Amateur Yacht Research Society

I very much enjoyed the recent Zoom meeting about Alastair Law's Paradox micro cruiser. There was a bit of discussion about auxiliary power which brought to mind something I saw recently billed as an 'electric yuloh' (well actually an 'electric godille' because they are French):


https://www.temofrance.com/en_GB/

This seems rather expensive for what it is but it looks like they have put significant thought, design effort and money into the development.

There are some exciting developments in single oar sculling in France at the moment with enthusiastic racing improving the breed. Sprint speeds in excess of 5.5 knots are being achieved with usefully sized boats. Some links:

https://universitedelagodille.org/
https://alexderoc.wixsite.com/alternav-groix/godille



Lastly, I agree that Paradox probably leans heavily on its rudder for lateral resistance, much like the traditional sailing boats of Venice which have an aft-mounted rig and large rudders (and have flat bottoms):



I sailed one for a day and it handled very well.

The electric 'godille' looks neat and simple - a clever design. We have several AYRS members who are experimenting with Yulohs and may not be aware that this is a recognised sport in France - perhaps we could mention this in our publications.
John