Dutch shipyard Feadship has announced the death of Frits de Voogt of De Voogt Naval Architects. Feadship commemorated the loss in a post, saying he "shaped the dreams of demanding Feadship customers" and his "designs were unique and are still the basis of today's Feadship yachts".
The former Feadship director, naval architect and yacht designer had a decades-long career that followed in the footsteps of his father, Henri de Voogt, who died in 1958 and left the studio in the hands of his son. Frits de Voogt retired in 1995 and went on to win a Lifetime Achievement Award at the ShowBoats Design Awards (now the BOAT International Design & Innovation Awards) in 2016.
In an older blog post on Feadship's website, director Henk de Vries said: "Frits was the glue that managed the individuals, and the decisions he made, he made for the good of all."
A statement by Feadship said: "Even after his retirement, he remained involved and interested in yacht building, always astute and always modest."
It went on, "Frits was a mentor of the current leaders of Feadship. We bow deeply to this cheerful, friendly and sometimes strict giant".