On the occasion of its maiden trip, May 5th, 2010 - Liberation Day in the Netherlands - the Dutch yachts glossy Nautique honored the late Olin Stephens II for his design of the NY32-class and Pieter van der Aa for building no. 21 - Masquerade - with the cover story of it’s summer edition: a full fledge fotoshoot by award winning fotographer Ingmar Timmer and an interview by its chief editor Arthur van ‘t Hof.

Building the Masquerade has been a very satisfying project that I worked on in my free time from 2004 up and until 2010. It allowed me to combine an in-depth knowledge of the application of exotic wood species and the experience in using machine tools and handcrafting wooden objects acquired over the past three decades.

I’ve dedicated a few pages on this website to guide you along the design & build process. The image gallery consists of an extract of the thousands of pictures taken by myself and others and will give you a look-and-feel for the beauty of the materials used as well as the complexity of the tasks performed. In addition there’s a page containing videoclips of the preparation and transportation for the christening & launch in Numansdorp, the Netherlands at April 10, 2010. The above clip already took you along the maiden trip at May 5, 2010 at the Oosterschelde sea, Zeeland, the Netherlands.