I caught this beauty sleeping with her mizzen mast off in Great Cove last week. She’s a Caledonia yawl, part of a worldwide fleet of light, very sailable 19.5-foot double-ended boats designed by Iain Oughtred.
Oughtred, an eminent designer of plans for home boatbuilders, was born in Australia, but migrated to Scotland to do some of his best work. The design for his Caledonias was inspired by traditional Scottish boats that, in turn, were created under the influence of old Scandinavian designs. (“Caledonia,” as you may know, is Latin for Scotland.)
Curiously, the Caledonia shown here is named “Ned Ludd,” after the legendary 19th Century English weaver. Reportedly, Ned Ludd, after being whipped for idleness, became enraged, destroyed machinery, and started a violent movement against the Industrial Revolution. His followers were called “Luddites.”
Ned’s wooden namesake shown here was built by New England boatbuilder Geoff Kerr and launched in 1994. She’s been a familiar sight sailing around here this summer with her mizzen sail on:
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 20 [no sails] and July 7 [sails], 2022.)