Sitka Spruce for mast and boom on the legendary Lemsteraak De Groote Beer

In the Netherlands racing barges are hot! New boats continue to be designed and built and large fleets gather to battle it out on the water. These barges cruise from regatta to regatta where they are raced with family and friends. Of all the traditional barges with leeboards, the Lemsteraak is by far the most powerful and prestigious. The newest barges are designed with using fluid dynamics programs, tank- and windtunnel testing. The fleet totals well over 100 ships and you will see anywhere between 15 to 30 of them at the start of a regatta. Close racing 35 ton displacement boats at 9 knts, and trust me, this is not racing for the faint of heart!

Within that large fleet of modern designed barges there is one that stands out; the legendary Groote Beer. She was built in 1928 and 90 years later she is still the barge to beat. Kept in the same family for over 50 years, she has always been maintained to the highest standards. Three generations of the van Rootselaar family have stood at the tiller, two generations have grown up on board and they know her inside out, know how to handle her and make her go. De Groote Beer is a multiple National Champion, won every regatta open to barges at least 3 times, won the 24-hour race on the Ijsselmeer a record 19 times.

The family is always looking to find an edge in an ever developing field, a field in which they have often lead the way; first in her class to build a  super stiff and lightweight gaff followed by a mast and boom to match, both in our finest Sitka spruce. The result was a more weatherly barge, sailing higher and faster. Wherever she goes, The Big Bear ready to hold her own.