Scottish Coastal Rowing

Skiffs from Anstruther, Portobello, Port Seton, North Berwick and Eyemouth will be at North Queensferry’s Traditional Boat Festival on Sat 11 Sept. North Queensferry Boat Club is raising money and interest to build their own skiff.

The Skiffs will be on display on the pier until 3pm, when there will be racing over an 800 yard course close to the Forth Rail Bridge in Mixed Open and Mixed 40+ classes.

Entrance to the Boat Festival is £4 for adults, £2 Conc. Visitors to the Festival should park at the Deep Sea World Park and Ride just off the A90 north of the Road Bridge, and use the free bus service to get to the harbour area.

For more information on the skiff racing, please contact Alec Jordan on 01592 560162 or email kits@scottishcoastalrowing.org

The “Scottish Coastal Rowing Project – Queensferry” are on the move with their build. On Wednesday, they moved in to their palatial workshop, and on Friday took delivery of their first kit.

The “workshop” is actually a retail unit next door to the local Co-op. The windows have been filled with information and pictures of the skiffs at other locations, and collecting buckets placed outside (when there is someone in the building!). I had quite a long chat with the team after we had unloaded the kit, and every few minutes there was a “thunk” as some more coins hit the bucket.

They have loads of enthusiasm,and their public visibility will assuredly get the local community involved in a big way.

The race is on – with North Queensferry – who have already said that this is the only skiff race between the two towns that they will be behind!

Alec Jordan

Well Saturday was a great day for rowing in North Berwick, sadly the wind was just too much on Sunday for any racing. Well done to the following crews for winning the round Craigleith race:-

• Men’s Open Rowing race:  “Coigach Lass”, Achiltilbuie
• Women’s Open Rowing Race:  “Boatie Rows”, Port Seton and Cockenzie
• Mens over 40 Rowing Race:  “Boatie Rows”, Port Seton and Cockenzie.
• Women’s  over 40 Rowing Race:  “Chris O’Kinnard”,  Anstruther

More photos here

North Berwick became the first community to have use of two St Ayles skiffs, when their second was named, launched and raced on Saturday 28 August 2010.  The boat is named “Skiff John B.” in memory of the last Provost of North Berwick, John Macnair, whose family donated a substantial sum of money to allow the kit to be bought.  The boat was pushed from John Macnair’s former home in Forth Street to the beach,  led by the North Berwick Pipe Band.  John’s son, also John, was heavily invovled in the building of the boat, and was joined at the ceremony by his brother Billy and sister Wendy, and a crowd of around 400 people.

The small community of Catterline on the Aberdeenshire coast has received its first St Ayles skiff kit.  The builders are doing some finishing touches to their workshop before boat building starts in earnest.  More information  and contacts for the build can be found here:   http://catterline.org/coastalRowing

We understand that East Lothian Yacht Club will be hosting St Ayles skiff racing at North Berwick as part of their annual traditional boat muster.  The outline plan is to have long course races on Saturday morning in open and over40 categories for men and women.  The intention is to race around Craigleith, which should take crews between 20 and 30 minutes.  The afternoon will feature sailing events, although there is also a raft race in North Berwick bay (organised by others in aid of RNLI) starting at 4.30pm.  On Sunday it is anticipated that there will be races in mixed open and 40+, and mens and womens and mixed 18-, and 55+ over a more usual 600m course involving a starboard 180 turn.  Note 55 rather than 60, in the hope we can get a bit more participation amongst the baby boomers.  CAn we find some womens crews in this cateroty?  More details to follow when we have them.

 Ian Clark and I have volunteered to organise a regatta on the Saturday of this event for the St. Ayles Skiffs. We are also planning to take some of the Royal West fixed seat boats down to allow SCRA member clubs and the general public access to them. Think Ian has phoned round most of the clubs to advise of this. If any clubs would like to take part and have not already done so please get in touch ASAP so that we can arrange a race programme. Adam Graham adam_graham@hotmail.com Royal West of SABC

We have a had a lot of weird & wonderful subscribers added to the user list of this blog, many with Russian email addresses.  As these are “junk” subscribers, I have deleted a large number of subscribers who I believe fit in this category.

If I have deleted any genuine names, my sincere apologies – please re-subscribe, but please put a real name against your SCRA username when doing so.

Alec Jordan

UKCC Fixed Seat Rowing Course

Further to Ian Clark’s email around the association on 14th July there has been a small but encouraging uptake of the UKCC course being run by Welsh Rowing at Aberystwyth Rowing Club on 10th-13th September. Three members of Royal West have confirmed their attendance and there is interest from Ullapool, North Berwick and Cumbrae. Applications need to be with Sarah Hayward or Welsh Rowing by Friday this week.

The course covers

• Safety on the water
• Management of risk & incidents
• Developing technique, skill and fitness
• Planning and reviewing goals
• Checking and setting equipment

At the end of the course the participants should have a very good understanding of approved coaching policy and technique as well as a nationally recognised coaching qualification. They can use this for the benefit of their clubs and the SCRA in general.

It has been suggested by Sarah Hayward of Welsh Rowing that with enough interest, and the correct logistics, this course could be run in Scotland. It would be our intention to further this discussion while in Aberystwyth.

Adam Graham

adam_graham@hotmail.com

Royal West of SABC

• Safety on the water
• Management of risk & incidents
• Developing technique, skill and fitness
• Planning and reviewing goals
• Checking and setting equipment

Royal West in Greenock have ordered two kits. They hope to start construction on or about 16th August. They have gone into partnership with a local training trust whereby Royal West provide all the materials, boatbuilding expertise and project management and the training trust provide trainees and a workshop. The local authority and sports council are also helping with funding on the basis that once the skiffs are launched the trainees, and groups from within the community, will have access and coaching.

Having seen most of the launched skiffs the team at Royal West are interested in some of the bespoke features, primarily the gunwale and foot rest designs. In the spirit of the association they would love  to trade our knowledge of fixed seat rowing, coaching and training for access to drawings, the boats and the builders!  Adam Graham can be contacted at the email address below. Royal West also extend an open invitation to any SCRA club to come down to Royal West and see the types of boats they have been using for the last 143 years! Contact Adam or Ian Clark who would welcome the opportunity to show you round the boatsheds and take you out on the Clyde. Having been the beacon of coastal rowing that has been kept burning in Scotland they are very excited by the revival of fixed seat rowing and keen to get people and skiffs on the water.

Adam Graham adam_graham@hotmail.com Royal West of SABC

A  report will be put here in due course but in the meantime we have come accross a photo blog of the day here:  http://scotland4thesenses.blogspot.com/2010/07/return-of-portobellos-rowing-regatta.html

After a quiet couple of months on skiff sales, I’m very happy to say that the total number of kits sold has now reached 28.

These have come from…

Royal West at Greenock who have ordered two kits,

Eyemouth’s 2nd, to be built in the High School,

Catterline, who finally have the space in which to to build,

South Queensferry, adding another to the many on the south side of the Forth,

and finally Fife has woken up, with Pittenweem and Crail getting in on the act.

Other places in Fife are getting clubs going, and it seems possible that the spring of 2011 will see another 8 skiffs built in Fife.

There has also been new interest from Helmsdale and Lochgilphead.  My spy in Stornoway tells me that there there is renewed interest in Lewis and Harris and at Gairloch.

With the way the numbers are building up, I think it is very likely that by the first regatta in 2011, there will be something in the order of 40 skiffs on the water.

Thank you all who have purchased the kits.

Alec Jordan

The Eyemouth community rowing Project Launched their first boat officialy on Sunday 11 July.  Immediately after the offficial launch she was rowed around to Eyemouth Beach by what I think was the heaviest and powerful crew I have seen in a St Ayles.  When those young men get practiced, any other men’s open crew had better watch out!

On the start line on a very breezy day

Radio Scotland sent a reporter to cover the event, and the piece on the rowing can be found at BBC iPlayer at 38:00 or thereabouts.

Unity of Eyemouth

GalGael are hosting a festival on the Isle of Cumbrae on the weekend of 14/15th August. They would love as many skiffs as possible to attend this international event, which is the first of its kind to be held.  There will be visiting traditional coastal rowing boats visiting from Spain,Portugal, Ireland and we hope france and this will provide everyone with an opportunity to meet likeminded people from far and wide.The visiting international crews are all keen to have a go in the skiffs and would love folk to have a go in their boats.  If any skiffies would like to take part then could you please let Martin Hughes at Galgael know asap.

 www.sailandoar.co.uk and www.galgael.org

At Portobello’s suggestion, I’ve uploaded the full results from Portsoy – the only thing was that I cannot remember whether it was Cockenzie or Port Seton that won the Mixed Open on the Saturday!

Portsoy Results

Chris Perkins has started the process of uploading his videos to Youtube.

The first is Coigach v Port Seton.

I will add links to others as he lets me know that they have been uploaded.

Safe to say that everyone was a winner.  The skiff racing at Portsoy was a fantastic event in wonderful weather. 

It was at Portsoy last year that promotion really started for the Scottish Coastal Rowing Project, with Iain Oughtred still working away at his drawing board.  It was fantastic to see six skiffs racing at the event, especially with the knowledge that many more are already in build. 

Recognition of the attention that the project has received can be seen from the fact that Scotland’s First minister came along in order to watch our racing and present the prizes.  Every one was a winner, but some are more winner than others, so congratulations to Port Seton for winning three events: the mixed open, men’s over 40 and Women’s over 40; to North Berwick for winning the mixed over 40, to Coigach for winning the men’s open, and to Anstruther for winning the Women’s open.

See post below for Flickr link.

From the reaction of the Organisers of Portsoy when I said goodbye to them on Monday morning, the title of this post will be the show’s title next year.   I have booked the whole of the Links campsite for Skiffies for next year (I wish).

First set of pictures on Flickr have been posted, courtesy of Chris Perkins.  I could not decide which of them should be in this post!

I’m expecting to get a link to Kathy Mansfield’s set in a day or two, and I will get the official results up here in the morning.

To all who attended this weekend’s fun, a massive thank you, to all who haven’t yet built themselves a Skiff, time to get building to join the fun!

Alec J