Before "yawl" became the name of a rig, it was a hull type. Generally, a yawl is a double-ended,
clinker built open boat, which can be worked under sail or oar. They are considered to have Viking or Norse influence in their design. Most were operated from a beach or a small harbour, with the boat being hauled out of the water when not in use.
Scotland: yawl/yole/yoal In the North of Scotland, yawl is
cognate with yole or yoal. There are examples in both
Shetland and
Orkney, with type and local variations in design. The Shetland boats include foureens and sixareens; the names denote the number of oars they were designed to use. Both also had sailing rigs, usually a single masted dipping lug. A sixareen was typically long overall. The foureen was around overall. Other smaller Shetland types were the
Ness Yole and the
Fair Isle Yole. Sixareens and foureens were used in the haaf fishery catching white fish species such as
cod and
saithe with
long line fishing. These undecked sixareens operated between 30 and 50 miles offshore, sometimes within sight of Norway. The foureens ventured up to 20 miles offshore (where they "sank the land"; i.e. when the land had just sunk below the horizon, it was 20 miles away). Until the 19th century, most of these boats were built in Norway and then transported to Shetland disassembled, where they were put back together again. It appears that the Norwegian boatbuilders built specific types of craft to meet the needs of the Shetland market, as these boats differed somewhat from the ones used in Norway. Surviving examples and a replica of some of these Shetland boats are in the
Shetland Museum. The Orkney yoles had more beam than their Shetland counterparts. This allowed slightly more sail to be set, so these were two-masted with standing lug rigs.
Norfolk and Suffolk Beach Yawls Beach Yawls could be found along a section of the
East Anglian coast, mainly from
Winterton on the north
Norfolk coast down to
Aldeburgh on the
Suffolk coast. (They were called "yols" by the men who sailed in them.) Each boat was operated by a "company" that shared the profits of operations between their members, subject to strict rules. The members were entitled to serve as crew when the yawl was launched. These companies are known to have existed at the start of the 18th century and yawls operated right through the 19th century, until steam power, efficient tugs and
lifeboats put the last of them out of business by the start of the 20th century. The yawls serviced the ships anchored in
Yarmouth Roads, took
pilots to and from ships, carried stores and performed
salvage work. The
Royal Navy often had warships anchored in Yarmouth roads, so providing a lot of work additional to that from the many merchant ships that passed along the East Anglian coast. The Norfolk and Suffolk Beach Yawls were probably the fastest open boats ever built. Fourteen knots could be achieved in the right conditions, and 16 knots has been measured for one of these boats. Clinker-built and double-ended, the hulls were typically long with a beam of .
Reindeer, built in 1838 was at the top of the size range, at long (with a beam). Whilst the earlier boats had three lug-rigged masts, in common with other types of British
lugger, from the middle of the 19th century the mainmast was usually dispensed with to give a dipping lug foresail and a standing lug mizzen. The foresail tack fastened to an iron
bumkin protruding from the stemhead. The mizzen sheeted to an outrigger (called an "outligger" by the crews of these boats). The fastest type of Beach Yawl was used for taking pilots and passengers out to ships. The slightly shorter and beamier "bullock boats" carried supplies out to ships moored in the roads and would land catches of
herrings from luggers. Beach Yawls were kept ready for launching at a moment's notice. A lookout tower was manned to spot any ship signalling for a pilot or in distress. There was competition between each company to get any potential work. The boats were run down the shingle beach on greased wooden skids laid at right angles to their route. Men ran alongside to hold the boat upright as it started to move, crew members scrambled aboard and others passed bags of ballast on board. As the boat entered the water she was given a final shove with a spar. Then each boat raced to get the work on offer. Large crews were needed: 25 men would be common. They were fully occupied if going to windward. On tacking, the foresail would be dipped behind the mast to set on the other side, and the
halyard (which was made fast at the
gunwale to help support the mast) and burton (a moveable stay) would be shifted to windward and hauled taught again, whilst others would be heaving bags of shingle ballast to the new windward side of the bilge. Some would be continuously baling to rid the boat of the spray that came aboard. The most important man aboard tended the foresheet, which was never cleated, but held in hand after taking a couple of turns around the main
sampson post. If a gust was too strong, the sheet would instantly be eased to prevent a capsize. If worked under oar, a yawl would have ten or more oars a side - though the beach companies usually operated a
gig in light weather if delivering or collecting a pilot, as they were faster under oars. ==Ship's boat==