jeanette
Member
Anyone know how well these small boats sail? Asking for a friend
Stroma Yawl
- Thread starter jeanette
- Start date
srm
Well-known member
I would expect very similar to the Orkney Yole and Shetland Maids (both of which I have sailed). Clinker built double enders, the keel is a vertical board between the stems. They were heavy sailing / rowing work /supply boats so do not expect modern windward performance. Best to keep the boat as near upright as possible on the wind to give the keel a chance to grip. As the boats were hand built, probably by eye, each had different characteristics. It will also depend on the rig as current boats have a number of variations.
The Orkney Yole Association are the people to ask:
Orkney Yole Association | Home
Is it the "Bee" by any chance, or one of Ian Richardson's more recent builds?
The Orkney Yole Association are the people to ask:
Orkney Yole Association | Home
Is it the "Bee" by any chance, or one of Ian Richardson's more recent builds?
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jeanette
Member
Not the Bee. Super website for the Orkney boats - thankyou.
A friend (colleague) has found a recent professional build in need of a new home and is tempted. Personally I don't think it is suitable as a family day sailer
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srm
Well-known member
They are not difficult to sail.
I have taken school pupils, and people with special needs, sailing for a couple of hours at a time on restored and recent built Orkney Yoles. Given their origins they are heavy stable boats. The ones I sailed were sloop rigged with big mainsails. I would happily let the youngsters steer and handle the jib sheets but kept control of the main, especially in the flukey winds in Stromness Harbour. Of course, they are still open boats so need to be sailed considerately, but I see no problem with family day sailing. A lot easier than some of the tasks they undertook as working boats taking livestock between the islands.
The Yole Association's own boat has a ratchet block on the main sheet, artfully disguised with wood cheeks, that makes handling the main sheet a lot easier.
srm
Well-known member
Another thought:
If the boat is a faithful replica of a genuine Stroma Yole (as oposed to just using the name for a generic clinker double ender) she will be a good sea boat. Just in case you are not familiar with the area the island of Stroma is in the Pentland Firth surrounded by very serious tidal waters and overfalls with charted streams of up to 12 knots on springs. Of course the locals knew these waters well and how to make best use of the tides, knowledge passed down through the generations, until the island was abandoned after the new harbour was built. Even so their boats had to be seaworthy.
If the boat is a faithful replica of a genuine Stroma Yole (as oposed to just using the name for a generic clinker double ender) she will be a good sea boat. Just in case you are not familiar with the area the island of Stroma is in the Pentland Firth surrounded by very serious tidal waters and overfalls with charted streams of up to 12 knots on springs. Of course the locals knew these waters well and how to make best use of the tides, knowledge passed down through the generations, until the island was abandoned after the new harbour was built. Even so their boats had to be seaworthy.
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jeanette
Member
Thank you for the thought. I think the one he is looking at is a faithful replica. I've passed on your link to the website. The decision now rests with him. Regards
jeanette
Member
PPS: I have also passed on the fact that it is a Yole - and not a yawl. We both learned something this week
roberto costa rica
New member
hi Jeanette ... can you send me the friend adress because i´m looking for a stroma yole bee replica. Tks a lot fron Costa Rica.
Romeo
Well-known member
the storma yoals generally seem to have a fuller stern, beamer over all and carrying their beam further aft, than a shetland boat. There is one hiding in a tent at Eyemouth Marine at the moment.
srm
Well-known member
As do the Orkney yoles. If you are familiar with the northern isles you have probably heard the saying: "A Shetlander is a fisherman with a croft, an Orcadian is a farmer with a boat".
The Orkney boats were the equivalent of a modern farmer's pick up truck used to carry animals and fodder between the small islands that made up his grazing lands and perhaps a bit of fishing. Shetland boats were primarily used for fishing, often well out from the land , and carried livestock and fodder as a secondary occupation around the summer grazing islands.
