Cambridge
School of Navigation   John Starkie,  PhD,  RNR

 

Zulu

The Scotch (Scottish) Fifie of the 19th century was double ended with little or no rake to either the stem or the stern post,  and usually with two lug sails and a jib.   The Skaffie had both stem and stern post sharply raked,  with the stem strongly curved:  its keel  was therefore shorter than that of the Fifie,  and so it answered the helm,  and changed tack,  more readily than the Fifie,  which tended to hold its heading better in a strong wind.

 

In 1878 William Campbell built a boat with the bows and vertical stem of a Fifie and the raked stern of a Skaffie.   The local fishermen called this style of boat a Zulu (At that time the British were fighting the Zulu in South Africa!).

 

In 2015 Kate was being restored in a field in Suffolk.   The top picture shows her vertical stem,  the bottom picture shows her raked stern-post (without her rudder).

 

John Starkie

January 2019

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