Yuloh What I'm Talking About

[Will Gilmore]

Among the many many projects and modifications I have planned for Dragonfly, I am thinking of making a yuloh to use as a backup auxilery instead of paddles.

This video shows a pretty good sized boat being driven along by a yuloh.
This article gives a good overview of how they work and shows how to build one from a couple of inexpensive spruce boards and a pivot pin. http://www.simplicityboats.com/yulohpage2.html
My plan is to make one that is collapsible and easy to stow (take up about the same space as a pair of long handled paddles). On a 19' 1500lb sailboat, I need easy to use and easy to stow. I love rowing but oars seem like a real pain in the a.. ah hem. Paddles really don't have much power and it really requires two with practiced coordination to make it at all practical. Sitting on the bow to single hand paddle is an option, but, again, not very powerful.
The yuloh looks like it might be just the ticket for emergency backup when a mechanical auxilery is out of fuel.
What do you all think? Any experience?
Maneuverability or steering issues? Room in a marina?

- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

Do you have to sing when you use it?

 

[topcat0399]

It is my intention to have my boat yuloh equipped prior to departing on the Great Loop.
Look at what they do with these things in the far east!

 

[JRacer]

We just rocked the J24 side to side and cruised right along.

 

[Ted]

As demonstrated in a perfect world...
Using it in the real world against wind and current...
How would you stop to avoid hitting me...
Sounds like a fun project for a smaller boat. Please post your video here...

 

[Ron20324]

Uummm.... if you have a transom-hung rudder, you already have one. It's called sculling.

 

[Will Gilmore]

Do you have to sing when you use it?

I believe you have to yodel.
Here is a link to Sven Yrvind' Web site and a set of videos. The first is his yuloh project. http://www.yrvind.com/various/four-videos-presenting-some-of-yrvinds-ideas/

Using it in the real world against wind and current...
How would you stop to avoid hitting me...

I have never used a yuloh. Never even seen one outside a video. I assume, to stop, you flatten the blade and dig it in. It certainly doesn't look like reverse would be easy. Thus, I would suggest that if you see someone powering along with a yuloh, he has right of way as the less maneuverable vessel

Uummm.... if you have a transom-hung rudder, you already have one. It's called sculling.

Not even close. I've wagged my rudder a lot and it's never gotten me anywhere, both actually and figuratively.

- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Snorri Eriksen]

I’ve been reading these forums for a year. Yuloh thread finally convinced me to join up!

I’m in the process of building a yuloh for my Sailmaster 22. There is a pile of info out there on the web. The best I’ve found is this:
http://junkrigassociation.org/Resources/Documents/Slieve's Files/Yuloh efficiency.pdf

And this (which is strongly related):
http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/11/howto/yuloh/index2.htm

Some key parts: the bend in the loom should be way up near the end not near the fulcrum. The blade crossection should be flat on top and rounded beneath. These things are clearly visible in all the Chinese images of yulohs (that plural looks funny, Yuli?) but westerners making yulohs seem to ignore this.

Also there is a propulsion genius named Atsushi Doi (check out his other videos too) who has devised several sculling variants, most interestingly a flapping power fin:

This guy took his mastless , motorless sailboat from California to Hawaii in 48 days.

 

[Will Gilmore]

I’ve been reading these forums for a year. Yuloh thread finally convinced me to join up!

Snorri,
I'm glad you decided to join us. Welcome.
Your post is exactly what I'm looking for. My conclusions, after reading several articles and watching videos, is that the right construction is important. Your included article, while I haven't had time to puruse it fully, contains the information I've been looking for. If it works out for Dragonfly, my O'day mariner 19, I will try to market custom yulohs (yuli?) for others. They will, of course, have custom artwork burned or carved into them.
I've searched and have not found a commercial source for yuloh, but there does seem to be growing interest. I'm fascinated by them.

- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Hydro Therapy]

Definitely cool, I’ve never seen one before. I don’t think it would work in my docking area. The lateral current while docking is brutal. I have to come in hot and aim for the neighboring upside slip.

 

[TomY]

AUKLET came in Rockport Harbor, under sail and yuloh power. I met the owner, Shemaya (port side), at the docks, and had a tour of this Bolger Glass house design. Fantastic boat! Shemaya had it built and customized for her use. AUKLET has an outboard but she's been happier with the yuloh. She also converted to junk rig for ease of reefing and handling.

Here she is having a visit with a relative that came to see her.

 

[mm2347]

Lin and Larry Pardy used a yuloh on their 28' heavy cruiser. I would guess that they did not try to go against heavy conditions, but overall the yuloh seemed to be easier to move their boat with than oars.

 

[LeslieTroyer]

I think I’ll use a tow boat and let insurance deal with the pain

Mahalo

 

[Scott T-Bird]

If you are using it for exercise and demonstration of your minimalist skills, I'd say it's a great idea. Read James Baldwin "Bound for Distant Seas" and you will get a sense of it's usefulness. He lived aboard Atom with virtually no use of electrical or fuel-driven mechanics.
If you want it to back up your auxiliary engine, I'd say it's probably a waste of effort.

 

[Will Gilmore]

Came across this video while looking up 'speed yuloh' on YouTube. Very interesting and I thought you all would like to see it.

- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[jssailem]

If your just moving short distance in the marina some form of oar power seems doable. Not so good to battle a current with a heavy boat. Better to toss anchor and wait till tide is going in the desired direction.

 

[shemandr]

I'm un-stunned with that as a means of propulsion.

 

[Michael Davis]

That and sails! Very "green"of you Will.

 

[Will Gilmore]

If your just moving short distance in the marina some form of oar power seems doable. Not so good to battle a current with a heavy boat. Better to toss anchor and wait till tide is going in the desired direction.

The point, for me, is to have some form of hand operated backup to an auxilery motor. The yuloh seems like a much better idea than my original one of a long paddleboard paddle.
I don't think any alternative is going to overcome every condition. The anchor is not a bad emergency measure, but it won't get you to the dock of you run out of both wind and motor power.

As an aside, I plan on installing battery/solar electricity to run an Auxilery electric motor. I am not looking for a motor boat nor am I looking to battle heavy seas or great distances without wind power. I need to get from boat ramp to rigging dock and under the occasional bridge. Otherwise, I will sail as though I have no power auxilery.
I just like the idea of promoting electric propulsion as the mechanical power of the future plus the quite and lack of smell. I grew up on diesel fumes, not gasoline fumes.

- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Will Gilmore]

That is beautiful work.
Make the pin and socket out of lignum vitae and it should last decades.
Here's an elevation drawing of a yuloh

The line from tiller end to deck makes it easier to hold the shaft down as the blade digs in and pushes forward against the pivot point.

Here's a video of a large yuloh maneuvering in a crowded canal

This video cam be found under the search terms 'speed yuloh'

- Will (Dragonfly)