Discover Martinique's round yoles
It is impossible to talk about sailing in Martinique without mentioning round yoles. Round yoles are traditional boats from Martinique, dating back several centuries, which are now best known thanks to the Tour des Yoles Rondes de Martinique. Here we tell you more about these traditional boats.
What is a round skiff?
To put it simply, a yole is a wooden boat just over 10 meters long, unstable and narrow, equipped with two sails (100 m² in total) and without a keel, centerboard, ballast, or rudder. A large paddle is used to steer it, and long pieces of wood called "bwa dressé" are used to balance the boat. It is these upright pieces of wood that make sailing a yole such an impressive spectacle.
Thus, suspended above the water, the ten or so crew members of a yole must lean on the eight or nine upright poles wedged on one side of the boat to counterbalance it and allow it to right itself. At the slightest change of tack signaled by the skipper, they must move the poles to the other side of the boat and quickly reposition themselves, while 1 to 3 crew members maneuver with the paddle. It's technical and athletic!
Where do Martinique's round yoles come from?
When attempting to trace the origins of the round skiff, we first encounter the gommier. The ancestor of the skiff, the gommier was a boat carved directly from the wood of the tree of the same name (white gum tree), which was used by Native Americans.
A few centuries later, after the arrival of European settlers, the disappearance of Native Americans, the arrival of slaves from Africa, and the abolition of slavery, we find ourselves in the 1950s. Gommier boats still existed and were mainly used by fishermen. However, gommier wood was becoming scarce and cutting it down was prohibited. It was then that the carpenters of the time came up with the round yole, a model made of assembled wood, which still closely resembled the gommier boats.
Although yoles were historically used by fishermen, today they are mainly used for sporting purposes. It was the fishermen themselves who initiated this change, with the creation of tiraj, races they held to determine who would return to port the fastest after a fishing trip. The races then grew in popularity, particularly with the creation of a betting system and the organization of races during local festivals. Then, in 1966, four yoles competed in the first tour of Martinique.
All this led to what is now known as the Tour des Yoles de Martinique, a seven-stage, seven-day regatta in which numerous rowing clubs compete, their sails bearing the names of the companies that sponsor them.
And since 2020, Martinique's round yole has been added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list, in order to preserve traditional construction and sailing practices.
Where can you go rowing in Martinique?
Fortunately, rowing is not just for competitors in the Tour des Yoles Rondes de Martinique. Several yole associations offer introductory sessions for young and old alike. Thanks to baby yoles and mini yoles, it is possible totry out this unique sport and demonstrate your balancing skills!
Head to the Atlantic coast, the birthplace of the yole, to try your hand at this sport in Le Robert, Le Vauclin, Le François or Le Marin.
Article written by: Axelle Dorville