A pen and ink drawing by George Holmes

Canoe Yawls?

     Canoe yawls are neither strictly canoes nor yawls, but the name - as it so often does - gives an indication of the origin of these craft.  They were developed in the 1880’s from the sailing and paddling canoe of the late 1860’s, a sport which began, it is generally agreed, with the publication of Captain John MacGregor’s book ‘A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe’ which gave an account of his exploits in what resembled a decked, sheer-less, Canadian canoe driven by a double-bladed paddle and - when the wind served - by a small sail, steering being done by the paddle held over the side.  The Canoe Club was founded in 1866, followed by branches in various parts of the country, including one in Hull in 1872, and became the Royal Canoe Club in 1873.  Many of the canoes were developed more for sailing than paddling, but were still narrow enough to be effectively paddled, and were both raced and cruised.  The rigs were split usually into at least two masts with the smaller sail set behind the main; as the mizzen was in front of the stern post, the canoes were technically ketches rather than yawls, but perhaps because the boats were too small to be called ketches or because one old meaning of yawl or ‘yol’ was a small boat, the larger, beamier canoes tended to be called yawls.  This latter interpretation is given weight by the  fact that the rigs were invariably referred to as ‘main-and-mizzen’ rather than yawl, and the term yawl or yawl rigged does not seem to have been applied to the  narrower sailing/paddling canoes.

     On the Humber, however, the enthusiasm for canoe sailing waned by the end of the decade, the demise at least partly, no doubt, due to the boisterous conditions often to be met in the estuary.  Four members of the original Canoe Club became the founding members of the Humber Yawl Club in 1883, and their interest was in more substantial craft derived from the original sailing canoes.  George Holmes, one of the founding members, designed ‘Cassy’ in 1883, which the Humber Yawl Club later described as the prototype Humber Yawl.  It was a full-bodied canoe with the breadth carried towards the ends, too wide at 40” to be paddled and so fitted with outriggers for rowing, with an iron centre plate and a balanced lug main and small mizzen.  Holmes not only raced her in this country, but took her by steamer to Sweden and enjoyed a cruise rowing and sailing her across the country, transporting her when necessary by rail or steamer.  Holmes eventually sold the ‘Cassy’ and designed and had built the ‘Ethel’ in 1888-89, shorter than the ‘Cassy’  at only 13 feet, but with an extra 1’ 4” of beam.  It is from the lines of this canoe yawl that the one on the following pages is built.

Tom Dunderdale

Sitting on a  Scorpion’s tail!  

Racing at Haversham Sailing Club in the mid to late 90's, and sailing off a Portsmouth Yardstick of 1100.

We’ve just turned the windward mark and are set for a long run down the lake.