Linssen Grand Sturdy 500 AC Variotop

The 500 AC Variotop sits at the top of the Linssen range, above the Grand Sturdy .1 boats and below the 550. Fifteen and a half metres, twenty-five tonnes of steel, two 110-horsepower Yanmars: the power is there to hold eight knots against a river current, not to go fast. The whole argument of the boat is its roof. The Variotop is a folding hard top over the aft deck that turns an enclosed saloon into an open cockpit — and, opened, drops air draft from 4.15 to 3.44 metres, which on a canal is the difference between clearing a bridge and turning back. Three cabins, two shower compartments and 1,500 litres of diesel point at one programme: long-distance inland cruising, Amsterdam to the Mediterranean by canal, months at a time. The price rules out the casual buyer, and the used market stays thin — few hulls built, and owners rarely in a hurry to sell.