About us
Ottenhome Heeg
We love water sports, and we enjoy sharing this passion. We operate from the water sports village of Heeg in Friesland where we rent and sell a beautiful fleet of motor boats and sailing boats, and organise events centred around water sports. We have been doing this with a great amount of pleasure non-stop since 1984; pleasure which we share with our returning customers.
How it all started
It all started back in 1984 when the Ottenhome watersport company was launched as an independent concern. It rented wooden Bergumermeers, Dutch 16 m2 yachts. In the 1980s, Bergumermeers were common boats, and if you rented a yacht in Friesland at the time, chances were that it was one of Ottenhome’s Burgumermeers.Before that time, the company in Heeg was a branch of the famous Ottenhome in Loosdrecht, which had been renting sailing boats in Friesland for sailing camps, sailing schools and other organisations since the 1950s.
Acquisition by Kees Alberts
In April 1984, Kees Alberts, founder and owner of Ottenhome Heeg, had an opportunity to take over the branch and carry on independently.He continued to use the name Ottenhome because it had been a well-known and established name in the watersport and sailing world for years, and added Heeg at the end.The Bergumermeers were also retained. Thousands of children, along with many student groups and associations, became acquainted with sailing, and lots of holidaymakers experienced wonderful sailing holidays on the Frisian Lakes.
Strong growth in watersports
From 1985, the watersports sector started growing strongly, and Ottenhome Heeg switched focus to building and renting various types of boats. The Polyvalk, successor to the wooden Bergumermeer, is probably the best known. Almost 4,000 Polyvalk yachts have been built since they were introduced, many by Ottenhome Heeg.
Company opens its own marina in the 1990s
Ottenhome Heeg expanded in the 1990s, building its own marina, workshops, and a large site with boathouses for storing boats. Watersportcentrum Ottenhome Heeg now covers an area of around 6.5 hectares in a beautiful location near the Heegermeer and Heeg, the most beautiful watersports village in the Frisian Lakes region.
Keeping pace with the changing preferences of watersport enthusiasts
In addition to open sailing boats, Ottenhome Heeg has been building and renting sailing yachts, motor yachts and sloops to meet the changing preferences of watersport enthusiasts and renters since 2000. The Fox 22, a sailing yacht built by Ottenhome Heeg itself, and the distinctive RiverCruise motor sailing yachts, have both become a particularly familiar sight on the Frisian lakes.
2009: Ottenhome Heeg Events BV.
Ottenhome Heeg had already been organising business sailing trips, watersports outings and sailing events for many years. These activities became so popular that a separate company was established in 2009, with offices in the Zeilcafé, the nautical cafe. Ottenhome Heeg Events BV.
Big and small events
This subsidiary is dedicated to organising large and small events, where some sort of link to watersports is logical, but not absolutely necessary. Ottenhome Heeg also organises cycling and walking events, conferences, workshops, and staff meetings.Distinctive events include introduction days for high schools and universities. These can involve groups of up to 1,300 people who stay the night and take part in sports, sailing and outdoor activities. These types of major events, including accommodation and catering, are organised in-house by Ottenhome Heeg.
2014: New type of sailing yacht: One Day 24
By 2014, Ottenhome Heeg’s rental fleet consisted of more than 300 rental sailing yachts in all sizes: open sailing boats, small and large sailing yachts, sloops, luxury tenders, and stylish motor yachts. Ottenhome Heeg also rents out stand up paddle boards, Optimist dinghies, and even Blo-karts and rafts.
One Day presented during HISWA
Ottenhome Heeg has been building and selling a completely new type of open sailing yacht since 2014. This boat meets the highest standards in terms of comfort, ergonomics, safety, ease of use and excellent sailing performance: the One Day 24. This new sailing yacht was presented in March 2014, during the HISWA Boat Show.
