FLYER II
FLYER II
Flyer I having won the first ever Whitbread in a Huisman yacht, Conny van Rietschoten knew what the Southern Ocean could do, and chose Royal Huisman to build his second winner. Taking line honours in every leg of the 1981/ 82 Whitbread Round The World Race.
The saga of Cornelis van Rietschoten's maxi-racer Flyer II has two magnificent chapters. The first, as we all know, details her dominating the competition and taking line honours in every leg of the 1981/82 Whitbread Round the World Race.
The second chapter is less dynamic, but no less momentous. As her owner realized, even after the Whitbread triumph, racing boats don't have long competitive lives.
So, contrary to the admonition that "you can't go home again", Flyer II did indeed "go home" to Vollenhove to be converted into a high-performance cruising yacht.
A comfortable interior was installed, new systems and support equipment were added, and she received a hydraulic rollaway cutter rig with full push button furling.
And she was "tuned-up" a bit under the water, with a new keel, because, as Van Rietschoten once said: "Having hit the bottom in just about every port, she needs shallow draft". With her new configuration Flyer II embarked in May 1986 on a 16,000 mile sojourn that took her from Holland to Western Australia and beyond.
