The name kraak is used for two types of inland vessels from the Low Countries: a wooden type from the 17th century and an iron 19th-century type. The two types have little relationship to each other.

The iron cracker of the 19th century has a “broken” nose: a buckled inward nose above the straight prow. It has a swept stern: from the side you can see at the rear a wide S-shaped curve in the underwater ship; a clipper butt. With its wooden namesake, the iron kraak actually has nothing in common: with the bow akin to the stem stern and the stern of a clipper, it looks more like a sailing box.

Little is known about the construction and early years of the Progress, documentation was lost during the 1953 flood disaster. In the early `80s, the ship was rescued from the Amsterdam canals, shortened from 29.64 m to its original length of 24.67 and rebuilt as a charter ship where she served as a vacation ship until 2010, sailing mainly from Muiden in the last years of that.

The vessel was purchased in 2010 by the current owners who converted it to a houseboat. It is still sailed in vacations and races for historic inland navigation such as the Bietentocht in Zeeland and the Strontrace around the IJsselmeer.