ORKNEY YOLE. This is a success story. One which we hope THE NEAR-DEMISE OF THE

THE NEAR-DEMISE OF THE ORKNEY YOLE How a vanishing workboat from at the Southampton Charles Warlow and Rod Daniel T his is a success story. One wh...
Author: Anne Richard
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THE NEAR-DEMISE OF THE

ORKNEY YOLE

How a vanishing workboat from at the Southampton Charles Warlow and Rod Daniel

T

his is a success story. One which we hope might be repeated all round the coastline of the British Isles. A story of the relatively recent realisation that not only were we losing many traditional boats to terminal decay and the vagaries of history but that we were also losing the traditional wooden boat building skills which are surely worth preserving in their own right.

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northern waters re-appeared Boat Show. describe a remarkable renaissance.

The Orkney Yole... ... is a traditional sailing boat whose design is unique to the Orkney Islands, north of Scotland. Their origin is lost in the mists of time but some features can be traced back to the Norse era – for example, the mid-section shape and the keel-joint construction. We know that 200 years ago the young John Rae learned to sail in one and that he had similar boats built in Canada for his early Arctic explorations for the Hudson’s Bay Company.

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And that Orkney exported Yoles to the Western Isles of Scotland in the century before that. For crofter-fishermen in the islands, the Orkney Yole became the workhorse of the sea, built for seaworthiness and cargo carrying capacity. Indeed, by the 18th century most families in Stromness were said to own at least one Yole for fishing, local transport and carrying goods. If there was no room on the many nousts – slipways where we still pull up our boats – Yoles were moored in the harbour and reached from the shore using a Flattie, a rowing boat reputedly inspired by the narrow, flat-bottomed dories used for hand-line fishing on the Grand Banks. Basically the Yole is an open shallow-draft boat of generous beam and pronounced sheer-line, about 18' long with 7' beam (5.5 x 2.1m). She is sharp at both ends and clinker-built with 10 or 11 strakes per side. She may or may not have side decks. The South Orkney Isles Yole has a pronounced rake to the endposts both fore and aft, while the North Isles model has noticeably less rake forward. The main constructional difference is in the fitting of the timmers – ribs. The South Isles boat has a long timmer reaching right across the boat from gunwale to gunwale alternating with a timmer from each gunwale down to near the keel, where it ties in. The North Isles boat timmers that cross the floor reach only a little more than halfway up the sides and the adjacent one reaches from the gunwale to just over halfway down, so that alternate timmers overlap by one or two strakes. Yoles built in the 20th century usually have steam-bent timmers but the older boats had fitted timmers, sawn to fit the clinker planks from ‘grown’ – naturally curved – pieces of timber. The names for the boat parts go back to the Old Norse language: bilge-kod – bilgekeel; helwel – holywale, the rubbing strake on the outside of the gunwale; hunnyspot – breasthook, the triangular knee that joins the two inwales at the stem-head; thaft – thwart; and tholepin – the pin style of rowlock. One Yole was never exactly like another, because they were built 'by eye'. Despite their distinctive shape there were subtle differences between different builders, as well as the North and South Isles difference. The sailing rig was probably the most distinctive giveaway: North Isles men preferred the lugsail whilst South Isles men used spritsails. Smaller boats carried two sails on a single mast, while larger craft were twomasted carrying three sails. Both configurations were simple, with minimal rigging. 40

Above: Stages in the build... Ian Richardson begins building his traditional clinker boats by setting up the long straight keel with its endposts on a longitudinal 'horse' which ensures a comfortable working height for planking and fastening. Building 'by eye' with no elaborate lofting of the lines required, he sets up the allimportant midship mould, a further mould in the forward section and another aft; all three suspended from the rafters. These three moulds determine the final hull shape; Ian's 'boatbuilder's eye' determines the shape of each individual plank. Facing page: A hull shape which harks back to the Vikings.

Decline Sadly, by the 1940s the sailing Yole had virtually disappeared; by then most working boats had converted to motor. Only the older generation could remember how to build and sail them. Although they were still in common use as motor boats until the 1960s, by the end of the century they were on the verge of extinction. The exception was at Longhope on Hoy where a small nucleus of sailing Yoles remained, mostly having been built on the neighbouring island of Flotta around 1910. Willie Tulloch’s gunter-rigged Emma, built in 1912 was one of these and perhaps the last sailing Yole in regular active service into the 1990s, albeit as a pleasure boat. www.watercraft-magazine.com

Restoration Fortunately, there was a stirring of concern and interest in Orkney, particularly in Longhope and Stromness and the first restoration was of Dennis Davidson’s small spritsail Yole in 1994. In 2000 the restored 90 year old Family Pride took to the water again in Longhope where there are now three seaworthy Yoles and another, Pansy, under repair. The oldest shipshape Yole retaining over 60% of her original timbers from 1883 is Ken Sutherland's Sumato. Built in Herston, South Ronaldsay and restored in Longhope in 2006 by John A Mowat of Brims, at 19' (5.8m) she is the largest Yole in the fleet. Emma, which had been sold by Willie Tulloch to Ian MacFadyen in Longhope, was also fully restored by John A Mowat in 2000, including returning her to the original two spritsail and jib rig. The most recent restoration – more accurately rebuild – has been of the Azalea. In 2009, while driving south through Helmsdale in Caithness, Rod and Sue Daniel, noticed by chance the rotting hulk of a 1923 Longhope Yole without its garboards. Pinning a note of interest to the hull they expected to hear no more but in 2010 a phone call out of the blue led to its sale. After re-keeling and planking, timmering, decking, and thafting at the International Boatbuilding Training College (IBTC) in Lowestoft over 2011-13 – and with a 15hp diesel www.watercraft-magazine.com

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fitted at IBTC Commercial 2013-14 – she was trailed back to Orkney for finishes, spars and rigging at the Stromness workshop of Ian Richardson, the last remaining professional wooden boatbuilder in Orkney. She was launched in May 2015, in time to compete in some of the local regattas and then to return to Longhope in September some 92 years after the original build. Now re-named Waterwitch she is capable of dual rigging; for 2015 with a tall high-peaked gaff and in 2016 as a two-masted sprit 'three sail', she is challenging the local traditionalists. For the first time in many a year, 'three sails' find themselves with a racing 'class'.

New builds Meanwhile new Yoles were and are being built. Len Wilson and Maurice Davidson launched Gremsa in 1999 and since then the Halle, Helga, Frances, Lily and Solwen have emerged from Ian Richardson's shop. In 2008 Andrew and Richard Wilson of Kirkwall launched their new North Isles Yole Lizzie II, a replica of the Sanday Yole Lizzie built in the 1870s by Thomas Omand Snr. Three elliptic stern derivatives have also been built; Eve was taken to the south coast, Wonne to the Netherlands and Lady Hamilton to France – though the debate continues whether they qualify to be called Yoles at all! Asked about his approach to building the series or class of current Yoles, Ian Richardson explains: “the design of the Yoles I build is based on the 1912 Emma which still sails well. The timbers I use are opepe and larch: opepe for the keel, stem and sternpost, deadwoods and aprons; larch for just about everything else, including the steam bent timmers which even after about 30 years are still found to be in good order. The larch is Scots grown which has a close grain because of its slow growth rate. Fastenings for planking are copper boat nails and Gripfast ring-barbed bronze nails. I like to use hot-dipped galvanised bolts but they are not easily obtained nowadays." 42

"When starting a build I rough out the stem and stern post rabbets on the bench, then set up on the building jig. I fit the garboards and No 2 planks next, taking care to give the ends of the garboards plenty of lift. The lift is found by eye and experience. Then I fit the three station moulds and the plank widths are measured out on them. When four planks are fitted, it’s easier to fit the floors, rather than climbing in and out when the planking is finished. I keep the run of the planks constantly under review, my eye being the main way of checking the lines. When the sheer line is to my satisfaction, I can begin fitting out.” Ian Richardson’s 9th Yole, shown unfinished on the Wooden Boatbuilders Trade Association stand at the Southampton Boat Show in 2015 has now been fitted with a 10hp inboard diesel engine. She will be heading back to Southampton show in 2016 with the tried and tested high peak gaff rig favoured by the more competitive skippers.

The present day In 2000, a group of enthusiasts formed the Orkney Yole Association (OYA), with the aim of reviving and sailing these craft and promoting their use for recreation and education. The Association works in partnership with the Orkney Education Authority to provide annual Yole experience events for pupils at Stromness Primary School and other Orkney schools from further afield, principally Westray. In 2014 the Orkney Historic Boat Society (OHBS) was formed and has been researching the boating heritage of Orkney as well as recovering and preserving boats in need of rescue before they disappear forever. For example, very recently, they persuaded the Orkney Islands Council Museum www.watercraft-magazine.com

Service to have the 1932 elliptical stern racing Yole, built for Eric Linklater, the Orcadian writer, relocated to Ian Richardson’s boatyard for refurbishment with the assistance of their volunteers. The Skua was deemed sufficiently important to justify partial re-planking, replacing deadwoods and laying a new deck. When the skilled shipwrighting phase is complete, she will return to Lyness on Hoy where she will grace the World War 2 'Romney Hut' with her elegant presence alongside a fascinating collection of Orkney boats well worth visiting. The OHBS plans to establish a boat museum on mainland Orkney to complement the Lyness display which forms part of the Scapa Flow Visitor Centre and Museum. Ian Richardson is consultant to the acquisitions sub-committee which will prioritise future boats of interest for recovery and refurbishment. So looking ahead, his Stromness workshop looks set to have a waiting list for space. The OHBS is also exploring with Historic Environment Scotland a‎Craft Training Fellowship in shipwrighting and boatbuilding, in addition to a site for a refurbishment workshop within the new Museum. Having come through the doldrums of the 1970s to 2000 period, the lifeline efforts of Yole enthusiasts have paid off. The boats are back and here to stay. There is now an established fleet of seven South Isles Yole pattern boats sailing from Stromness, three from Longhope and one from Kirkwall. There are regular Yole sailing activities in and around Scapa Flow and members try to attend as many regattas as possible. The OYA in collaboration with Stromness Sailing Club organise Thursday evening racing in Stromness Harbour from May to September. The OYA have also bought and refurbished the Flaws sail-house, pier and slipway in Stromness, a quiet retreat for a cup of tea or something stronger after a Yoling session!

Acknowledgements

Contacts

With thanks to members of the Orkney Yole Association and Orkney Historic Boat Society who provided photographs and commented on the manuscript and to Ian Richardson for providing the technical details.

Ian Richardson: www.ianbrichardson.co.uk OYS: www.orkneycommunities.co.uk/yoleassociation/ OHBS: www.ohbs.org/

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