Before the advent of computers, many said the best way to make sure a yacht was ‘right’ was to build it and try it. If anything needed changing, you just pulled it back up the slip and set to work. The November issue of PBO, on sale this Thursday, has a 5-page special feature on the yachts from the pen of the legendary designer Ricus van de Stadt, who did just that. From the Valk, which introduced the world to marine ply as a method of yacht construction, through sixties classics like the Pioneer, Pandora, Sprinter and Trintella to the revolutionary 75ft maxi Stormvogel, van de Stadt’s design office was at the forefront of emerging technologies as the postwar yachting boom took off.

Peter Poland’s article features van de Stadt designs that you can pick up from as little as £1,000 to the inside story on the building of Stormvogel – which appeared on the silver screen alongside Nicole Kidman in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm. Watch the trailer below – and pick up a copy of PBO on Thursday!