Shetland Boat Week Compilation

For folk that like traditional wooden boats, Shetland Boat Week is a fantastic event, and a great opportunity to get out on the water and experience sailing or rowing in Shetland’s traditional craft.
I thought I would compile an extended clip of Shetland Boat Week footage that would give a bit more time to watch the boats sailing, and feel a bit more like a Shetland version of slow TV. However it does liven up with the wind speed. You can read below about some of the boats featured and the Shetland Boat Week event.
The film opens with the one day that there wasn't much wind for sailing. Brian Chapman was at the event with a great display of Seagull Outboards and gives us a listen to one. Then we are aboard the 16ft’ 3” Shetland maid class boat ‘Vaisala’ rigged with a standing lug 85sq ft. There's a clip of us sailing off to the eela, (inshore fishing). Vaisala in her day was a very successful racing boat taking part in the Shetland regattas and was rigged with up to 190 sq ft of sail, unballasted, and three aboard (Skipper, middle man and jib). On this night though it was much more relaxed with the standing lug, easy to lower while fishing and hoist again to try another mead. We caught a good fry of mackerel and piltocks for the BBQ.
There's examples of 'Shetland Model' class boats being rowed, hauled up on the beach and at moorings. The haddock boat ‘Laura Kay’ is being rowed out of the dock. After the eela competition we had a fine tune in the boat shed at Hay's Dock. The next scene is the Shetland Ness Yoal ‘Jeannie’ under sail, along with the sixareen 'Far Haaf'. 'Jeannie' was built in 1904 as a fishing boat with 120 sq ft of sail.
We then have the Unst sixareen 'Far Haaf', filmed from the sixareen "Vaila Mae". It is thought to be the first time in living memory that there had been two sixareens sailing on the water at the same time. It was definitely a real highlight of Shetland Boat Week, that provided a spectacle for all.
The skipper of the ‘Far Haaf’, Willie Mouat, had organised to get the sixareen back in the water and bring her down from Unst for Shetland Boat Week. Willie built the ‘Far Haaf’ along with Fair Isle boat builder Ian Best in 1992/1993. It was great to have Willie Mouat and his Unst crew about for the whole week and share their sailing experience with everyone. The Unst Heritage Trust and Shetland Ex-Whalers Association supported bringing the ‘Far Haaf’ to the event and helped make it happen.
A comparison of the sixareen sails, the more peaked white sail (240 sq ft) of the ‘Vaila Mae’ is based on a sailing rig from the westside of Shetland. The ‘Far Haaf’ is from Unst in the North Isles of Shetland and has the slightly lower peak, and more square sail. Both boats perform very well under sail.
Shetland Boat Week 2019 ran trips aboard the sixareens ‘Far Haaf’ and ‘Vaila Mae’ every day of the event, all were fully booked. Good sailing winds prevailed to give passengers a feel for how the sixareen handles under sail but also a chance to try some rowing. The boats are sailed by experienced volunteer skippers, and volunteer crew that they have trained up over the summer seasons. It is worth adding that before each sailing season boat builders of the 'Vaila Mae', Jack Duncan and Robbie Tait have made her ready for sea and have voluntarily carried out any maintenance required on her, and this is greatly appreciated by all. They also secure the boat on the beach for the winter.
We conclude with a flavour of some of these Shetland Boat Week sailing trips in the harbour. The Swan LK243 can be seen here in Bressay Sound. She is a restored herring fishing boat that was built at Hay’s yard, Lerwick in 1900. Owned by the Swan Trust she does sail training and charters. You can find her full story or book a trip on this site. www.swantrust....
The sixareen class of boat has played such an important role in Shetland’s maritime history. A great blog by Alastair Hamilton provides an insight to Shetland’s traditional boats. www.shetland.o...
The sixareen ‘Vaila Mae’ is owned by the Shetland Museum and is sailed regularly from Hay’s Dock in Lerwick. The ‘Far Haaf’ can be seen at the superb Unst Boathaven.
www.unstheritag...
Tunes in the music session
Sleep Soond in da Morning - Trad
Willafjord - Trad
Spootiskerry - Ian Burns
Laxo Burn - Arthur Scott Robertson
Music in the last section is played by Haltadans, recorded at a concert in the Fetlar Hall 2019.
Tunes:
Heoganeap - Maurice Henderson
Spreefix- Ewen Thomson’s
Reel Sisimiut - Maurice Henderson
www.haltadans.com
open.spotify.c...
Filmed on DJI Osmo Pocket and DSLR from the shore by Maurice Henderson and Gordon Henderson.

[@AndyCutright]

The skill of that last crew, driving the boat almost to the quay under sail, and at last dropping the sail and bringing her in under her own momentum. Wow.

[@romandybala]

Good when you got a lot of crew who know what is happening and a stiff breeze up your choof.

[@cricciethcastle5077]

Gives me uncomfortable memories of an incident where I was beating into a tricky little harbour under sail (no engine) when some fool in a plastic yacht decided to go astern off the quay right into my path without so much as a glance. The results could have been a lot worse than they were. Sail has priority over engine? You've got to be joking - almost as laughable as starboard has priority over port!

[@johngriffiths118]

0.35 My dad used to make these !

[@roderickmchardy3650]

excellent stuff ,,, i would love to rig one of those sails on my catamaran !!

[@sampadbury2298]

Sounds a bit wharramish to me

[@RobbsHomemadeLife]

I love the boats but even more I love how the helmsman keeps his hand on the mainsheet all the time ready to let her go if needed. I saved this to my favorites!!

[@gaius_enceladus]

Awesome boats! That kind of sail seems to be a combination of a mainsail and a jib, doing the work of both! Very cool and elegant! The boat's as steady as a Rolls - it moves *beautifully!*. Beautiful curves - she really clips along at a good speed!

[@TheBoatRambler]

Beautiful!! Thanks for sharing!

[@tombristowe846]

I was screaming at the screen for one of them to tack ! So I could see how they do it. Lovely boats.

[@MauriceHendersonShetland]

Thanks for your comment @tombristowe846 here’s a demonstration of some tacking aboard the sixareen. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2SVgJiooN5rrJYsi=hPaQdP9_nP9fsEeS

[@tombristowe846]

@@MauriceHendersonShetland Thanks very much for taking the trouble to get back to me with that. It was interesting to watch. Not for single handers ! I also watched the video of a Sixareen square reefed and running; what a sight ! Historically, have they ever been decked over?

[@MauriceHendersonShetland]

@tombristowe846 the Sixareens were historically always fished and sailed as open boats. The Haaf fishing declined and the use of open boats, such as sixareens, for deep sea fishing towards the end of the 19th Century. The Gloup disaster of 1881 where 56 men were lost, the move to larger decked in vessels, as well as the herring boom of the early 1900s saw the Haaf fishing come to an end. Sailing drifters soon gave way to steam drifters and then the diesel engines and outboards pretty much the end of commercial and inshore sail fishing. Some Shetland boat builders continued to build craft based on the sixareen, more commonly with smaller dimensions and designed to accommodate an engine, forward shelter or wheel house and engine aboard. Also the smaller ‘Shetland model’ class boat saw the traditional craft used in sailing for leisure as well as inshore fishing, landing fish for the table. There are still some small clinker build boats working creels and some traditional boat builders in Shetland making fourareens, yoals and other traditional craft. The sixareen however, as you can see, really performs when under sail. I can recommend this book, Shetland’s Boats if you want to read more. There exist the lines of a few more of the old sixareens and hopefully someday soon we might see replicas of these built for sailing and out on the water again. shop.shetlandtimes.co.uk/products/shetlands-boats-origin-evolution-and-use?_pos=4&_sid=350a6715a&_ss=r

[@tombristowe846]

@@MauriceHendersonShetland Again, thank you very much for getting back to me. I was surprised, when looking up Sixareen on Wiki, to see that they were apparently originally imported from Norway in kit form, until the middle of the 19th Century. I hadn't imagined such commercial subtleties existed in those days. A diversion online into the history of trade had to be abandoned as it was threatening to turn into an all-nighter ! All the best and I hope you have a good summer's sailing.

[@hasanalp7097]

very nice wind. It floats wonderfully above the sea.

[@44musher]

Good bit of footage, hat tip to skip and crew.

[@clinkerboats]

Lovely to see Sixerns and Fourerns sailing but would like to have seen how they tack those lug’sls. 🙂

[@MauriceHendersonShetland]

Here’s the Sixareen ‘Vaila Mae’ doing a couple of tacks on a crew training trip. We were fighting against a strong tide as we beat to windward through the north harbour. 🙂 kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2SVgJiooN5rrJY

[@clinkerboats]

Thank you, the method of tacking the lug is great to see.

[@romandybala]

Beautiful. So much power even when reefed. I thought I was over wooden boats but I was wrong.

[@AndrewTheCelt]

The Scottish Birlinn was a more maneuverable craft than a Viking longship I’ve read

[@jerryhansen5116]

I want some of that action.

[@oldgreygritter]

Just found your channel. The Shetlands look stunning. Thank you.

[@johnwhelan2663]

Brings back memories of Out Skerries must be fifty years ago now. I can see many changes.

[@craigkaschan4822]

If I had a boat like the one with the red sail I’d sail it from Australia to UK no worries.

[@MrWhothefoxthat]

a sight for sore eye's, and better still if I was there.

[@redreuben5260]

Where’s the tack ?

[@MauriceHendersonShetland]

Here’s some tacking aboard the Sixareen Vaila Mae. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2SVgJiooN5rrJYsi=Ys6Rt_H9-q_p-5nA

[@redreuben5260]

@@MauriceHendersonShetland Thanks for that, wow what a performance, way more involved than I thought ! I was actually expecting a windward jibe. I learnt something today 👍

[@redreuben5260]

@@MauriceHendersonShetland Maurice I crew on a Trimaran in the Swan River Perth Western Australia. I don’t think our sailing experience could be more different ! Cheers, 🍻

[@Mylifelovingit]

Those boats look pretty fast

[@Tearlaich64]

I loved this. Tell me also that was a “Seagull” outboard in the bin!

[@MauriceHendersonShetland]

Glad you enjoyed the footage. Yes, that is a “Seagull” outboard, Brian Chapman has a large collection of old seagull outboards and was starting them up and giving folk a listen over the boat week. I have fond memories of my first outboard, it was an old seagull 1.5hp short shaft.

[@craigkaschan4822]

I remember my dad having a couple of Seagulls when I was a kid over 50 years ago. They were old back then.

[@Tearlaich64]

@@craigkaschan4822 Yup but drop them overboard, leave them for a couple of tides and even I could get’em running again! Im sure I had a new one in the early nineties.

[@darrellsimpson6966]

The bin's the best place for a seagull. A great outboard for learning to manoeuvre under sail.

[@robertparry8731]

When I moved to Shetland in 1980 I bought a bedraggled boat, I think it was 17’ long. No sail. Unfortunately my skills with the repairs were basic but with the old short shaft seagull, my rod and labrador I had the time of my life in the solitude of Moussa and Leebitton. Very happy days. If you want a photograph is there any way to forward it? Great images.

[@charleshart6992]

Excellent!

[@christopheringram7501]

proud to have owned one in the 60’s ,beautiful boats

[@MauriceHendersonShetland]

Did you have a sixareen? It would be interesting to know the story of the boat.

[@bmuller1119]

Do you have any video of them going through a tack?

[@MauriceHendersonShetland]

Here’s a video showing a tack. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2SVgJiooN5rrJY

[@kathyhenderson8231]

Lovely

[@romashamil6787]

Это элитарный клуб 12 лет 200 подписчиков жаль языками не владеют

[@chrishanby87]

Aye , how close can they get?

[@josephlai9759]

The video only shows the sail flown proud of the mast but should the boat need to tack, would the sail press hard on the mast?

[@MauriceHendersonShetland]

Here’s a clip showing the ‘Vaila Mae’ tacking. You have to lower the yard fairly quick as the boat comes through the wind while tacking, you don’t want the sail pressing hard against the mast. The Far Haaf sixareen seen sailing with the red sail has a downhaul fitted to assist getting the yard down in the event of it being pressed hard against the mast if you don’t get the sail lowered in time as you come through the wind.kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2SVgJiooN5rrJY

[@josephlai9759]

@@MauriceHendersonShetland Thank you so much. I understand now. It must take considerable skill, dexterity and strength to do it well. I love the way her beautiful long hull cut so smoothly through the flat water.

[@johnburgess5534]

All that video and not one complete tack or gyre. No shots of a dead run downwind.

[@MauriceHendersonShetland]

Thanks for you comment, I shall put in a full tack next time. Here’s a couple of tacks from aboard the ‘Vaila Mae’. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2SVgJiooN5rrJY

[@MauriceHendersonShetland]

We don’t often sail on a dead run but this is a clip with the squaring reef and some downwind sailing on the run back in to harbour. kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6Oclquujb99mdE There is a tack in the latest video on the page as a few folk wanted to see that.

[@jennymay4720]

beautiful boats and music too,.Can one buy the plans for these boats somewhere?

[@MauriceHendersonShetland]

Hi, I don’t know of anywhere you can buy a set of actual plans. There are a number of boat builders in Shetland all building to their own style these kind of boats but they don’t really produce plans. Here’s a link to a site that shows lines of a number of Shetland boats shetlandboat.wordpress.com you could perhaps contact Marc Chivers who has done a PhD on the Shetland boats and drawn many lines of them, his site is www.moderdy.org There are some books with lines of boats as well. shop.shetlandtimes.co.uk/products/the-shetland-boat-south-mainland-and-fair-isle?_pos=21&_sid=d1ac68706&_ss=r&variant=3933100802059 This book is mostly about the Ness Yoal, but there is a design by Iain Oughtred based on this hull that might be worth looking as that will have plans. Another book on the sixareen. shop.shetlandtimes.co.uk/products/the-sixareen-and-her-racing-descendants?_pos=13&_sid=d1ac68706&_ss=r

[@jennymay4720]

@@MauriceHendersonShetland Thank you so much for this information Maurice, I will look into it. Very kind of you to have replied in detail.