There’s also a heated barbecue area – but for every exterior design decision, the cold weather had to be taken into account. It requires a tremendous amount of power and hot water to heat it to this temperature but people do love to swim out there in Antarctica,” says Verkerk. “We built a swimming pool outside, which we heat to 35 degrees. Regardless, the outside of the ship was far from neglected. ![]() Most yachts are built with a focus on the exterior spaces but I felt the exact opposite was important with Legend.” ![]() “When you go to Antarctica there are a lot of dull moments when you’re sailing and there is nothing to do. People love it.” Verkerk was careful to consider exactly how the boat’s space would be used, crucial considering her most popular destinations. The hallways might be pretty standard but every time you open a door, you enter a different world. On Legend, we wanted it to be more of an adventure. In many yachts, there’s one style – the design stays the same from the saloon to the master cabin. “The idea was to make the boat as far from boring as possible. Verkerk took charge of the interior design, too, adamant that Legend should stand out in the crowded charter market. Rebuilding her, however, was another story. That and the state of the boat meant that buying her didn’t break the bank. “At some point there had been a fire on board and the wheelhouse and the master cabin were destroyed.” It was just before 2008 and yachting was at its summit so the insurance company decided to keep it to sell. “She had already been rebuilt as a yacht, but not in quite the right way,” admits Verkerk. Legend, originally a tug boat built in Holland for Russian clients, was an ice-breaker with potential, though she was far from perfect on first inspection. Sensing an increasing thirst from charter guests for exploration, when it came to buying another boat for his business, a powerful expedition yacht was the obvious choice. Perfect for a growing market of adventurous charter guests, she sailed (and still sails) everywhere from South Georgia to French Polynesia, with Verkerk benefiting from economies of scale along the way. His next boat, the ice-breaking Sherakhan, leapt up to 70 metres and was capable of sleeping 26 guests. “I eventually realised the only way to make money was to scale up,” he explains. After a chance request to be part of a tandem charter trip with a yacht called Esmerelda, it occurred to him that most charter yachts could only host a limited number of guests. “She was a 38 metre classic boat and she was highly popular and active but it was difficult to make money with a yacht of this size,” recalls Verkerk. The first boat he was serious about chartering, Jaguar, didn’t make any money at all. ![]() Verkerk’s adventures in the charter world, however, haven’t always run so smoothly. ![]() Legend is a tough boat - originally a Dutch-built tug Then the big work began and I was experienced enough to handle it.” “I used to buy old boats when I was growing up and teach myself how to fix them up for racing. So just how has he pulled it off? “I build my own boats – plus, my technical background makes me very handy,” says Verkerk, from his home just outside Utrecht, referencing his decision at 18 to skip university and train as a mechanic. Now he’s proving it, one $500,000 trip at a time. While many view superyacht ownership as a frivolous extravagance, Verkerk always believed there was money to be made in the charter business. As a young boy of eight in Holland, sailing around the waters of Loosdrecht on a wooden boat given to him by his father, he could never have dreamed that he’d end up building and owning superyachts of his own, capable of exploring the world’s most remote regions and carrying the world’s wealthiest customers.įast forward 40-odd years and that dream is now Verkerk’s happy reality. Jan Verkerk laughs easily, and little wonder – he’s making a profit from his passion. Builder, owner, captain, engineer, charterer… superyacht owner Jan Verkerk, the Dutchman who created the award-winning explorer Legend, explains his many talents to Dominique Afacan.
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