A family affair - Interview Dorus & Dries Wajer

Since 2019, Dries is in charge of the company. The sky seems to be the limit. Dorus remains involved to this day and has taken on an advisory role. An intriguiging double interview with Dorus and Dries Wajer. There’s only one word to sum up what unites it all: passion.

En route to Loosdrecht the landscape couldn’t get any more Dutch. Centuries-old farms are occasionally separated by modern villas built along a picturesque waterfront known as the Loosdrechtse Plassen. An area fairly close to Amsterdam, with large lakes and rustling reeds. The swirling waves and white cumulus clouds that are visible today would inspire many landscape painters. The reed warblers and black tern fly over the water, while below them common carp and other fish amble for food under the rippling waters. Dries and Dorus: ‘Everything that happens here comes from passion.’

And on the water? There’s a good chance that Wajers Captain’s Launch is chugging along. That very first boat that Dorus Wajer developed in 1990. He was 36 years old and had a great job working at Atmos Ventilation Techniques in Uden, however, once he developed those itchy feet, it was time to move on. I was welcomed by Dorus and his wife Cokky into their beautiful home, surrounded by water. Their two beloved labradors, Bikkel and Rover, not far behind. They have been together for almost 40 years and have lived in this scenic place for just as long.

Cokky tells me the story of how they first met: ‘Dorus was sitting at the bar of a pub in Loosdrecht. A tall, handsome guy. I asked if I could buy him a drink, he said yes and two weeks later we went sailing together. I noticed that he would wave to everyone and they would wave back. I thought, ”Wow, what a popular guy!”, not knowing, of course, that waving is part of sailing etiquette.’ A man from Amsterdam who spent a large portion of his childhood attending boarding school, meeting his match in a girl from Vreeland, daughter of the village blacksmith. Dorus: ‘I reeled Cokky in with the sailboat, the Orka. I thought she was a beautiful and bubbly Dutch girl and I still do. Just a great match.’

Dorus already found his sea legs when he was still a child. ‘When I was four years old I remember being more next to the boat than in it. My parents had a caravan here in Loosdrecht and I was allowed to sail in a steel rowing boat with a Johnson 3 HP motor attached.’ Dorus drew the first-ever sketches of his Captain’s Launch 30 years ago, at the polished-wood kitchen table where we are sitting now. A classic spiegelsloop. As it turned out, there happened to be a gap in the market for such a thing. More and more people were looking for daytime recreation, and that sloop was an ideal day boat.

In 2019 Dorus decided to hand over the helm to Dries. ‘If I hadn’t stepped down, I’d remain the boss to everyone in the company. I wanted to give Dries the space to grow.’ Cokky: ‘Which was of course difficult. You are your business.’ Dorus: ‘Yes, but Dries is doing very well. When I look back at how it went I think he is doing better than me. The company has become more professional and structured. Dries is down to earth, smart, listens carefully to customers and really goes for it. He also is much more in tune with what the market wants. I was self-willed, I did what I liked.’ Cokky: ‘I think it’s great how you found your way in it.’ Dorus: ‘At a certain point as you get older, there is also a limit to your ambition. Dries now has me as his sounding board. I pull on the brake or I give him a push, but he has to do it.’