Jacques Brel’s Iconic Sailboat Fully Restored After Ten Years of Work

After more than ten years of work, the iconic sailboat of the singer Jacques Brel, Askoy II, has just risen from its ashes in a hangar in Zeebrugge, Belgium. Built in the 1960s, it had been found stranded on a New Zealand beach, eaten away by rust and bruised by the reefs. In poor condition when it was recovered, this incredible renovation is the work of the Wittevrongel brothers, master sailmakers from father to son, who sewed the sails of the Askoy before Brel left for his round the world trip in 1974. On board, the singer had sailed to the Marquesas Islands before giving up the boat, which then passed through several hands. It will be caught in a storm and run aground on the New Zealand coast a few years later. Now fully refurbished, Askoy II was classified as a nautical heritage by Belgium two years ago.