I like the forward-raked wheelhouse windows on this Flevolution 1500 RE. They give her that traditional trawler look, especially with the high bow and long blue hull beneath them. She is one of those boats where I see a picture and immediately want to write about her, because I know many of my subscribers will appreciate her lines and naval architecture.
She’s a 16-metre motor yacht currently offered by Blu Yachting at €299,000, with EU VAT paid and brokerage commission extra (direct link to listing below). The broker places her in Aprilia Marittima, Italy, and records a 1998 build with first launch in 2000. With three cabins, twin Perkins Sabre diesels and enough domestic equipment for a longer stay, there’s quite a lot of boat to get comfortable in.
A word on commission
Blu clearly lists its commission separately. That can look unusual beside US or UK listings, where the seller generally pays the broker from the sale proceeds. In the US, around 10% is common, often shared between the listing and buyer’s brokers, with the rate agreed individually. EU arrangements vary: published Dutch seller fees include 5% and 6% plus VAT, while some Italian brokers charge both buyer and seller. Here, the extra buyer’s fee needs to be added to the purchase budget (Blu makes that distinction clear from the outset).
Her lines and the weight above them
From the side, the white bulwarks draw your eye along the hull and up towards the bow. The glazed wheelhouse stands quite tall for a boat with this LOA, but the long foredeck gives the profile some breathing room and a more balanced profile. Above it sits the flybridge under a blue bimini, while the cabin roof extends over the aft deck.
With a wheelhouse this tall, the weight above it deserves some thought. If the bimini and its supports are lighter than a rigid hardtop and its supports, that saves weight high up and, all else being equal, keeps the centre of gravity lower. It also helps offset some of the windage issues that can crop up with a conventional hardtop.
There’s plenty of substance beneath that profile, too: Blu Yachting lists a 4.70-metre beam, 1.50-metre draught and 40-tonne weight, with construction described as steel/aluminium.
The yard behind the name
Flevo Jachtbouw, also presented as Flevoship Holland, is a family yard in Nijkerk in the Netherlands. Its company profile traces its origins to 1985, and today the yard describes its business as custom sailing and motor yachts up to 35 metres, with dimensions and materials tailored to the customer.
Its portfolio stretches from Martin Bekebrede-designed Noordkaper and Zuidkaper sailing yachts to the Flevo 49 OC and PB1940 motorcutter M/Y Marlin. The build history records a 48ft Noordkaper delivered in 2020, the MV10 tender project in 2021 and, moving into support-vessel work for Lynx Yachts, a Crossover 27 launched in 2022. It’s a varied background for the yard behind this rather traditional-looking trawler.
For readers interested in the variety of Dutch boatbuilding, my article on the No Limit 13.20 explores another yard with its own approach.
Taking your time aboard
The twin Perkins Sabre diesels are listed at 136 PS, or metric horsepower, each, with Blu Yachting quoting 7.2 knots cruising and 8.5 knots maximum. There’s only a modest amount of extra speed available, so she makes more sense for someone happy to settle into a seven-knot cruising day than someone hoping to make up lost time with the throttles.
That unhurried pace goes with accommodation offering six berths and two heads, plus three fridges, a washing machine and a dryer. The listed capacities are 1,000 litres of fresh water and 2,300 litres of diesel, while an 8kW generator, bow thruster, Vetus fin stabilisers, heating and air conditioning round out the main equipment list.
The seller reports replacing the lithium service batteries in 2023/24, installing new starter batteries in 2025 and renewing navigation equipment across 2020–2022. Antifouling and zinc anodes were renewed in August 2025, according to the same description.
For a couple or family considering longer periods aboard, the appeal is the combination of space and domestic equipment. Looking after it all, and finding a berth and yard that suit a boat of this size, are where the ownership budget starts to take shape.
This article continues below, in “The Wardroom”. Thanks to my paying subscribers, I can feature boats in this newsletter and on my YouTube channel. So, if you do become a paying subscriber, then ‘thank you’ and if you are already a paying subscriber then I appreciate your support. Premium subscribers start at less than the cost of a decent sandwich and coffee in your local marina.
In the premium section, I cover:
- Purchase-commission examples and a Dutch home-port budget covering berthing, winter storage, servicing and a repair reserve.
- The machinery and electrical details that matter during longer stays aboard.
- Liveaboard planning, including the tender and outboard excluded from the sale.
- What another €41,000 buys in a Selene 47 offered by the same broker.
Buying her: the commission in euros
Using the €299,000 asking price, here are three illustrative buyer fees, assuming 22% Italian VAT applies to the commission:
