We’d like to introduce you to the newest boat in our fleet. Meet Iolaire (pronounced yawl’-a-rah), which means “eagle” in Gaelic. She is a Scottish sixern, a Shetland Island fishing boat. The sixern is descended from the Norse seksæring, meaning six-oared boat – ancestor of the schooner.
Iolaire only has four oars and is a standing lug-rigged schooner. Her masts are nearly equal in height and both are removable for easy storage.
Built in 1984 for Dr. Kenneth Leighton, author of Oar and Sail (Creekstone Press, 1999), she was also once owned by Maynard Bray’s grandson. We found her in Vermont and she made her way to us this fall.
Our hope is that she’ll be a more stable small boat that we can launch once the big schooner is at anchor – for those who didn’t get enough sailing during the day.
6 Comments
Harold Hoffman
December 22, 2014 at 2:14 pmI think she could make it to the Shetland Islands!
Annie Mahle
January 1, 2015 at 10:42 amUmmm…. 🙂
Pat hardy
December 22, 2014 at 6:19 pmShe’s a Beauty!!
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Cindy Fullerton
December 22, 2014 at 8:59 pmBeautiful Congratulations! and Merry Christmas, Cindy Fullerton
James Keene
December 23, 2014 at 8:07 amCongratulations and three cheers to the Mahles. What a great Christmas present!!
Jim
SpinDot
January 16, 2015 at 8:38 pmYou know, now you have to get ONE MORE schooner so the Mahle-Finger family each have one! Congratulations! That’s great news! Fair winds for them all!