TrustLube Battle of Willemstad

That same precision lies at the heart of TrustLube. We design, build and install automatic lubrication systems that apply exactly the right amount of lubricant, in exactly the right place. Not a drop too much, not a drop too little — just like a rowing crew applying exactly the right amount of force at the right moment to move in the same direction, together.

Long before TrustLube existed, Willemstad itself was built on exactly that kind of precision. What began around 1565 as a small reclaimed polder village called Ruigenhil was granted to Willem van Oranje in 1582, in recognition of his fight against Spain. A year later he had the village fortified, and in 1585 his son, Prince Maurits, granted it city rights — and "Willems stad" was born. Maurits later commissioned his fortification master, Adriaen Anthonisz, to rebuild the town into a seven-pointed star, its bastions named after the seven provinces that had united against Spain. It's a shape still visible in Willemstad's streets today.

For centuries, the town's survival depended on the same relationship with water that now defines its rowing culture — knowing exactly when to hold it back, and when to let it in. Willemstad withstood a French siege in 1793, later formed the heart of the "Stelling van het Hollands Diep en het Volkerak" defence line, and in the Second World War became a fortress once more: occupied by German forces in May 1940, and finally liberated on 6 and 7 November 1944 by British and Allied troops advancing along the very dikes and waterways that still frame the town today. It's a history the local Heemkundekring De Willemstad keeps carefully documented — and it gives an extra layer of meaning to a town that now marks its water not with sieges, but with a rowing race.

TrustLube's own story is rooted in that same ground, quite literally. The company got its start on the Rozemarijnstraat, in one of Willemstad's characterful 17th-century soldier's houses — modest stone homes originally built in 1622, on Prince Maurits' orders, to garrison the troops who defended the town. TrustLube has since moved to a different location in Willemstad, but where soldiers were once housed, precision engineering first took root: a small but fitting continuity in a town where nothing has ever really been separate from its water or its walls.

Rowing found its way back into that story more recently. In December 2016, the local initiative Hart voor Willemstad brought the "Kuikensloep" — a traditional rowing boat — to town, and a small notice in the local paper "De Ster" filled several rowing clinics almost instantly. By May 2017, sloeproeien had become an official activity of Watersportvereniging Willemstad, and the rowers who took it up call themselves the Willems Vaarders — now a lively crew of more than 50 people who take to the water in every season, dark winter evenings included.

That's why we're a proud partner of the Battle of Willemstad, part of the Water Weekend Willemstad. We're passionate about moving without friction, without emissions, powered purely by human strength — and we recognize that same passion in rowing. Sustainable, accessible to young and old, and above all a sport you can only do well together.

"Whether it's a factory installation or a boat full of 'Willemsvaarders' — with TrustLube, everything runs smoothly."

With our grease tins, we make sure that not only the systems at our clients', but also the rowers, are supplied with TrustLube grease. Whether it's a factory installation or a boat full of 'Willemsvaarders' — with TrustLube, everything runs smoothly.

Moving in the same direction, together. That's the Battle of Willemstad. That's TrustLube.