In spring 2021 I was over a year without a boat since I sold SCYLD, and my sea-legs became a bit restless. So I decided to actively search for a new clinker boat, but this time a more modern adaptation of the Nordic boat building tradition: One of Iain Oughtred’s plywood-clinker constructions, a Caledonia Yawl. One was for sale in the Netherlands and I did not hesitate to go there.
The boat-design of the Caledonia Yawl by the Australian (now: Scottish) naval architect Iain Oughtred combined traditionalism with performance. Inspired by fishing boats of the Shetland Isles, which were essentially of Norwegian descent, this type is the modern equivalent of a double-ender that is suitable for cruising and the so-called “Raids”, i.e. festivals for traditional open boats that are propulsed only under sails and oars. While the shape of the hull and the type of rig is traditional, the materials are not: It is a glued lapstrake construction of marine plywood, making the boat considerably lighter and thus easy to handle. Another advantage is the shallow draft as a result, making it the ideal cruising dinghy access shallow bays and lagoons, and to land on picturesque sand beaches to make a campfire.
LOA – 19′ 6″
Beam – 6′ 4-1/2″
Draft (cb up) – 11″
(cb down) – 3′ 6″
Weight – about 450 lbs.
Sail Area: Balanced lug: 164 sq ft
Gaff Yawl: 170 sq ft