Schooner Man 

Pierius Magnus 
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Pierius Magnus photo Off of Muskegon breakwater summer of 2001

 Schoonerman Photo

The Pierius Magnus is a single-masted, gaff-rigged topsail cutter, 30 feet on deck and 52 feet overall including the sprit and boom. The hull shape is similar to a dory but with no rocker, it has a dead flat bottom. It was designed with the traditional Dutch fishing ships in mind, called botters. It weighs in at about 12 tons including about seven tons of interior ballast, some of which can be replaced by cargo. It is still well above its design waterline and could probably hold an additional two to four tons.

Captains Jorne Langelaan and Arjen van der Veen are Dutchmen who worked as mates on 300-ton commercial ships in the Netherlands, then embarked on sailing adventures aboard the Picton Castle and the Europa during tall-ship events in 2000. 

Their dream of building and sailing a replica of the Dutch cargo "schonker" to educate children about the ways of the sea comes to fruition this summer with the maiden voyage of Pierius Magnus.  The voyage from South Haven to Holland sent the boat twenty-six miles under a south-east wind wind that turned westerly. 

The boat was built for only $10,000, money earned by singing and playing music including a CD they produced.

The ship is designed as a schonker, a traditional Dutch tall ship, designed to carry cargo under sail in shallow water. The Pierius Magnus was built at the Michigan Maritime Museum with community support and volunteer labor. She makes her maiden voyage through the Great Lakes this summer as part of the tall ship festivities being held throughout the region. She is designed to carry ten tons of cargo (300 cubic feet). Among many very interesting features of the topsail schonker design (this one based on several old cargo ships) are her leeboards, which take the place of the more-familiar keel.   Leeboards drop down along each side of the vessel to steady it.  They are easily raised and lowered, depending on sailing conditions and course, to provide lateral resistance (preventing sideslip) when lowered, or giving the boat access to shallower  water when raised. 

The Pierius Magnus was built at the Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven, Michigan with community support and volunteer labor. The winter of 2000 This photo taken April2001

Schoonerman Photo

The Pierius Magnus, in conjunction with the nationally recognized Alexandria Seaport Foundation, will be used in a youth sail-training program emphasizing the art and science of traditional wooden boat building, seamanship and sail making.

Contact the Pierius Magnus at:

"Atlantis Project" ATLANTIS"

atlantisconstruction

Some of the information on this page courtesy of www.tallshipnewswire.com

This site is design and maintained by Tom Van Oosterhout tom@seatalebooks.com

03/03/2008