In this unusually large painting from the 1630s, van Eertvelt depicts a dramatic scene of Dutch yachts sailing in a stiff breeze off a northern European coast. The yachts are shown racing in a stiff breeze and, in the foreground, the crews on the decks attend to the sails in order to take advantage of the wind. In the composition the heavy, dark green, rolling waves of the foreground are seen from an elevated viewpoint. Single waves rise into curved, yet, triangular shapes. In the foreground, two men in an open craft attend to an upturned boat. On the far left, a man clings to the hull of a vessel upon which the artist’s initials have been inscribed. Beyond the foreground the perspective changes and, except for the nearest two yachts, all vessels are depicted at eye-level creating the impression of a maze of masts and sails before the horizon. The scene is intensely dramatic and vivid. Sunlight streaming in from the left, under the dark rain-clouds, accentuates the taut sails which in turn contribute to the overall sense of competitive vigour in the painting. This work is painted in a stylized theatrical Flemish manner. In the centre the yachts fly the Dutch flag and the two vessels, on the right, fly the flag of the United Provinces. The yacht, on the far, left flies the arms of Amsterdam. While the yacht to the right of it bears a coat of arms on the bow together with scenes painted in several medallions. As the title, which is a later addition, indicates the subject has in the past been identified as a race on the Zuider Zee. However, this would make this painting a very early and somewhat isolated example of such an event in the seventeenth century. Although, since the movements of the yachts do not appear to follow a specific course, there can be no certainty to this hypothesis. The colourful detail in the figures’ costumes such as the blue and red caps worn by the sailors, as well as the high horizon, betray Eertvelt's earlier mannerist style. However, the colour scheme of the sea and the sky has been unified and is concentrated around a palette of subtle browns and greys. A greater degree of tonality, here, marks out the new ‘naturalism’ which was adopted by Dutch artists such as Jan van Goyen in the 1630s (BHC0806). Even though a very long legacy of over painting has somewhat obscured van Eertvelt’s hand, the painting is, nonetheless, an interesting example of the change in his style after he returned from his residence in Italy of 1628–30.

Andries van Eertvelt was born in Antwerp in 1590, where he joined the Guild of St Luke as a master in 1609/10. He is generally seen as the first Flemish marine painter of the seventeenth century. However his work reflects the enduring influence of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. There is a discernible ‘Dutch’ influence in van Eertvelt’s work, which may have come from Hendrick Vroom, despite van Eertvelt not necessarily having been Vroom’s pupil. Eertvelt lived in Italy, 1628-30, staying with the painter Cornelis de Wael in Genoa. After his residence in Italy, van Eertvelt was painted by van Dyck in 1632. His high reputation is reflected in the celebration of his work in Cornelis de Bie’s 'Het Gulden Cabinet van de Edel Vry Schilderconst' (The Golden Cabinet of the Honourable Free Art of Painting). His pupils reputedly included Hendrick van Minderhout, Matthieu van Plattenberg, Sebastian Castro and Kasper van Eyck.