LFH on the Canoe Yawl
Here’s what L Francis Herreshoff had to say on his design Rozinante and on the canoe yawl in general, in The Rudder. Some would say Rozinante is not a true canoe yawl, and most would dispute his assertion that the canoe yawl was based on the whaleboat, nevertheless he merits reading:
“This little yacht is a small double ender of a type that used to be called canoe yawls, and in the 1890’s was a very popular type in England for cruising some of their delightful waterways like the Clyde, Firth of Forth, Humber, Mersey, and of course the Solent in days gone by. The canoe yawl is sort of a descendant of some of the sailing canoes that were used in these waters for cruising during the previous decade. The name ‘canoe yawl’ simply means a boat with a sharp stern that is larger than the usual sailing canoe, or about the size of what was called a yawl boat in those days. Admiral Smyth in his dictionary of nautical terms, 1867, describes a yawl as ‘A man-of-war’s boat resembling a pinnace, but rather smaller; it is carvel-built, and generally rowed with twelve oars.’ The term ‘canoe-yawl’ in its day had nothing to do with the rigs these pretty vessels used, for among them there were sloops, ketches, yawls, luggers, and cat yawls, but my knowledge of the past is not sufficient for me to state definitely that the name of the yawl rig did not come from that sail plan being often used on boats that were called yawls or yawl boats. Of course, many yawl boats had no rig. I, myself, am old enough to remember when the canoe yawls were still in vogue, so I will tell you what some of there characteristics were and that will partly explain Rozinante.
A canoe yawl should be light and rather narrow so that she may be easily propelled by rowing when necessary. It should be a good sea boat and a fast sailer under a small sail plan. It should have a comparatively shallow draft so that occasionally a person can land from one without a tender and, although Rozinante is quite a little deeper than is usual for a canoe yawl (many of them had a centerboard that went through a shallow ballast keel( still I think there are many places where Rozinante could be rowed close enough to shore so one could land over the bow in less than two feet of water.
A good canoe yawl should not have any combustible or noise makers [sic] aboard of that one can really relax and commune with God and Mother Nature but still use his wits in the interesting game of getting the most out of tide and wind. A good canoe yawl will give more lasting pleasure for the dollar than any other vessel except a double-paddle canoe, and while her first cost may be considerable these days, if she is treated sensibly she will not depreciate much in forty years, and her annual expense will be negligible. Best of all a canoe yawl can be about the safest vessel that can be had, since her design is based on those most seaworthy boats ever known — whaleboats. Rozinante is a partly decked-over whale boat with a ballast keel that will make her non-capsizable. She is rigged with a sail plan which can be decreased without perceptibly affecting her balance, and she can be made to lay to in a seaway under the mizzen alone. A boat of this type can be gotten under way or laid up for the night in a few minutes, so that she is practical to use on summer evenings, often the pleasantest times of all for sailing, while evening sailing is generally out of the question with the more complicated or larger craft on account of the time factor.”
The Rozinante is one of my favorite all time boats! I have always
found sailing canoes to be fascinating. I test sailed an
International Canoe once when I was younger. I almost got into them. I finally decided that they lacked utility because of their
very narrow focus on performance. They are so skittish that they
will not stay upright at the dock! They are, however, THE boat if you want to “fantail” any other sailing monohull design.
What a wild, wicked ride….and no, I didn’t capsize and get water
up my nose! (I attribute this to the hundreds of hours I had
underway in very narrow rowing shells). I am presently building
a Storm 17. She is a 16′7″ double ender yawl. I am kitbashing
her slightly and adding a small enclosable cuddy cabin. She
will be an adventure cruiser. Aux propulsion will be a sculling
oar and a Torqueedo electric outboard.
Long live the canoe yawl!