LyoLyok – an insight into Wharram Catamarans

While uber fast state of the art catamarans were winning the Fastnet Race last week, an interesting catamaran was being lifted out of the water in Shamrock Quay for some routine maintenance and the odd modification. A rather prettily named Wharram Cat, TK 26 called LyoLyok built by current owner Steve Duke three years ago with wonderfully bright green hulls.

LyoLyok – Rudder

Wharram catamarans are simple boats and consist of two canoe shaped hulls. They lie very low to the water and consequently can be very exhilarating to sail. The design is based on what island traders used to sail in the Pacific. LyoLyok is made out of marine ply and held together basically with 4mm string. No joke! Have a look at the picture of how the rudder is attached and the lashings of the cross spars holding the canoe shaped hulls together. They are capable of sailing across oceans and I did once meet some German guys in the Azores who were crossing the Atlantic on one.

LyoLyok is named after a female goose, in a book called The Once and Future King by T.H.White. The goose teaches the King-to-be, Arthur (who has at this stage been turned into a goose by Merlin), how to navigate.

LyoLyok seems a very fitting name for a type of boat that takes its origins from vessels sailed by navigating pioneers who found their way using the sun and the stars, and estimated positions, and dead reckoning – some of which you can learn about in the Day Skipper Theory course.

Posted by: firstclass