Renowned shipbuilder celebrates his 100-year milestone

Like the many metal-hulled yachts he has built Harry Westerdyk is still going strong as he celebrated his 100th birthday on Friday, September 20.

The retired boatbuilder still lives independently on his Wamberal acreage, accompanied by his dog Mater.

An unfinished Dutch canal boat in the yard, a retirement project, is a reminder of his exceptional skill working with metal.

Harry’s yachts were serious business, competing over the years in the Sydney to Hobart, Brisbane to Gladstone, Melbourne to Devonport and other ocean races.

His first yacht sold in the 1960s, now known as the Cadenza, is still at sea.

These days Harry’s mind is still sharp and he’s an avid reader but he has mobility challenges and is restricted to a walker.

Harry’s son Robbert, of Terrigal, said his dad was a devoted family man who has three children, nine grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren with one more on the way.

Sadly his wife Vicky passed in 2002, aged 79.

“We all feel blessed to see him reach this milestone,” Robbert said.

“A few years back we thought we had lost him after a fall in the house.”

Born in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, in 1924, Harry was jailed by the Nazis during World War II and suffered torture at the hands of the Gestapo.

In 1953 he left war-torn Holland for Burnie, Tasmania, with his new bride Wietske, or Vicky as she became known, and little more than his panelbeater skills.

The couple had three children Robbert, Maryke of Perth, and Harry junior of Forresters Beach.

Robbert recalls that his father could fix anything, especially if it involved metal, and as a hobby Harry began building boats and selling them.

In the 1960s Gosford builder Peter Rysdyk, a fellow Dutchman who became one of Australia’s best-known yachtsmen, heard of Harry’s shipbuilding prowess and purchased one.

The red-hulled sloop designed by Frons Maas, named Onya of Gosford (now Akoona), became an entrant in the 1971 Sydney to Hobart race.

It changed Harry and his family’s life.

Rysdyk invited Harry to relocate his shipbuilding to West Gosford which meant his hobby could be a full-time job. Later the shipbuilding moved to a new site in Johnson St, Tuggerah.

By the time Harry retired in the 1980s he had fabricated about 30 hulls.

Harry was surrounded by plenty of family to help celebrate his 100th birthday he received letters of congratulations from the King and Queen, the Prime Minister and Governor General.

There was a huge cake and a piano singalong of old favourites with his team of specialist care workers from HammondCare who make it possible for Harry to continue living independently in his own home.