Countdown to Cromarty Firth Ness yoal launch creates waves in Strathpeffer as name revealed and open invite to Storehouse of Foulis event issued
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THE launch of a newly built 19ft Ness yoal into the Cromarty Firth next month will mark another historical milestone for a Ross-shire club.
Excitement is mounting in Strathpeffer and district ahead of the big event in the club's calendar which will take place at The Storehouse of Foulis on Saturday, March 9.
The boat being launched is a Ness yoal which can be both sailed and rowed. Traditional sailing boats have not been seen on the firth since the 18th century.
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The name comes from Ness in the south mainland of Shetland as larger versions of yoals were used in the "haaf" (deep sea) fishing.
The club's volunteer builders, led my master builder Angus MacInnes, have worked for over two years to build the boat, starting with a kit donated to the by Paul Mooney of Evanton. He has been invited to christen the new boat to be named Sula – the old name for a gannet which follows the sea bird names used by the club for all their boats.
The yoal will be piped to the launch by club member and builder John Cranston. The tradition of launching boats goes back to when boats were first built and is intended to pacify the sea gods.
The clinker-built boat is 19ft long and will sail or row with a crew of 2/3. During the sailing season it will be based at the Invergordon Boating Club which has kindly offered, through chairperson Inga Ovenstone, reciprocal membership between the two clubs.
The main funders for the materials for the Ness yoal were the EDF Renewables Corriemoillie Community Fund (Strathpeffer) and the Co-op Local Community Fund. All the building was done by club volunteer builders.
The launch day promises to be as exciting a day as previous launches with a visit and escort by the RNLI Invergordon Shannon class lifeboat Agnes AP Barr - in honour of Agnes Barr – associated with the famous Scottish soft drinks firm. The lifeboat cox is Andrew Murray
Whisky from the Glen Wyvis Distillery at Upper Docharty will be used for the launch. The club says it is pleased to continue its link with Scotland's only community-owned distillery. It also used Glen Wyvis gin to christen the skiff, Tern.
The public are warmly invited to attend the launch and will be directed to parking areas for the launch and can combine attendance at the launch with refreshments and shopping available in The Storehouse until 5pm.
The chairperson of the club, Hazel Inglis, said: "This is another historic day for our club and we are very proud of our volunteer builders who are an integral part of our club and without them there would be no boats, no rowing and no club. We are looking forward to introducing the opportunity of sailing a traditional boat to all our members who are aged 12-80+ and new members are always welcome."
