Identified! Holland - Male, size 48 jeans, sailing yacht(‘1 HB)Den Helder, 16 Jul 1995 - Hans (Surname withheld)

[dotr]

Den Helder, Razende Bol | politie.nl
On 16th July 1995, the mortal remains of a man were found on the “Razende Bol”, a sandbank near Den Helder ( Northern coast of the Netherlands). Some days later, the remains of a sailing yacht were found.



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Description
The man wore:

• a blue sweater, brand ‘Stinson’, characteristics: on the sleeves of the upper arms a white stripe and on the neck label the figure of a swan and the text ‘mode for men’, under which he wore a white, long-sleeved shirt, brand ‘Churchill Made in Great Britain’.
• Blue jeans size 48, on the label the text ‘100% Bomull, size 48’.
• White shorts, brand Luigi
• Blue linen shoes, size 41/42 ( 7½ / 8), brand Gitano. The shoes have a green stripe and white soles. The upper side of the rights shoe shows a T-squared repair. ( see photo)

Possible he has a tattoo on the upper-side of his left hand. The body was found with a watch, brand Seiko type Alarm- chronograph ( see photo). The watch has the number 553978 inscripted on the back. A notable feature is a string attached to the watch to prevent loss. Research showed that the watch was produced for and sold in Sweden. Furthermore a small key, brand ‘Rock’ was found in the right back pocket of the trousers.

The following clothing was found near the wreckage of the sailing yacht.

• Coloured jacket (see photo)
• Red pair of trousers, brand Converse (see photo)

This sailing yacht was approximately 7,00 metres ( 23 ft) in lenght and 1,60 metres (5,2 ft) in width. Various items were found near the sailing yacht, among which a white mainsail with the letter and number combination: ‘1 HB’ (see photo). The bonnet of a motor brand YAMAHA, was also found, the yacht might have had an outboard engine of this brand.

Images

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[MelmothTheLost]

Bomull is cotton in Norwegian and Swedish, which ties up with the watch being made for sale in Sweden.

ETA that the only men's clothing brand in the UK with the name Churchill appears to be E J Churchill who are a supplier of country (that's not yee-haw country) clothing for huntin', shootin' n' fishin.

Shooting & Hunting Clothing for Men & Women UK - Shop Online

 

[dotr]

Better pics at link..
2016 rbbm.
Dutch police probe Kent link to dead sailor
"The body of a sailor found washed up on the Dutch coast in 1995 could be from Herne Bay, investigators believe.

Cold case detectives from Holland have contacted members at Herne Bay sailing club as they continue in their attempts to identify the man.

They think the sailor could be from the town as a sail washed up in the same place was branded with the letters HB."

The wooden boat found at the scene
"The sail was found in June 1995, off an island in northern Holland – almost a month before the sailor’s body was washed up near the same spot."
"Mr Welzenbagh added: “We have a DNA profile of the body. Most clues do give a direction to Sweden and the United Kingdom.

“In 1995/96 an investigation in Sweden and the Netherlands didn’t solve the case."
"The boat found at the scene on June 24, 1995, was made of pinewood.

Mr Welzenbagh said the aluminium mast had a Swedish sticker on it and did not originally belong to the boat.

The sail originally came from a polyester boat called Compis 28."
“We have visited several sail makers in the Netherlands, but none of them recognise this sail or sign."
"THE SAILOR

Mr Welzenbagh thinks the man found almost a month after the boat on July 16, 1995, was aged between 20 and 55.

He had dark, fair hair and was around 5ft 9ins tall.

He was spotted on the Razende bol island – also called Noorderhaaks – by a pilot flying his plane."
"An investigation found the watch was made in Japan in May 1985, for the Swedish market and was sold in Stockholm."

 

[dotr]

Unsure if it is a different kind of pant sizing or not, but would size 48 men's jeans most likely be worn by a very heavy man?

 

[Laughing]

Unsure if it is a different kind of pant sizing or not, but would size 48 men's jeans most likely be worn by a very heavy man?

Wonderin' that myself -- that's my height, and my shoe size. BTW I do NOT have a 48 inch waist!

I expect this is not US sizing?

 

[dotr]

Wonderin' that myself -- that's my height, and my shoe size. BTW I do NOT have a 48 inch waist!

I expect this is not US sizing?

This makes more sense ( to me anyway) the uid 's jeans are probably a slim size 32 waist.
Men's clothing sizes - International conversion charts and size charts
Pants
Use this table to convert between American and European sizes for men’s pants/trousers.


US 30 32 34 36 38 40 42
European 46 48 50 52 54 56 58

 

[Al Ka]

From the same link:

The HB letters and number one stitched on the sail were made by hand or with a home stitching machine.

Mr Welzenbagh said: “This sail was most likely used with the wooden yacht, so it must be used as a second-hand sail.
---
According to the pictures, a lot of things were improvised or repaired: the mast, a shoe repaired with wire and needle, some spare parts mounted with three different screws, the welding work on the steering, the wire at the watch and the way the HB letters were made on the sail.”

EXTRA CLUES

The following things were found on or around the boat:

• boat heater
• sheet winch
• roof window
• lamp on frontdeck
• pump
• buffer
• fire extinguisher
• red, blue and green jacket
• a padlock with the name ‘Alfa Marine’.

Dutch police probe Kent link to dead sailor

Adding google map of Herne Bay, UK (where the sign of the boat is from) and where he washed up in Den Helder, Holland.
Google Maps

Was he heading towards Sweden? And who in their right mind would go to sail in sea in such wooden boat?

 

[katydid23]

This is probably a bad translation:


He had dark, fair hair and was around 5ft 9ins tall.



Dark, fair hair? I thought 'fair' hair meant light colored hair...so what is 'dark, fair' hair ?

 

[dotr]

This is probably a bad translation:


He had dark, fair hair and was around 5ft 9ins tall.



Dark, fair hair? I thought 'fair' hair meant light colored hair...so what is 'dark, fair' hair ?

Guessing that they meant " dirty" blond hair.imo.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

And who in their right mind would go to sail in sea in such wooden boat?

Fishermen from the North East of England went fishing in both the North Sea and the Atlantic in boats not unlike this. They're called cobles and were based on the Viking longship so were actually capable of sailing across the Atlantic.

The coble has a flat stern, but there was a variant where the bow and stern were both pointed and these were the traditional ship's lifeboats on UK vessels between the early 20th century and the 1950s when the clinker-built wooden boats were replaced by fibreglass ones. There is a verified account of a ship's lifeboat from a ship torpedoed off Liberia during WWI which arrived safely in the Falkland Islands several months later with her crew all safe on board.

 

[dotr]

Bumping.
Dutch police probe Kent link to dead sailor

The mast found at the scene
“The main idea is that this unidentified person must have a connection with Sweden. It could be a citizen of Sweden who is missed, or a citizen of Sweden that is missed from another place somewhere in Europe.

The man was wearing a Seiko watch
“From a professional view of the investigation, and not to use tunnel vision, I cannot exclude any other country, so the man could also come from the United Kingdom or any other country in Europe.

“Most of the people washed up on the coast of Holland are from the UK or the northern part of France or Belgium.”

 

[LeenC]

What do you all make of that “tattoo”? It looks more like a bruise than a tattoo in my opinion.

 

[dotr]

What do you all make of that “tattoo”? It looks more like a bruise than a tattoo in my opinion.

Painful spot, imo, upper side of left hand. Are those rings/stripes on his fingers?
Den Helder, Razende Bol | politie.nl

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[annemc2]

It's weird - I went through the articles and never saw a mention of that waffle-looking bruise tattoo inky thing. There is that picture but it's never mentioned or described. Maybe I missed it?

 

[dotr]

It's weird - I went through the articles and never saw a mention of that waffle-looking bruise tattoo inky thing. There is that picture but it's never mentioned or described. Maybe I missed it?

This is all that seems to have been stated about the tattoo, wonder if the watch and/or string might have discoloured that left side area? imo.

Den Helder, Razende Bol | politie.nl
"Possible he has a tattoo on the upper-side of his left hand. The body was found with a watch, brand Seiko type Alarm- chronograph ( see photo). The watch has the number 553978 inscripted on the back. A notable feature is a string attached to the watch to prevent loss"

 

[Bit of hope]

Painful spot, imo, upper side of left hand. Are those rings/stripes on his fingers?
Den Helder, Razende Bol | politie.nl

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Indeed a very strange "thing". I don't think it's a bruise, imo it's far to blue...and it would be almost impossible to produce this white kind of blocks on a bruise. But what is it?

 

[Bit of hope]

Al 22 jaar onduidelijkheid: van wie is het aangespoelde lichaam op de Razende Bol?

22 years of uncertainty: who is the washed up body on the Razende Bol?

DEN HELDER - It is June 1995 when the body of an unknown man is found on the Razende Bol sandbar. Still no one has any idea who he could be, a mystery that beach traveler Hans Eelman has occupied all these years. Three weeks before the body washed ashore, Eelman found the wreck of the sailboat on the sandbank. He was one of the first to arrive at the boat's remains, but the "beach hunters" had just been ahead of him.

The flag of the ship was missing, and the outboard motor was no longer there. It could well be that the "beach hunters" also took other, more personal items.

Lost items
Hans Eelman is not the only one who is looking for the identity of the dead sailor. The maritime police still do not like it and in 2016 called on everyone who might know something more. Maybe the missing items from the boat could be a clue to who the sailor was. It could be that the dead sailor came from Sweden, because his watch was Swedish made. Detective work by the police and attention in the Swedish 'Opsporing Verzocht' did not yield anything. Meanwhile, for 22 years it's unknown who the washed up body is.

Clarity
Also the call for attention in 2016 did not bring any relief. The unknown sailor will stay in his anonymous grave in Den Helder for the time being. Nevertheless, beachman Eelman is confident that it will be clear who the man was.

"If you keep looking, you have to find something and then his family can pick him up and give him a place.

 

[Bit of hope]

It looks such a small boat. You can see that very good in this picture. It's placed with this older article behind a paywall. Laatste hoop in zaak verdronken schipper

Still not identified.

 

[ZaZara]

This is probably a bad translation:


He had dark, fair hair and was around 5ft 9ins tall.



Dark, fair hair? I thought 'fair' hair meant light colored hair...so what is 'dark, fair' hair ?

Dark hair without curls. Straight.

Another option would be the darker shade of fair hair, but IMHO a Dutch person would call this light or middle brown if they were using two words. 'Donkerblond' (dark or darker blonde) is one word in Dutch. A comma between 'donker' and 'blond' is never used when indicating 'donkerblond'.


I took a look at 'fair hair' and its Dutch counterpart, and the list of options & possibilities is long. Hence the confusion.

Haven't found a Dutch source with the description of the hair.

 

[ZaZara]

It looks such a small boat. You can see that very good in this picture. It's placed with this older article behind a paywall. Laatste hoop in zaak verdronken schipper

Still not identified.

I have a subsription. Will give it a try later today, there are some interesting details.... CLIFFHANGER!