CRUISING DESTINATIONS TO SEE WORKING BOATS IN ACTION
There is something stirring about seeing a boat sailed for the purpose she was built for, her sails full of wind and her bow cutting through the water. Working boats are an important part of our heritage in Great Britain and Ireland, diverse in their shape as they were in their purpose and how they were sailed. Even within one design of boat, there can be many different versions, each one built to accommodate their local sailing ground.
Luckily, many examples of these vessels can still be seen cruising around our coastline and rivers. Our experts have chosen 10 of their favourite boats, but there are others to discover. So point your bow and find out more about the Orkney Yole, the classic East Coast smacks and the coal-fired Clyde Puffer. It may leave you wanting to buy a classic.
NEXT MONTH: THE BEST ISLAND CRUISES
1 Stromness, Orkney
RECOMMENDED BY Caroline Butterfield This is the traditional working boat of Orkney’s South Isles – a distinctive, wide-beamed boat, sharp at both ends, with the beam giving the buoyancy needed to cross Orkney’s strong tides. It is clinker-built with 10 or 11 planks of larch on an oak frame, with an overall length of around 18ft.
The boats in times past were used to fish, act as pilots for larger vessels, carry peat, sheep, tow the “coo-boat”, and to transport folk and their shopping around the isles. Today they are mainly leisure vessels, with some 10 or so sailed regularly under the aegis of the Orkney Yole Association (), mainly in Stromness and Longhope. They are best seen on Saturdays in July at one of Orkney’s regattas, most with gunter rigs but
