Inspired by The Aegre, the Stroma Yole being built on Clydeside in Glasgow by Peter Matheson is expected to be at the Glenglassaugh Scottish Traditional Boat Festival at Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, 27-29 June 2025.
The boat, named after another American lady (Peter’s wife), still awaits completion of the deck house, engine and sailing rig. Time is running out for Peter who relies on volunteers to help. “With one volunteer I can do the work of three” he says, “No experience required” . Peter is building the new boat, American Lady, at Clydeside Traditional Boatbuilders, Rothesay Dock Clydebank by Glasgow G81 1LX. He’s there everyday and welcomes visitors with a cup of tea and a job to do. Please visit or you can email Peter via myself at nick@nicholasgrainger.com.au
Below, American Lady, as at 25 April 2025, photo by Lorraina Matheson, the American lady’s daughter. Go here for more photos.
Reading The Voyage of The Aegre, inspired Peter Matheson to build American Lady. However American Lady is not intended to be an exact replica of The Aegre. She is a similar size and built in a similar way, but has a different deck configuration, and her heritage is that of a Stroma Yole, rather than a Shetland model, the origin of The Aegre.
However Matheson, looking at the photographs of The Aegre being built in Wick in 1965 (see photos here), says she has the lines of a Stroma Yole. Well I’ll leave that debate to the local experts.
You can learn a lot more about Orkney Yoles here and in a wonderful book published by The Orkney Yole Association in 2021.
So please, if you are anywhere close to Glasgow, please contact Peter and lend a hand with finishing American Lady. Even a day will help.
Many thanks
Nick Grainger
Visit The Voyage of the Aegre home page.
