I’m just curious I had heard that there is a engine-less BCC out there. My little FC is so easy to maneuver around with just a Yuloh. I would love to compare the handling characteristics if anyone out there has a Yoloh on their BCC.
Hiya. Now that we’ve figured out that I’m not buying your FC :), do you have detailed build notes or anything similar for your yuloh? My FC came with a 9.8 Tohatsu outboard, but the yuloh idea has interested me for a while.
Thanks!
I have some info and measurements on my website a friend made it for me because I couldn’t afford a small outboard, if you search my site for Yuloh you will find some info. I’m shooting a video and will post it on my blog in a few weeks.
Ahoy Barefoot , I am anxious to see that video of your Yuloh Oar , in action .
My wife owns and sails her Cape Dory Typhoon , and we experimented with fabricating our own Yuloh oar, using internet searches for information.
We still have not sorted her oar out, but the desire is still there.
The BCC owner of “Voyager of Yokohama” (sp-?) also was experimenting with a Yuloh oar , but hasn’t updated us with his results yet , Ouch !
So who cast the Yuloh bronze pivot, and are there more of them available ?
Right now I’m using a 50 year old brass ball drawer nob screwed into a piece of wood clamped to my rail while I work on the design. 
PS it works flawlessly
I had the “oportunity” to paddle my BCC around last winter when repowering - from her slip to the dry sail hoist… and back. It was… interesting… in still air. But not something I’d want to do when any kind of wind is blowing. Stopping 14,000 pounds as you’re approaching a dock under paddle power is no fun.
Cheers,
Jeremy
Ahoy Jeremy , T Y for that paddling a BCC info and evaluation.
Yes , paddling or rowing or sculling a 9 ton BCC , has to include a heap of planning ahead .
Of course L & L can make boating look so easy , because of much practice , they do before hand .
They also use their danforth boomkin anchor for quite a bit of manouvering in marinas . Like dinghying the anchor out away from the pontoon, to haul Taleisin into open water , or dropping it in upon approach to use as a brake or to re-haul their boat back out to open water .
The most speed my wife ever got on her C/D, with her Yuloh Oar mock-up’s was about a knot and a half , certainly not enough to power into a tidal current, but we felt our trial attempts were encouraging , and are hoping to refine our oar and technique .
Eventhough L & L’s oar is not a “Yuloh Oar” , but instead just a long lifeboat oar , with that oriental lanyard , they never said what average speed they could make . Yes , they also accepted tows from time to time , both when approaching harbor and departing .
Hands Down , L & L are sailors through and through , and if there is a puff of breeze , anywhere , they will be sailing and not sculling .
For the record, I admire and respect Lyn and Larry Pardey. I have read all their books, sometimes twice and watched all their video’s more times than I can remember but I don’t buy into their ability to scull Taleisin with easy. Taleisin displaces 18,000 lb. Overcoming the inertia to start the boat moving is significant. Stopping the boat once it is moving must be “very interesting.” Lyn is an excellent at marketing their product. Engines and modern sail furling gear do not fit their business model.
Then how do they get into an anchorage or harbor when there is no wind? They ask via a VHS radio if other boats in the harbor or at anchor will come out and tow them. L&L nearly lost Taleisin coming out of Saint George cut in very light wind. The information is from seasoned cruisers who were in Bermuda at the time and watched them sail.
A person can scull a Falmouth 22 or Flicka but I question the practicality of sculling a BCC. Further, I would not want to be caught on a lee shore without an engine.
Now that “I got that off my chest” I will step down from my soapbox.
Cheers,
BCC IDUNA
Thanks Rod , your soap-box is well rigged and knowledgable , sail her well .
When possable , L & L , let a few of their fans know ahead of time the port area they expect to be approaching, so there is a “Heads Up” in the fleet already, by the time they drag out their H/H VHF .
My wife and I have watched some online video of Chinese inland cannel skiffs, sculling around with their yuloh oars , but as you said , they couldn’t beat off a lee shore .
I am just very curious as a boater , as to how effective a yuloh oar, used properly , can be , on a BCC size boat .
I look forward to Barefoot’s video , in the mean time .
This is just my 2 cents which is all its worth…
Here’s what I’m learning so far, first off my decision for the yuloh was initially based off poverty, not tradition.
Second being that the FC is we well…kinda of like a toy when it comes to maneuvering, definitely feels light and agile. Sails go up instantly why scull when you can sail, she handles so well and seems to sail in 3 knots of wind with just the main and staysail. I can do one knot in a dead calm with the yuloh and it can be scary at times “read frightening” but challenging, always more fun with good sailing crew. You always have to watch the tides and be patient.
On the flip side If I had to listen to a motor for more than 10 minutes I would give up sailing forever. I sail for the purity of it, motors kill that for me. Just like a skier cant ski when there is no snow and a surfer cant surf when there are no waves, I cant sail unless the conditions present themselves.
Anyways I didn’t want to start an engine less tread, just very curious about how the BCC handles under Yuloh as there may be one in my future.
BTW if my funds were limitless I would sail a 40’ Hess with a big electric motor and all female crew. I use what I have and love it and learn something new every time I get the boat out.
I’m interested in the yuloh for my FC both for sailing purity reasons (as Barefoot mentions), and for practicality… there’s less that can wrong with a big wooden oar than with an outboard motor. Also, I think the yuloh would weigh considerably less than the 100lb outboard, and be less likely to be stolen.
Having said all that, the slip I’m looking at getting is a bit up a river from the actual coast in Portsmouth, NH. (Great Bay Marine, if anyone’s interested.) I think that motoring upstream is going to be something I’ll have to do unless I’m able to sail it.
I think I bought “Best Boats to Build or Buy” about 14 years ago, and I still find it hard to believe that I’m finally buying my first real sailboat… and it’s a Hess.