Selta
Mike Hall has sent us these lovely pictures of his Selta, a Geo Holmes Ethel mk1, and the following account of his experiences with her. We have an ambition here at the CYA to sponsor an archetypal ‘canoe yawl for everyman’ in kit form, using modern materials, and this design, plus Mike’s observations below, will get us a long way towards this aim.
Selta is a modern, clinker built version of George Holmes’ Ethel, a 13 x 4 1/2 ft canoe yawl built in willow for its designer by J A Akester in 1888. Selta’s hull was built of American cedar on oak with copper nail fastenings by students of the Falmouth Marine Centre in the early 1990s. The building of an earlier, cedar strip version of Ethel, by Falmouth students was described by Dick Phillips in a series of Classic Boat articles in 1991.
Selta’s lines follow the plans for Ethel published in the 8th edition of Dixon Kemp’s Manual of Yacht and Boat Sailing, though the watertight bulkheads have been omitted, the weighted centreboard is made of marine ply rather than 1/8” brass and the “double crick” tiller (which circles the mizzen mast) is made from laminated wood strip rather than metal. Being a heavier boat than Ethel (it takes 4 men to lift her!), Selta currently carries less ballast (30lbs of water ballast rather than 114lbs of lead pigs).
Where Ethel had a generous (106 sq ft) balanced lug, full-length reefing battens and a sprit mizzen, Selta’s rig, which was designed by David Leather in the 1980s, has an 80sq ft standing lug main and a 16sq ft mizzen. While this rig is well suited to lake and estuary sailing, it can be difficult to handle when both rowing and sailing is needed, as is frequently the case on the Thames. There are two problems here; since the boom just clears the head of a helmsman sitting on the cockpit floor, it’s difficult to row while the full main is still set. But if the main is lowered, it is hard to stow sail, boom and yard on the side deck (the 10 ½ ft spar being too long to stow in the cockpit) without obstructing the oarsman. One solution to this problem would be to lengthen the mast by another 2 ft, but this would raise the centre of area and could affect her stability. Another, which I have adopted, is to shorten the sail to the first set of reefing points. This raises the boom by 2 ft, which is enough to clear the rowers head. Except in very light wind conditions (when I would probably be rowing anyway), this 20% reduction in sail area makes little impact on Selta’s performance; a tribute, perhaps, to the efficiency of her hull design. And a quick internet search shows that at least one of Bill Clement’s versions of Ethel, Nord Vinden, also has a reduced rig.
Holmes’ enthusiasm for Ethel was such that he went on to design at 3 least different versions between 1889-1893, all of which could be shipped as deck cargo to new cruising grounds abroad or, in the case of the 13 ft versions, loaded into a standard railway guard’s van. When adapted for cruising, which involved fitting an arched canvas well-cover to keep stores and crew dry, these took Holmes and his friends on extended trips to Holland (1889), to the Thames from Oxford to London (1892) and Denmark (1896). Incidentally, although smaller (and lighter) than me, it’s difficult to see how GFH managed to sleep on board the 1888 version of Ethel under a cockpit tent in any comfort, or indeed at all. I tried to squeeze between the centreboard case and hull, and failed. I suspect sleeping aboard was only possible with the second Ethel (1891), which had a lower centreplate case, and the third (1893), which was 2 ft longer.
I’ve sailed Selta for just over a year now, on both the Thames and Lake Coniston; time enough to appreciate her elegant lines, speed, handiness and potential. In a stiff breeze she is exhilarating, heeling initially but settling once her leeward deck just skims the water. On a calm day, her slippery hull makes her a delight to row. She is well balanced, points reasonably high when going to windward, and goes well down wind. Compared with modern dinghies, however, she tacks in a leisurely fashion, this being the result of her long, V-shaped, centreboard (useful in shallow water) and small rudder. I’ve found that building up speed before a tack, backing the main, freeing the mizzen (and sometimes using a paddle) all come in useful here. I’ve made a number of changes to the set-up I inherited (Selta had been out of commission for a number of years), including altering the mast rake, fitting a wider tiller “hoop”, strengthening the luff downhaul, experimenting with water ballast and fitting a rudimentary, shock-cord based, self steering system. While these modifications have improved her handling (with its wider arc, the new tiller has greatly improved the going about process), more needs to be done, particularly arranging better stowage for the oars, fitting more buoyancy, and installing a single-line slab reefing system.
I’ve found sailing a canoe yawl effectively (or at least nonchalantly) from a damp, congested, rope-strewn, 3ft square cockpit floor quite a challenge, particularly if you’re over 6ft tall. But I’m slowly getting better — and suspect that with more ballast and improved reefing, I will get to feel comfortable about helming a somewhat tender vessel from the lee. But I’m not surprised that Holmes declared that Ethel “has succeeded beyond my expectations … I do not think that anyone in want of an ‘all round’ small cruiser could greatly improve on her”. On the strength of the last two seasons, I can heartily agree.
It seems to me that a simpler tiller arrangement than that used on Selta, is that which I use on my A Duckah! Namely, a tiller pivoted around the mizzen mast,with an arm at 90 degrees, connected by a drag link to a similar arm on the rudder head. One can vary the “gearing” by varying the length of the two arms.
Not simpler, perhaps, but easier to build.