first maxi - “Stormvogel”. Although he participated in the development of the IOR rule, he later resigned from the International Technical Committee in protest over the US dominance in offshore racing rules as well as his feeling that the rule was fostering a less than seaworthy type of yacht. He was reserve helmsman on the Dutch Olympic sailing team in 1936 and was very successful in offshore racing for many years. In 1978 he sold his boatyard to Dehler and spent the rest of his career concentrating on design. After his retirement, Van de Stadt Design was run by the partners Cees W. van Tongeren, Hans R.F. Korner, Klaas Buis, Walter Galjaard and Anita de Vos. E.G. van de Stadt and partners continued to produce many designs and have been at the forefront of research into yacht aerodynamics and hydrodynamics. The company has produced over 400 designs since 1933 and there are some 25.000 van de Stadts afloat in the world today.
