The Rollicking Rowing Club was formed in the second half of 2011 and is based in the Lochgilphead Joint Campus.

The club includes pupils, staff and parents. It has been raising money and working to restore two small skiffs that we were gifted by a local boat builder, Adam Way. In December 2011 the club received word that its application for a grant from Awards For All Scotland had been successful, this money will be used to fund our first St Ayles Skiff build. We are currently in the process of seeking new community members to get involved with the restoration and the new build.

If you are in the Mid Argyll area and wish to get involved in the project please contact Alec Ohnstad at the Joint Campus on 01546 602598 or email to Alec.Ohnstad@lochgilpheadhigh.argyll-bute.sch.uk

Might be a bit early but thought we should publicise this at every opportunity as they were a founding member of the SCRA.

The Scottish Fisheries Museum Open Day has FREE admission for all on Bank Holiday Monday 4th June, 2012. It is a chance to see the Museum and the work it does with the local community. There will be a chance to see the Fisher Lass & Lad come into the harbour onboard the historic herring drifter ‘Reaper’ and see the work of our volunteers and clubs. Winning entries from the children’s art competition will be on display and there will be a range of activities for all the family (N.B. most activities still be arranged at this stage)

This is the weekend the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations and the Tuesday has also been designated a Public Holiday (for those that qualify).

Troon Coastal Rowing Club were successful in their applicaiton for a grant from the Royal Bank of Scotland Community Force. The Community Force scheme relies on a public vote and Troon are grateful for the votes that they received from other Coastal Rowers to give them success in their area.

The club is a very new one, and hopes that the grant will asisst in encouraging rowing throughout their community, with a particular emphasis on young persons.  The build of their first skiff, “Marr Voyager” involved  youngsters taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s awards scheme.  The desire of the club is to involve more youngsters in the build of a second boat, and also in competetion and expeditions.

The grant awarded by RBS Community Force will be used to fund the building of a second St Ayles skiff and the purchase of a trailer to allow the club to participate in the growing rowing competitions throughout Scotland. It will also allow the club to purchase safety equipment including lifejackets and VHF radios and fund recognised training and certification in rowing standards.

Troon: Money for Youngsters and Lifejackets

What are the Scottish Coastal Rowers doing over the winter?

It seems that this year, and in lovely recent conditions, many are going out rowing on the sea.  In the dark midweek evenings some are getting ready to build more boats, be they St Ayles Skiffs, Wee Skiffs or others, or perhaps they are building new oars or taking their spokeshaves to the old ones.  However, just in case anyone has more spare time, Scottish Rowing has brought our attention to various indoor rowing competitions.  Indoor rowing takes place on Concept 2 Rowing machines, which are found in most gyms, and some schools and community facilities.  There are no waves in indoor rowing, but it is a testing exercise in its own right.

Scottish Rowing is pleased to announce the launch of theScottish Indoor Rowing League for Schools, in partnership with Concept2. This competition is for teams of four or eight and is open to pupils from Primary 7 right through to S6. There is even a category for adult teams incorporating staff and parents so everyone can get involved.

There are 5 monthly challenges between now and April 2012 and prizes will be awarded to the category winners after all 5 challenges have been completed. An entry into the Scottish League automatically enters you in the Concept2 national league and allows you to compare your scores with teams from the rest of Britain and Ireland and beyond. The league is live and online now so to find out more click here or to enter your team(s), go towww.concept2.co.uk/scottish_league and sign up or for more information contact amanda.cobb@scottish-rowing.org.uk (mobile 07585 979494).

Those not involved with schools may be interested in two further events:

Scottish Indoor Rowing Champs are 29th January 2012. See website http://concept2.co.uk/nationals/scottish

British Indoor Rowing Champs 25th March 2012  Entry now open. See http://concept2.co.uk/birc/

DRAFT
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association
Portsoy 3 July 2011

Present:
Robbie Wightman, North Berwick, Convenor
Topher Dawson, Ullapool, Treasurer
Ian Clark, RWSABC, Secretary
Barbara Elliot, Anstruther
Trisha Bone, Anstruther
Gareth Jones, Port Seton
Alistair Mackie, Dunbar
Stuart Mack, Port Seaton
Siobhan Johnson, Queensferry
Peter Locke, Queensferry
Archie Johnson, Port Seton

Agreement of last minutes
The minutes of the first, establishing, Meeting in Anstruther, were agreed, and the Minutes of the Extraordinary General Meeting October 2010, which had been posted onto the website, were agreed. The decision to move the date of the AGM from June to October was ratified.

Reports
Adam Graham had sent a report on Coaching and Development which was distributed.

Topher Dawson gave a brief report on Finance which showed that the Association had funds of ₤ 284.00

Ian Clark reported briefly on meetings he had attended in Troon hosted by Vincent McWhirter (new skiff to be built), and Cumbrae who are building a skiff, contact with Ronnie Younger in Ayr who wants to build many skiffs, as well as participation in the Cross-Party Group of the Scottish Parliament on Recreational Boating and Marine Tourism, chaired by Stuart McMillan, MSP which was very useful for maintaining contact with related groups, as well as a possible lobbying forum for SCRA. And finally, the need for more volunteers for Committee. He had received a cheque for ₤10 from Jim McRitchie, ex RWABC member, and an Umpire in Scottish Rowing, to encourage the set-up of some form of Associate membership of the Association.

Robbie Wightman reported on the success of the Association to date, and the pleasing participation of so many clubs. He commented that he could see the development of two distinct interests within the SCRA, competitive and recreational/community rowing. Siobhan Johnston suggested that there should be different race categories to allow beginners for example to compete. Archie commented that people want a chance to row, but also to have a chance to win. Robbie suggested that there should be a Cruising Prize.

Relationship with Scottish Rowing
It was agreed that we should continue to maintain an informal relationship with Scottish Rowing, and not seek affiliation at this time.

Committee members
It was agreed that existing members could continue until the next AGM (Ian Clark wishes to stand down as Secretary). Stuart Mack was welcomed as an additional Committee member.

Robbie Wightman proposed a vote of thanks for Alec Jordan, and the efforts he had made to help the success of the SCRA.

The meeting closed, with a date for the October AGM to be announced as soon as possible.

Chippy McNish vists Carrick Castle

There has been a great uptake on the Coaches event being organised for the Saturday. There are currently about 20 coaches from 10 clubs attending along with 13 willing guinea pigs, sorry novice rowers from Lochgilphead Joint Campus School. The novices will be instructed by the coaches under the supervision of Topher, Ian & Adam. Basic coaching principals will be demonstrated and discussed as well as practical advise given on key topics. (No more volunteer dummies required for the Immersion Recovery Drill) There will also be a debrief and Q&A session on the Saturday afternoon.

The seminar session on the Sunday morning (without guinea pigs) should also be a good opportunity for clubs to get together and discuss regatta organisation, umpiring and PVG (Protection of Vulnerable Groups). There are 17 people registered to attend this.

The AGM on Sunday starts at 2pm but all are invited to arrive earlier and join in the informal discussions over lunch. There might also be the opporunity to get afloat on the Sunday prior to the AGM.

“See you at the Club”

Adam

On the way back from North Berwick RC regatta this weekend Chippy McNish stopped over at South Queensferry to help resurrect a traditional race between South and North Queensferry.

On Sunday afternoon a crew from Queensferry RC, in Ferry Lass, and a composite crew from Royal West & Queensferry RC, in Chippy McNish, raced from the Hawes Pier, under the rail bridge, on the South side to the old railway pier on the North. The event formed part of a Harbour Day Festival in the North and was being used to promote the formation of a rowing club on the North side.

Conditions were reminiscent of Anstruther’s regatta earlier this year, but still within the capabilities of the boats and crews. The safety cover provided by the South Queensferry RNLI Inshore Lifeboat was welcome as the current and wind against tide was generating very confused wave patterns. These varied from 1-5 feet and at times were coming from the West then the North West . The crossing took about 30-35mins and was won by Ferry Lass.

Burgers, coffee and cake were taken at the Harbour Festival to revive crews and coxes. St Ayles RC were in attendance to cheer on the crews, they had stopped over on their way back from North Berwick.

Lifeboat providing safety cover for the crossing South to North but was called away on business prior to the return crossing. The return was more direct as the boats headed for Port Edgar marina under the road bridge. The conditions had eased slightly due to the tide having turned but the crossing was still exciting.

Once the boats were safely back ashore at Queensferry RC the kettle was put on, the biscuit barrel opened and some of St Ayles RC also appeared with the remnants of the filled rolls from the tea tent at North Queensferry. We had a chat about the whole weekend and about planned non-racing activity for the winter months. It was a fantastic example of the friendliness and community spirit of the SCRA clubs.

Adam Graham, Royal West

I have been asked to compile next year’s Regatta Calender in advance of the Annual General Meeting in October. Can you please forward to me, at the email address below, any dates that you have been considering.

I am primarily drawing up a calender of events where all member clubs of the Association are invited. If there are internal club events, invitation only events, cruises or skiff related social gatherings send these to me also and I will show these in a separate column for publicity purposes.

Ideally could do with the following information by 18th October:

• Date
• Start time if possible (State of the tide may be defining this)
• Location
• Club hosting the event
• Type of racing planned (Straight sprint event, short buoy turning event(500-1000m), long buoy turning event(1000-2000m), long distance race (2000m+))

The last piece of information above is useful for crews to be able to prepare themselves for the appropriate form of racing.

I would emphasis that no club’s events will be included within the finished version of the calender, or publicised on the Association’s website, unless they have paid their subscription to the Association.

Royal West has been asked to look at hosting the SCRA AGM on the weekend of 28th / 29th October. To make the trip all the way to the wilds of Greenock more worthwhile we thought a weekend of other rowing based activities might be of interest. Please read through the draft proposal below and come back to me if you or your club is interested.

Friday night
Meet and greet. We have a music night in the clubhouse on the last Friday of the month where members offer up a song or some form of entertainment

Saturday during the day
Coaching workshops with Royal West coaches and possibly some visiting experts in coxing and coaching. May have Scottish Rowing’s adaptive co-ordinator willing to speak as well as Scottish Rowing Umpires who are RW members.

Saturday evening
Guest speakers to tell some expedition stories from Royal West trips up the West Coast in the ’60, ’70 & ’80 (have a guy lined up that did Greenock to Skye and back, his crew also made an attempt to get to St. Kilda.) Some social interaction

Sunday am
Regatta symposium and/or Protecting Vulnerable Groups course

Sunday pm
Scottish Coastal Rowing Association AGM

We will have more than enough boats if we can get afloat on the Saturday. If we cannot then we have covered demo space downstairs and comfortable lecture space upstairs.

People can do Frid-Sunday, Sunday pm only or anything in between, however much they want. It would make the long trek from Ullapool or Dunbar more worthwhile.

We can look at accommodation, catering, etc.

Please come back to me with feedback, if enough people are interested I will start to arrange speakers, coaches, catering etc.

Adam