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George Holmes’ influential canoe yawl Eel

The canoe yawl deserves more prominence, and so Dick Wynne and friends have set up a website devoted to this type of boat at www.canoeyawl.org. I hope it’s a great success!

Here’s what Dick and co say about their venture:

We want to draw attention to today’s and tomorrow’s canoe yawl designs and not be seen as a purely historical group. But fear not, we love the pioneers too — one of the CYA ringleaders sails a 19th century design. Our aim is to represent all known canoe yawl designs, past and present, on these pages — it’ll take us a while to flesh out the design archive, with more designs, and more words to those already present.

• If you have designed a canoe yawl, we want to hear from you and to give you some free advertising.
• If you own a canoe yawl we want to hear from you with your experiences of it.
• If you’re selling or buying a canoe yawl, we want to help you.
• If you are none of the above and just like canoe yawls, we want to hear from you anyway!

The folks behind canoeyawl.org have a magazine in the pipeline that we hope will appear twice a year, and some interesting practical initiatives to discuss. I hope it’s all a great success.

PS – if you’re interested in canoe yawls, you may want to check out one of the seriously good reads of the year: Holmes of the Humber.

Holmes of the Humber is a new book by long-standing Humber Yawl Club member Tony Watts. But just who was the book’s subject, George Holmes? The publisher’s notes tell the story so well, I repeat them here just as they appear on the fly-leaf:

‘George Holmes lived from 1861 to 1940 on the northern side of the Humber estuary. He was an avid and accomplished sailor in small craft of his own design, in British waters and in mainland Europe, and his prolific writing and drawing have left us an absorbing and charming record of his cruises, his boats, and the people and places he encountered.

‘In common with his friend and sailing companion Albert Strange, boats were not his regular occupation but were a diversion from his working life. And along with Strange, his name is forever associated with the development of the Canoe-Yawl, now enjoying a renewed popularity. Its sailing qualities make it arguably the best choice of craft for the single- or short-handed coastal and estuary sailor.

‘Holmes of the Humber is a nautical book and a social document. Look within to appreciate the pioneering days of cruising under sail, when enjoyment and fulfilment sprang from personal endeavour and the camaraderie of the group, and were largely independent of the external forces which would control us today.

‘Tony Watts has combined original sources, Holmes’ published output and the recollections of his family, and his own knowledge and experience of the Humber sailing scene to produce this, The Essential George Holmes.’

For more information and sample pages from the Lodestar Books webpages, click here: Holmes of the Humber.

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Holmes of the Humber – a new book about George Holmes

Dick Wynne of the Albert Strange Association has been in touch to say that a new book on artist, writer, sailor and boat designer George Holmes written by Tony Watts is about to burst onto the scene on the 1st December.

That’s good timing I’d say – and I’d guess this first book from the Lodestar Books imprint will be a popular item on many people’s Christmas shopping list this year.

I’ve been promised a chance to see the book in advance – so expect to hear more about Holmes of the Humber here in the next few weeks.

Click here for more information and sample pages from the Lodestar Books webpages: Holmes of the Humber.

PS – Check the Albert Strange Association website for what looks like the beginning of a heart-warming story about a boat the may have been designed by McLean Gibson.

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