SCRA News

Well it started out as Six Harbours but this year it became Five Harbours and an Island!

For host club, Findochty Water Sports Club (FWSC), this was the fifth year rowing this beautiful stretch of coast. This year saw 20 skiffs from all over the North East of Scotland gather for the event and the weather gods really smiled on us!

A light North-Easterly breeze, plenty of sunshine, and calm seas made perfect conditions for our early launch! From the 17 th century Portsoy Harbour, the skiffs set off on water like glass. We were accompanied by five FWSC yachts and a couple of leisure craft, which acted as safety boats for the day.

We rowed west past Sandend Bay, local surfing mecca then marvelled at the cliff-top Findlater Castle (standing tall since the 1200s!), and then were treated to a dolphin show courtesy of our local Moray Firth residents!  After soaking up the views (and the sun!), we stopped off in Cullen Harbour where the Cullen Sea School crew kept us going with teas, coffees, and delicious fancy pieces! Refuelled and ready, off we went again!

Rowing past the iconic Bow Fiddle Rock, then onto Portknockie Harbour. A quick stop at Findochty Harbour, followed by a lap around the Craigenroan – a wee island, home to grey and common seals!

For the grand finale we raced the ebbing tide back into Findochty Harbour to recover the skiffs before the mud claimed them! Great teamwork as always within the coastal rowing community.  Rowers were rewarded back at the FWSC Howff by mountains of sandwiches, soup, and tasty treats, helped along by Walkers and Tesco who supported the event.

Huge shoutout to all the clubs who joined the adventure:
Findochty, Portsoy, Cullen, Whitehills, Burghead, North Kessock, Findhorn, Collieston, Broughty Ferry, Chanonry and Fortrose, Lossiemouth, Cromarty, Catterline, Nairn, and Loch Tay!

And to top it all off,  we raised a fantastic £1200 for Buckie RNLI – supporting their vital lifesaving work at sea. Plus, FWSC raised some extra funds to help spruce up the Findochty toilets.

What a day! Stunning scenery, perfect weather, dolphins, seals, amazing company, and raising cash for brilliant causes! A massive thank you to everyone involved – rowers, volunteers, supporters. You made it truly special. Already counting down to next year!

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In just over 4 weeks time the 5th Skiff World Championships will take place in Stranraer and clubs will be starting to gear themselves up for this great event. We want to make sure everyone really enjoys the coming together of clubs from all over the world so we have provided some information to help make things run as smooth as possible, Loading... Taking too long?

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In years when a Skiff World Championship takes place, Ullapool Regatta moves from July to May. Thus on Friday 23rd May the 2k Youth races started at 1800 after the ferry departed.

After 3 weeks of unbroken solid sunshine, the weather started to break up and so the youth crews of Eastern, Ullapool, Strathpeffer and two from Lossiemouth had a bumpy ride over the loch and back. Many of the U17 and U19 crews were in fact 14 years old, so well done for them putting in such competitive times.

The forecast for Sunday was too windy for racing, with winds peaking at 49mph and heavy showers. We reluctantly decided on Thursday to call off Sunday’s races and concentrate on Saturday to give clubs and rowers time to change their plans.

Saturday dawned brighter, calmer and drier than forecast, which made for enjoyable racing and some warm sunshine. In alphabetical order, Burghead, Broughty, Collieston, Cromarty, Eastern, Findhorn, Golspie, Lossiemouth, Nairn, North Berwick, St Ayles (Anstruther), Strathpeffer, Ullapool and Wormit battled it out in 12 races. Because the 40+ and the 60+ races on Sunday were cancelled it was possible to give lanes to some of those crews in the U40 and 280+ races, with separate medals.

After the medal ceremony there was a ceilidh dance in the Ferry Terminal with excellent local musicians Duncan,  Solais and Chailein on guitar, pipes and box. The highlight was perhaps the Virginia Reel with about 150 dancers. It’s always amazing, the energy with which rowers dance all evening after rowing their socks off all day.

A new feature at this regatta was the invitation to members of other clubs to take some boat umpire and chief umpire training from experienced mentors Lindsay Watt and Andy Rendle. This eased the work load on Ullapool members and laid the foundation for umpiring skills for the Worlds. Coxes also gained experience keeping in lane with side winds and tide, and doing tight neat turns in 20 metre lanes.

Thanks to all visiting rowers who helped with umpiring, and to the safety boat and umpire boat crews. Paul Hamilton in Patricia, Ptolemy Goad in Saorsa, and Mike Peterson and crew in the WRS workboat took great care of the fleet.

Ullapool Harbour Trust’s generous support with insurance, loan of the tent, use of the ferry terminal, and close coordination with harbour traffic is essential to us, and without it we could not possible run the event.

Roy Macgregor accurately lays two heavy 50kg anchors which hold the end of the start line, and Josh Talbot and Heddle Costie kindly agreed to lay and haul the 450 metre start line.

Jonathan Reid (who also commentates) and I lay and lift the 500m turn line with his boat Saorsa.

A posse of UCRC members raises and lowers the Harbour marquee.

We are lucky to live in a place where people are so willing to help and it is truly a community event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ullapool residents and visitors enjoy the spectacle of the regatta and offer a warm welcome to rowers from all over Scotland.

Thanks also to the Gaelic Choir, Coisir Ghaidhlig an Iar Thuath, who provided the refreshments on Saturday. Their conductor Lisa MacDonald also took turns at the commentary, rowed in races and came to the dance so she had a busy day!

Congratulations to Lossiemouth for winning the Youth Trophy and to Eastern for winning the overall Harbour Trophy. Starting from a not very promising weather forecast we had a great time.

Topher Dawson, Ullapool CRC.

7 skiffs took part in this annual event.  Those attending were North Queensferry, Blackrocks, Elie, Crail, St Ayles/Anstruther, St Andrews and Wormit.

The clubs take in turn to organise this outing.  This year it was Wormit, whose members rose to the challenge and ensured smooth organisation on the day.

he weather was sunny but the wind was gusting to 35mph.  Thankfully, because of the sheltered nature of the loch, we were able to proceed. The races were completed in good spirit with Elie and Wormit in a close challenge. Wormit finally nudged ahead to win the Fife Cup.

Crail are organising for next year and will continue what has become a great social event. As ever – a big thanks to Andy Rendle for his starter’s duties and keeping everyone in line! Attached are some images of the day including a group photo, the Wormit team, scene from the beach and the final scoreboard. Iain Oates for Wormit

 

Many people will have known Viv Easton, from Collieston Offshore Rowing Club. It came as a huge shock to learn that she passed suddenly on 17th February 2025. She was often described as a ‘force of nature’, in our rowing community taking a leading role in organising the teams for the North East region at the Freshwater Sprints, jumping into an empty seat at any regatta if other crews were short, leading weekly HIIT classes CORCFIT, and generally taking on any task with gusto…

Today, in a packed church in Oldmeldrum, members from at least 14 different rowing clubs from Queensferry to Ullapool and everywhere in between as well as Durham and Bristol joined her family and their many friends at a moving service to say goodbye to this larger than life character. It was standing room only, a testament to the huge number of people whose lives she had touched. After the service, 32 oars were raised in a moving salute as Viv’s coffin left the church.

Viv would have appreciated the subsequent gathering at Meldrum House Hotel! It gave friends from far and wide the opportunity to reminisce and share stories and she will be sadly missed.

Viv-001

We are getting closer to the 5th St Ayles Skiff World Championships in July and as clubs are preparing themselves for the racing there is a hive of activity going on in Stranraer preparing for the big event.

There is a website now dedicated to the event and this will be updated with all the important information you need to know.

So to keep up to date please visit SkiffieWorlds 2025

Make sure your skiff complies with the International Building and Measurement rules

This year many clubs will be looking forward to attending local regattas and also the World Championships at Stranraer 6th-13th July.

It’s also the time of year when skiffs get repairs, maintenance and painting, so a good time to check that your skiff complies with all the rules.

The full set of rules is on the SASI website:

https://www.staylesinternational.org/building-and-measurement-rules-2023/

I will touch on a few of the main rules and concentrate on what the scrutineers will look at when skiffs arrive at Stranraer.

• The weight of the hull with all seats fitted but all other fittings and equipment removed needs to be at least 150kg, and if it is lighter than that will have to carry sand bags up to 150kg. All skiffs will be weighed at Stranraer on arrival.
• Oarlock fittings are to be made of timber and/or plywood or leather suitable for its purpose. In practice we accept metal fasteners like nails, screws or bolts but not things like metal or plastic thole pins, or loose plastic washers.
• Rudders need to have an underwater area, on one side, of at least 850cm^2 below a specified line which must be painted on the rudder blade in a contrasting colour. This is to allow boat umpires to check that enough rudder blade is in the water to steer the boat quickly enough to avoid a collision.

The rudder is hung on the boat and a line drawn on it projected from the keel rabet line, which is where the keel meets the garboard strake (bottom plank). The reference water line is drawn 390mm above this line, parallel. Alternately, the same line can be drawn parallel to the keel and passing through a point 25mm below the bottom of the fourth plank above the keel where it meets the sternpost.

The area below this line can be calculated by overlaying a 10cm grid and counting whole and part squares. There should be at least 8.5 squares. If the rudder has a lifting blade, it should be lifted till only 850cm^2 is below the line, and a 25mm wide band in contrasting colour painted with its bottom edge at the line. This is so that umpires can check that at least 850cm^2 is submerged.

• Rudder has to be hung from the aft edge of the stern post with the hinge axis no more than 25mm from the stern post at the fittings.
• Oar shall be made of timber and/or plywood. The use of thin plastic or leather sleeving, facing or wear strips fastened to oars to protect wooden parts is permitted. Plastic is to be no more than 6.25mm thick and must not project in its width or length beyond the wooden part it is covering.

 

There should not be any plastic parts like washers or plates on the gunwale or unattached, but leather is allowed.

• Footrests, where used, must be made only of timber or plywood, with other materials used for fixings such as screws and nails but not for adjustable parts of the footrests such as sliders or runners.
• If foot restraints are used, they should be easy to slip the foot out of without using hands.
• Race numbers need to be at least 200mm high.
• The International Rules of Racing for skiffs are also on the SASI website:  https://www.staylesinternational.org/rules-of-racing-2021/ and they contain a list of equipment, rope, bailer, anchor, etc which boats must carryIf you have a new idea and wonder if it complies with the rules, check with the Secretary of the SCRA (secretary@scottishcoastalrowing.org). Photos or sketches are useful. Better to check than arrive at the Worlds with a problem!

Topher Dawson, SCRA.

SRCA are running a Training Development Day in St Andrews from 10am – 4pm for clubs from the Aberdeenshire/Angus/Tayside/Fife and SCRA SE Regions. Clubs can put forward 4 attendees from their club and must provide their names and preference of topics they would like to attend.  The cost of the training will be £5 per head and will include teas / coffees / food – this is being subsidised by SCRA.

Topics to be covered are –

Maintenance
Oar Making
Passage Planning
Preparations for Towing
Preparing for the Worlds
Rules & Regulations

Can clubs please contact secretary@scottishcoastalrowing.org for more information and attendee forms. These must be returned by the 11th November to secure your place.

News from CCRC in Maidens Ayrshire

We held our annual Excisemans Chase on Saturday 21st September and looked after 8 other teams ; FOCCRS/Prestwick/Royal Gourock/Dunure/Troon/Anstruther and for the first time Portpartick /Ayr Renegade  .

There was a slight breeze for the crews heading out to Gas House bay at Culzean  from Maidens Harbour and an easier row back for the return crew but it was a superb coastal sea row and Troon produced the best time and regained the trophy .
It is always great fun as both sets of teams need to walk through the beautiful Culzean either to or from the bay and someone in each boat needs to get out and secure the mini bottle of whisky and take back to maidens .

The mini chase later that day remained in the harbour and again Troon won.

It was so wonderful seeing all these teams and their supporters enjoy our hospitality and bottle stall and just mingle amongst fellow rowers.

Hopefully have some more Autumn/Winter rows on chillier but calmer seas .

Please remember to bring your own mug! The weekend commences on the Friday 25th October with the Course Laying Course – there is still space for 4 more delegates on this course – 14:00-16:00, followed by Umpiring Course 16:30-18:30. This course is closed to additional delegates. Tea / Coffee / Biccies will be provided. Note – Cox training is oversubscribed. Training will commence and with Umpire Training will run through until 11:00 when there will be some sprint racing

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On Saturday morning from 09:00 , Cox

An SCRA led Argyll and Lochaber cox training weekend took place at Dunstaffnage Marina on 25th & 26th September 2024. Fifteen trainee rowers from Seil Coastal Rowing, Lochaber Coastal Rowing, Lorn Coastal Rowing and Mull Rowing (Ross of Mull and Wester Isles yacht club, Tobermory) congregated at the marina for two days of classroom theory and  on water coxing practice. The weekend’s logistics was organised by Lorn Coastal rowing while SCRA cox trainers  Liz Furrie from Broughty ferry CR and Anne Purcell from  Queensferry CR led a very engaging and beneficial weekend. 

The Saturday classroom session led by Liz and Anne began with the skills and responsibilities of the cox, and the ever-important decision of whether or not to launch the boat. The role of the responsible person, lifejackets, potential hazards, the essentials of the boat, the boat checklist, the VHF and the most important element of the skiff – the crew – all formed part of a very informative and engrossing afternoon session. Lots of club discussion was thirsty work and so tea, coffee, cakes and windfall apples were provided in the little kitchen  half way though

Spring tides meant an 8:45 am start on the Sunday and thank you Sue Fenton, Seil CRC for towing Selkie to Dunstaffnage for the weekend to accompany Lorn’s Cruachan for the day’s on water practice. The weather was glorious with a slight breeze and 20 degrees of sunshine which meant perfect conditions for boat handling, manoeuvring in tight spaces, buoy turns and backing onto a buoy, hard stops, spins, man overboard, pontoon arrival and departure and oar deployment. 

All trainees got a good turn at coxing and learning and practicing these skills with hoots of hilarity being heard from the shore…

All the rowers agreed that the course was super beneficial and great fun. Many thanks to SCRA Liz and Anne for the training, to Alba Sailing for providing the meeting room, to Dunstaffnage Marina for the facilities, to Lorn CRC for hosting and to all the rowers from Seil, Lochaber CRC, Mull and Lorn CRC for attending. 

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The sun had barely risen on a still Sunday morning and, whilst the rest of the world was putting the alarm on snooze for an extra hour, skiffies from up and down the coast were emerging from their burrows and scurrying about the business of preparation. Today was the day of their annual migration, a strange seasonal occurrence that sees skiffies from a broad span of coastal communities converge on a particular stretch of the River Tweed. Scientific opinion is divided on the reason for this, some cite cake as the main driver, others attribute it to the ancient ritualistic practice of oar comparison, but the majority seem to agree that its simply grand to row in company, share stories and look at bonny boats. Irrespective of where they originate, the sounds of preparation were the same… the snap of Tupperware lids, the gurgle of flasks being filled, the clickety click of ratchet straps and the tick of mental checklists (rudder, lifejackets, lunch etc.) The Amble migration was no different and some homework the previous night meant that the 8.00 am meet for 8.10 departure was effortless and we were soon on the road (at 8.09 to be precise) the only oversight being that we’d left the bag of “squashies” in the back of the van agonisingly out of reach. A big shout to Angus the younger who jumped in at short notice to fill the cox and stroke seats (although not at the same time) Ben was with us at our first Paxton row 10 years ago (pre-moustache) it was nice to have Angus the Younger and Angus the elder in the same craft again.

Throughout this account I will repeatedly an unashamedly thank folks for their participation and for their contribution towards firmly proving the proverbs “many hands make light work” and “the little things can make a big difference”. Talking of little things, who’d have thought that the opening of two small posts in a fence would help enable such a smooth transfer from trailer to beach …so big thanks to councillor Mike Greener for opening that wee gap that in turn made such a difference for the 17 boats and crews that made the pilgrimage. A shout also goes out to whoever had the amazing foresight in making the gap exactly a skiff trailer wide (we are petitioning for the introduction of the “skiffwidth” as a universal unit of measurement… irrespective of most of them being different sizes.) Community spirit truly clicked into gear as boats arrived, unshackled quickly and joined the procession that led from kerbside to the beach (across the grass, round the corner, over the bump and stopping at the chocks before a careful “mind the step” onto the sand) there were many hands on each boat and trailer and this happily continued from the very first until the very last (even through the final boats had a longer carry) so big thanks to the lovely folks who rolled up their sleeves in true barn-raising style. Bob Fleet’s patented trailer chalk, again showed the sort of innovation and foresight that would prove so effective later on.

With all the boats arranged neatly along the sand and the tide booked to come up and kiss their bows (or sterns according to orientation) in 15 minutes, there was just time for a briefing before we all jumped in a headed towards the bridges in a breathtaking flotilla. The sound of splashing oars was punctuated by skiffie chatter and cheers of encouragement from the bridge (although I did find out later that one such well-wisher to whom I waved most cheerily was indeed a “comedic” youth shouting obscenities. Enjoy it whilst you can young fella… Who knows, one day if you’re really lucky you may find yourself messing around in a boat cheerily waving at a bearded gent shouting obscenities at you) The wind that was predicted did lull us into an initial sense of security, but only waited a short while before showing its face and providing the crews with a healthy opportunity to “dig in” along some stretches, but this never resulted in anything that would have prompted an “are we there yet?” comment from any of the crew.

Those familiar with Paxton will have undoubtedly heard of the “the shallows” mysterious gravel banks that shift with a will of their own and have been known trap unexpecting skiffies and command them to do “the walk of shame” as they drag their boats free of the shallows stoney grasp. Fortunately, we timed it right this year and made it all the way with only the occasional oar catching the gravelly bottom (certainly not enough to anger the shallows) The sun had been booked to arrive just as the picnic baskets were open and the jolly old fellow turned up exactly on time, bathing the assembled masses in the sunshine they deserved. The really nice part of this event is simply the opportunity to catch up with old friends, make new ones and take a little time to eat and do “nowt in particular”. In a world where everything is controlled by strict timetables as opposed to tide tables, it’s really nice to just go with the flow (pun firmly intended).Big thanks again to Paxton House for letting us land here every year in such a splendid spot.

Some crews took the opportunity to row up and take in the creaky charms of the chain bridge. Our particular foray upstream was to the musical strains of “adverts the 70s and 80s” featuring such classics and “finger of Fudge” “hope its chips, its chips” and “what has a hazelnut in every bite” complete with its schoolyard retort!! It’s not all shanties folks!!

Like all skiffies (a close relation to Wombles by the way) we are always aware of our environmental responsibilities so when a piece of foam from a boat was spotted floating downstream the dual labrador retrieval team was launched with a splash and a splosh. Dougie got there first but had to abort the mission on discovering that the foam was slightly wider than his bite (not for the lack of trying) but don’t dismay, you’ve not heard the last of that foam block.

With bellies filled and stories shared, we set off for the return leg. Propelled by tide, wind and cake the crews made great time in whooshing back downstream, even taking in a slight diversion to retrieve the aforementioned foam block from the riverbank and another detour around the back of “that clump of land” to “see what’s behind it” … before we knew it, we were all whizzing under the bridges and pulling up along the beach, forming an orderly line as planned and getting out to help.

What happened next was nothing short of poetry in motion as all you lovely skiffie folks who’d carried boats down hours earlier..only went and did it again in reverse!! A well-oiled (and well-caked) machine swung into action like a colony of ants on a mission. The legendary trailer identification and retrieval, the waterside coordination of boats in the queue, the deployment of the pellet-roller system, the all-hands-on-boats push up the sand and the lift onto the trailers culminating in a coordinated chocks away and dispatch across the grass. All this meant we’d cleared the beach in no time at all, leaving nothing but footprints in the sand and fond memories. The cheer that prompted the final boat’s trailering was totally unprompted and was a genuine, natural outpouring of respect for a team effort… Well done xx

Hugs and hanshakes were exchanged and many offers to come and visit shared (we’ll take you up on all of them!! and come down and see us) before the skiffies jumped back into their skiff mobiles and set their Sat Navs to take them back to their burrows where a hot bath would be waiting (hopefully a grin would keep them company on the drive back)

Pulling back into Amble we got out of the van, realising quickly that we had perhaps stiffened up a little en-route. Indeed, it took us few minutes to uncurl and straighten up as we pushed the trailer back into her bunk in a scene reminiscent of that drawing of the ascent of man (you know the one that takes evolution from chimp via hominid and human eventually to skiffie) Give yourselves a hug from us and catch you all again next year .. love ACRC xx

Thanks to Amble Rowing Club for this great write up

If you can build a boat you can build anything!’

Inspired by what she’s seen so far, GCP’s volunteer storycatcher, Caroline, couldn’t resist another visit to the Granton warehouse to see our woodwork team in action and check the progress of our boat build …….

Read more about the Grassmarket Community Project Skiff build and how you can help – https://grassmarket.org/building-a-boat/

Perth Coastal Rowing Club held their inaugural Fun Row on the 3 rd August. It was held at Perth Sailing Club, Lairwell. Nine skiffs attended from all over Scotland with there being over 90 people in attendance. The sun shone which added to the enthusiasm of the day and contributed to the fun rows.

The morning event was a row down the River Tay through two sections of buoys, the latter section was rowed in reverse. The skiffs then continued further down the river towards Elcho Castle where crews collected a plastic duck before heading back up river to Lairwell. Having worked hard, the crews had earned their buffet lunch.
The afternoon had all the skiffs rowing up the River Tay under Perth’s four bridges and into the centre of city. A great sight for the People of Perth to see.

We would like to thank all the clubs who participated and everyone who assisted in making the day a great success.
Here’s to the next one.
     

 

Tryrone Currie has been building skiff oars for several years now, for most of the clubs in N. Ireland, 30 or so Scottish clubs and a couple of sets to England. He is retiring in 2024 and has very kindly documented his build method. We know there are always many posts put on our Facebook page from members asking for advice on how to build oars and we feel that this document will be a very helpful.

Oar build Tyron Currie Build Method

This document will also be added to the Oars section on the website for future reference