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The
CNC-milled AR 233 SL model in the garden of Oda and Evert Koopmans
While CNC milling machines and other noisy elements disturb this Sunday at the office and Christine (her project name…) is downstairs I try to give you an impression of the key elements in a dream realization. What is your dream? A question that came on the table while having a cup of coffee in Sneek (lovely place to visit so do it!), talking with Evert Koopmans. You can read more about it in ‘It started with a dream’. I could write a book about the whole development and building process of the first AR 233 Superleggera and you would or even could not believe the adventures we went through… Sensational, emotional. Real life to the maxx! Therefore I would like to restrict myself to a few but key elements: Emotion, Enthusiasm and Cuore Sportivo. We started together, Evert and I. It was very silent in the building hall of Koopmans Kaskos in Sneek. The moment I told him that I found his dream a very valuable one that was absolutely very worth realizing, so ‘let’s start now’, tears came into his eyes and the question: ‘Do you really mean this?’ Of course I meant what I said. Apart from the wonderful meeting with Mr. Pruijssers and Blijenberg, we had a quite difficult start, but never let our first sparks extinguish. Evert Koopmans artritis played him tricks. And at that moment we were only two! But the team grew slowly. Steadily. After the moment when three quarters of the hull was ready and we could inform people who later became Proud Project Partners the snow-ball effect developed. The enthusiasm and involvement of everyone was astonishing. It more or less feels like being in a herd of young dogs who play with a bone. Everyone felt the new born baby to be his lovebaby and put a huge amount of love into realizing her or his part of the project. This involvement came spontaneously and accompanied us throughout the whole project and is still present today. I call it Cuore Sportivo. Cornerstone of it must be the roots of the Alfa Romeo Brand and more specific the Cuore Sportivo. I would like to explain this a little further. In the society of nowadays, you could translate this also as sportsmanlike. Strength versus power…. A Cuore Sportivo to me personally means that you are not only a sporty person with a dynamic and sporty car. A lot of horsepower and a quick acceleration. You are sportsmanlike. Rather giving than taking the right of way in traffic. A person, who doesnot look at his own or own interest first and then at the other person. I think that that way of thinking was the first spark that guided us throughout the project form the start. I really wanted Evert’s dream realized, while I didnot have the plan to have a sportsboat built myself at that moment (I have an aluminum sailing boat already). Cuore Sportivo is to give right of way in a traffic situation to someone, to be polite, to have an eye for other people, to develop the talents of your employees to the max, to give them responsability, to stimulate them wherever possible. Not looking at your wallet, your profit and loss statement or balance sheet first. Let others win and you win too. I can also distill it from the original olympic thought. In that way, this project was and is a mirror of how I want to enjoy life and the positive energy, the sparks, the enthusiasm, the involvement, the weekend work and all love and dedication feel like a warm bubble bath, surrounding us as the two ‘founding fathers’. And the whole team. You will literally feel this love, this positive energy, these thousands of working hours of all the people who poured it into the boat. You will feel it while being on board of our lovely AR. It is the soul, the inspiration of the boat. And for that, I would like to thank everyone from the deepest of my heart. It made the building and realizing of the AR 233 Superleggera to one of the most valuable adventures until now and I can feel ‘Cuore Sportivo’ in everything. Also I would wish you lots of success and fun in realizing your dreams! In a cuore sportivo way. If we Can be of help, we hear from you!
The Interior of the AR 233 SL
René is a talented 31 year old employee of Ritmeester Ltd. Living in Nieuw Lekkerland - or as he calls it ‘New Tasty Land’ - he is responsible for various ship interior design projects. He takes an example by Mr. Peter Sijm of the Jongert shipyard who started as a carpenter and finished his career as manager of the design department. For the AR project he found his inspiration both in the rich history and roots of the Alfa Romeo cars as well as in the world renowned designs of the Bertone and Pininfarina Studios. Of course he added his maritime experience and mixed this with the starting points: cuore sportivo, classic & modern elegance, style and safety. Since René is a Scales, it is no surprise that in the layout and detailing of the interior balance is a vital element. He also wanted to incorporate the Alfa Romeo heart in a subtle way into the interior.
The wooden designer shoes… not yet master-painted by the Klaver Yachtpainting Team As you can imagine, the AR 233 SL raised quite a dust, also in Nieuw Lekkerland, home village of the designer. So at a birthday party Saturday January 8, René received the advice of Klaas Niks - his father in law - to appear in wooden shoes (the dutch ‘klompen’…) at the show and he told us the story during the coffee break. I went to a retired master-wooden-shoemaker of Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, Mr. C. Biesbroec Klompenmakery, who sold me his very last pair of wooden shoes in size 43. Telling me the story that he won the first prize at the St. Oedenrode Wooden Shoe Show with them. Another wonderful story. (Ratings: Fit: 9, Model outside: 9; Quality: 9,General finish: 8,75…) So:
we didn’t take half measures and informed Evert Klaver, asking
him to have these Masterpieces in Wood (as Ritmeester produces for
ships’ interiors) sprayed Alfarosso. That way Rene van der
Kuijl can present himself ‘orderly dessed’ at the presentation
in the Frisian capital of Leeuwarden. Holland is best known for his
wooden shoes. These are the first AR wooden shoes…. Designer
Shoes.
Here she is…Christine from her elegant front in the workshop at Alblasserdam! (You may kiss the bride!) Sorry: she still is dressed in her nightgown…
Of course, we cannot show you all the huge amount of details and work, necessary for the realization of the finished product. It would produce a whole book of text and pictures (we have hundreds of them). Often people, even yacht architects think that the hull production is the major part of the work involved in producing a boat. It is not. It is a lot more work to realize the interior and the technics! If you are interested, we are happy to show you around when realizing a boat interior. From the Autocad design (Charles de Canne and colleagues) to the CNC milling (Henk Ritmeester) and production (all the Ritmeester staff). Feel welcome! To
give you an impression of the team (not all members on the picture!)
Front row, second from left is Gerrina Schut-Ritmeester; when you call us, she will be on the phone…
The materials. For a classic, yet 21st century sports boat, René combined the luxury of traditional mahogany with black leather and stainless steel. Less is more so only a few different materials and colours make the interior of the boat. The right balance between rounded (‘female’) and curved as well as angular (male) forms is essential for a succesful design. As you can see in the designs of architects (Le Corbusier, Meier, Starck etc.) and also of the big car manufacturers, this is a key element to success or failure. René has a built-in navigator for this balance and that is the reason that we could give him total freedom in developing the whole interior. The colour scheme has to be developed. Alfarosso for the hull was the ‘ Leitmotiv’ . Which colours go best with this? René decided to use a well-considered colour scheme: Red and black for the outside of the boat. So the windscreen and cabriotop come in black. Sporty and racey. And the boat-trailer should be black from tires to frame to the rollers…. With alloy wheels (aluminum…) Of
course, René made a lot of sketches and developed his own ideas
on the interior.
Detailing
is a job of its own…. Detailing, changing, developing. It had
to be frist time right! Layout. The seat in the rear of the boat is an easy sitting place for two to three people. Legs up or legs down; it invites you for a relaxed stay on board and a lot of attention was spent on ergonomics. Enjoy the water, while having your arms resting on top of the sprayrail. Whether at rest or at top speed: the water is near so the sensation of speed and action is close to you. Two adjustable seats for ‘captain and first mate‘ are in the front of the cockpit. At anchor or in the harbour, turning them makes a cosy and comfortable round table. To enjoy your favourite drink, a dry martini cocktail (stirred or shaken, see later...?) or the sunset together. The dashboard. In close cooperation with Adrian Brown of Brown Marine René developed his balanced vision for the dashboard. Here he designed and produced a mahogany dashboard cover, fitted with stainless steel tubes to incorporate the AR grille in the interior.
Ritmeester Ltd specializes in rounded and curved (bent) forms, driven by computer aided design. Both René and Marcel Ritmeester, founder of the company try to find new ways in designing and producing interiors. René
wanted to have a real ‘dashboard’ but also something special.
At this picture you can see him at work, concentrated on the mould of
the dash-cover.
Test-mounted into the boat.
The tubes had to be positioned very accurately ond the rounded dashboard part… Mark Klinge, one of the staff people took part of this job and mounted them very precisely on the finished part. The
end of each solid stainless steel tube has a different angle; the difference
and attention is in the detail…
Then the dashboard was pre-fitted; Wijnand van Es at work!
A very special part of the dashboard is the original Superleggera Sign which was found by Klaas van Vuure of Beek Auto Racing (Klaas, thanks again and again! You really are superfast!) ….
On art. Black Elephant skin…..
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