Earl's Yakaboo page, rudderless sailing canoe, hints for potential builders

YAKABOO,

I wanted to build a Yakaboo


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decked canoe

Fenger sailing Yakaboo, from his book.

decked canoe

Decked canoe "CHIC" under construction.

Yakaboo, the 17ft sailboat in which Frederic Fenger sailed from Grenada to Saba in the Caribbean in 1911. His book about the 500 mile voyage, ALONE IN THE CARIBBEAN, is a classic of small boat adventure voyaging. His stories of a pet Tarantula, snakes, whaling, riding out a squal with native fishermen, being chased by Customs Officers and of Yakaboo carried through the surf on top of a dugout canoe are fascinating. I was captivated by the idea of sailing some of the worlds most challenging waters in an ultra small craft. Many fall in love with the Yakaboo as I did and want to build their own. Here are some things I had to consider.

I'm not an expert, but there is not a lot of information out on this subject, so I’m writing this article to answer some practical questions for potential builders based on my own experience and the little I know. These questions influenced my decision about building Yakaboo. I hope this helps others too.

Is the Yakaboo a canoe? Is it a sailing canoe?

Is it easy to steer the Yakaboo with the sails?

Were refinements to the design made after Yakaboo’s voyage?

Can the sliding centerboard be tipped up in shallow water?

Is a sliding centerboard a good idea on a beach cruiser?

Is this a practical boat for an inexperienced sailer?

What type of construction should be used for a Yakaboo?

Fenger was a marine architect and apparently an avid sailer for he logged thousands of miles in this type of boat before attempting his Caribbean voyage. The Yakaboo was one of a line of small, ketch rigged, rudderless sailboats that he designed over a period of years. The steering was done with the sails and by shifting his weight around in the boat. A ketch with a rudder can also be steered primarily with the sails. The idea of having a rudderless boat apparently was to simplify matters by the “absense of the rudder and its attendant gear”.

To achieve this Fenger designed a sliding centerboard that could be “position[ed] . . . where the center of lateral resistance balances the center of effort of the sails for close hauled sailing”. Then the boat could be steered primarily with the main sheet. The mizzen sheet came into play when tacking and the centerboard was positioned toward the back when on a long downwind run. Below I have quoted Fenger on how to sail this rudderless boat. SAILING THE YAKABOO



As an avid canoeist and canoe sailer, I was fascinated by Fenger’s adventure in this unique, small, but seaworthy boat, which he called a sailing canoe. I assumed it was similar to the decked sailing canoes described in W.P. Stevens, Canoe and Boat Building for Amatuers and could be paddled as well as sailed. I wanted to build and paddle/sail one like it. Fenger published lines drawings in Yachting magazine and these were the basis for developing a similar boat which I called the Skookumchuck. I had a friend, Bill Carter, draw the plans for me and I specified some small changes in the midsection. The Skookumchuck’s bottom is slightly less rounded and the turn of the bilge is a little sharper than Yakaboo’s. I figured this would make the boat a little more stable. There may have been other minor differences as it was drawn from the published lines of Yakaboo without the benefit of offsets. Otherwise though, Bill made it pretty much like the Yakaboo with the same sail plan, centerboard and cockpit design.

However, I never built the boat. As I studied the plans, read Fenger’s book and absorbed canoe sailing articles, I came to realize that this wonderful boat was not really a canoe. It could not be propelled by paddle, not even with a kayak paddle, as it was designed to turn most easily in order to be steered without a rudder. It could only be manually powered with oars, applying equal effort on both sides at the same time. Now, I was interested in a sailing canoe, but it still had to be a canoe that could be paddled when necessary or desired. I did not want to row my boat. Rowing is powerful, but it is not as much fun as paddling and you can’t see where you are going. In the places we explore by canoe, tricky, rock bound, wave tossed coasts, coves, narrow inlets and sea caves, you need to keep an eye on where you are going. We also like to sail and we wanted one boat for both purposes.

At first Fenger called this type of boat a sailing canoe, but later he called it a canoe-yawl, with the qualification that at 150 pounds it was a lot lighter than the traditional English canoe-yawl (but about twice as heavy as a sturdy canoe). I built a couple of the more traditional decked sailing canoes instead of building my Skookumchuck. But these I found were not very suitable for paddling either and I finally settled on an open canoe designed for sail as well as paddle. This "Sea Canoe" became a complete success and we have paddled and sailed it everywhere that I ever dreamed of going in a Yakaboo. Everywhere and more including week long trips. Our adventures, documented in videos, have us sailing and paddling in challenging conditions and remote places that haven’t been visited by open canoe since the Native Americans of the Northwest lost their canoe culture.

But you aren’t reading this to learn about my canoe. You want to know about the Yakaboo. The July/August, 1994 issue of Wooden Boat Magazine, number 119, has an article by Joe Youcha about his copy of the yakaboo. Messing About In Boats, March 15, 1994, has an article and pictures about Joe Youcka examining the original Yakaboo at a museum in Bruce Mines, Ontario. The first magazine article on Yakaboo appeared in Yachting Magazine, July, 1914. Fenger wrote another article for Yachting that appeared in July, 1919. In this article he describes how to sail this boat and tells about the addition of a rear skeg or “balancing fin” to help control the boat in certain conditions.

I want to point out that this boat is not easy to handle and requires a lot of skill that is learned slowly. Joe Youcha had trouble getting his boat to come around at the windward mark in a race described in his article. I had similar problems with the ketch rigged, rudderless, Guillemot which had a Yakaboo type sliding centerboard and self-bailing cockpit. I later added a rudder to this boat and replaced the sliding centerboard with a conventional tip up board. One problem with the sliding centerboard is that it will not tip up except in the full forward postion which is not used for sailing. This can be a problem in shallow water as you can imagine. Fenger built and sailed three of these boats having logged 3,500 miles in them prior to the Caribbean trip. I speculate that it may have taken this much experience to become sufficiently proficient at handling the rudderless boat to challenge the Caribbean.

Here is what Fenger said about sailing this type of craft in the 1919 article in Yachting:

“. . . Once the position is found, where the center of lateral resistance balances the center of effort of the sails for sailing close hauled, the board need not be moved for sailing on the other points of wind, and the sails once trimmed, the handling is done entirely with the main-sheet. If the canoe tends temorarily to come into the wind, the sheet is flattened slightly. If a sea forces the bow off, the sheet is slackened a bit and the mizzen brings the canoe back to her course again. With the ends [of the boat] cut way as they are, and the absence of any deadwood aft, the canoe is very sensitive and pivots quickly on the centerboard. Only a few inches of movement of the mainsheet are required-the wind is never spilled from the sails-and the novice soon acquires the instinct of holding the canoe within a quarter of a point of her course in an ordinary wind and sea. To come about the main-sheet is taken up so that the mizzen drives the canoe into the wind’s eye. The mains’l is then backed, the slack of the mizzen-sheet is let go, and the canoe falls off on the new tack.”

“In a squally wind the canoe eats into the wind in a series of “pilot’s luffs” and in a smooth sea where there is no current she will more than overcom her leeway. In a puff, the canoe will tend to lift and use the addtional wind force in accelerated speed, espeially if the crew anticipates the puff by moving his weight to windward. If the canoe-man is caught napping in a very heavy squall, and the canoe heels to the point of capsizing, the pressure on the mainsail can be instantly relieved by slacking the sheet and the canoe will immediately right herself while the mizzen is driving her into the wind. This immediate righting of the canoe is due largely to the absence of the rudder or any deadwood aft which might retard the stern in swinging away from the wind. In addtionm, due to the submerged portion of the underbody, which is in the shape of an arc with its center to windward of the canoe, there is a tendencey to drive into the wind, which increases with the angle of heel. This tendency is especially noticeable when sailing off the wind, and the designer has found that under these conditions the canoe can be kept from yawing by holding her on an even keel.”

“On a long run, with the wind on the quarter, the centerboard is moved as far aft as possible with the sails properly trimmed the canoe will very nearly steer herself. In sailing dead before the wind, there being no shrouds, the sails are set wing-and-wing about 10 degrees forward of the perpendicular to the keel line, thus spilling the wind off the leeches instead of the luffs, and with the main-sheet made fast the canoe will steer herself if held on an even keel. Sailing wing-and-wing in this manner the canoe will make better speed than by beating down the wind. Jibing is no serious matter for with the crew sitting on the after hatch just for’d of the mizzen, he can easily reach aft and restore this small sail to its normal position or haul in the main-sheet and jibe the main back again as the case may be”.

“It will be noticed that a second board or more properly a “balancing fin” has been added just abaft the mizzzen mast. . . . On long runs before the wind it has been found to be a valuable aid - in light weather with the centerboard entirely housed and in heavy weather with the board in its after position. On long runs at sea, close hauled and in a steady wind, the use of the “balance fin” with the centerboard slightly forward of its usual position, steadies the canoe on her course so that she will practically sail herself. . . “

“One of the advantages of this rudderless canoe is that with the mizzen trimmed flat and the jib and main-sheets let go, she will heave-to of her own accord directly into the wind’s eye, and with the balance-fin” housed will make sternway without throwing off her bow from tack to tack. With the “improved Bailey” rig as shown in the sail plan, the main and mizzen can be reefed in a few seconds by means of small lines which haul the reef batten down to the boom and at the same time tie in the sail. This is done by simultaneously slacking the single halliard and hauling on the single part of the reefing gear. In the event of a heavy blow the centerboard is shifted to its extreme forward position while the crew stows the mainsail and reefs the mizzen. Under jib and reefed mizzen the canoe will sail closehauled without any attention whatever on the part of the crew.”

Joe Youcha had told me he would offer plans for his boat for sale, but he apparently changed his mind and began referring inquiries to me for Skookumchuck plans. When people contact me about the boat I assume they know its capabilities, but I want them to know it’s limitations too, so I explain why I prefer the open canoe. I decided to post this article, so that I could get this information out to more people.

The improved Bailey rig that Fenger used on Yakaboo is complicated and needs a detailed explanation. It is described in W.P. Stevens, Canoe and Boat Building for Amatuers (see link below). It is similar to a sliding Gunter rig, but is easier to raise being less likely to jamb. The original Bailey rig used two halyards, the improved version has one end tied off, so you only pull on one halyard. I built two improved Bailey rigs for the Guillamot’s sails and they work ok, but I prefer the simplicity of the Sharpie rig I use on the Island Cruiser, my "Sea Canoe". Another advantage of an open canoe is that you can stow longer spars than in a decked canoe with self-bailing cockpit.

Answers to the questions above:

Is the Yakaboo a canoe? No, it can't be paddled. Is it a sailing canoe? No, it’s a canoe-yawl, much heavier than a canoe.

Is it easy to steer the Yakaboo with the sails? Yes and no. Steering a straight course in mild conditions is easy, maneuvers like tacking and especially rounding up after going downwind are harder to learn.

Were refinements to the design made after Yakaboos voyage? Yes, significantly, an adjustable rear skeg was added to help with control. (Why not add a tip up rudder?)

Can the sliding centerboard be tipped up in shallow water? No. The sliding centerboard only tips up in the full forward position which is not used for sailing.

Is a sliding centerboard a good idea on a beach cruiser? Not for me. In shallow water sailing, such as a beach cruiser would do, a swing up centerboard is a better idea.

Is this a practical boat for an inexperienced sailer? Not for my money. This is a boat for an experienced sailer with lots of time to learn her ways.

What type of construction should be used for a Yakaboo? The original Yakaboo was built with 3 planks to the side. The Spanish Cedar planks were fastened to battens or chines. The Yakaboo leaked around plank seams up front and around the centerboard trunk. I would recommend stripper or cold molded construction as stonger and less likely to leak.

After trying two decked sailing canoes I decided I don't like the way they confine you in the cockpit, especially with a crew of two, so I designed my open Sea Canoe. It is more roomy and comfortable to sit in and can handle any wind I want to sail in. I like it much better than the decked canoes I have built. We have sailed it in 20 mph winds and in rough water in the Pacific Ocean, Puget Sound and off the West coast of Vancouver Island. We have gone as fast as 5.7 knots to windward in it and it even planes on occasion. Beating to windward in rough water is the only time we might like to have a deck or spray cover, but I still don't think it is worth the bother to make or to use.

If you are thinking of building a Yakaboo I don't want to discourage you, but I hope this discussion helps you. If you decide to go ahead, have fun building the boat and enjoy sailing it. You'll be experiencing a bit of sailing history. Thanks for looking at this and good luck whatever you do.

Earl Doan

Island Canoe

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