The yole is a Nordic-designed, wooden boat commonly used for work and fishing in Scotland’s Orkney Islands. It can be fitted with sails or rowing and is built using the same clinker boat building design as Viking long boats. After becoming fully motorized post-WWII, a group began restoring and preserving the tradition, hosting an annual regatta and building new yoles in the clinker style.
A yole is a small boat of Nordic design. Commonly used as a workboat due to the vessel’s cargo-carrying capacity, a yole can be fitted with sails or rowing and is of wooden construction. Available in two main categories, the North Isles and the South Isles type, the yole is a clinker type boat found in the north of Scotland, with the Orkney Island yole being one of the best known models. Construction signs on a clinker boat are planks of wood that are slightly overlapped to create the hull of the boat. The hull of this type of boat is very wide, which makes the boat stable and capable of carrying a large load.
It is commonly believed that the Vikings were some of the world’s first explorers. The capable design of the Viking ship made this exploration possible. A yole is built using the same clinker boat building design as long boats. Overlapping boards are used to create the hull of the boat, creating a very strong, stable and fast boat. Used for fishing and a number of other tasks, the yole is a style of boat commonly seen in the waters of Scotland and the Orkney chain.
In the 1930s, the yole served the residents of northern Scotland and the Orkney Islands in the same capacity that the car served other areas, transporting food, fuel and construction supplies between the islands. Shortly after the Second World War the yole became fully motorized and not a single sailing or rowing version remained anywhere in the Scottish area. In the early 1960s, a group of people interested in preserving the rich tradition of the little boat began buying and restoring every remaining example of this boat. Eventually, every surviving ship was found, restored, and restored to seaworthy condition.
The group hosts an annual regatta where the little boat is featured in sailing, rowing and even racing shows. Visitors to the area are given a rich history lesson and often leave the islands with a newfound respect and appreciation for the sailing ship. Many of the young natives of the islands actually learn to sail in the restored boats so that one day they can carry on the tradition. The new yoles are also being built in the tradition of the early boatmakers, in the clinker style, to maintain this part of land-based boating history that relied on the yole for so many years.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
