I'll be at Anstruther racing with Cockenzie & Port Seton on Saturday 29th May but I also work on the new national inventory of living customs and traditions (or ‘intangible cultural heritage’) in Scotland. Anyone from any community in Scotland (i.e. not just Scottish) can go online and record examples of festivals, customs and social rituals, superstitions and traditional skills (e.g. related to boat-building, fishing, sea-faring) being practiced anywhere in the country in this UNESCO inspired online inventory at http://www.ichscotlandwiki.org

Examples already on include:

Stonehaven Fireball Festival • Chinese New Year • poor-oots • Haggis Pakora • Jedburgh Ba’ Game •

Clootie wells • Kirkwall Blackenings • dry-stane dyking

There must be loads of customs, sayings, knowledge, superstitions and beliefs (e.g. about nature, what brings good or bad luck etc) out there related to fishing and coastal communities so PLEASE follow the very simple online tutorial at http://www.ichscotlandwiki.org and bung on some examples you know about (as long as they are still used or practiced). You can upload photos (that you have permission for), add links to relevant organisations and to YouTube videos of the ICH practice in action!

I'll be telling BBC Scotland’s ‘Out of Doors’ programme about this from Cockenzie and Port Seton's 'Boatie Blest' exhibition (see full details of 3 Harbours Festival at http://www.3harbours.co.uk/) this week, but please give me a shout in Anstruther this Saturday if you want to ask any questions about the project and help get coastal and fishing communities around Scotland represented.

Cheers . .  and good luck in the races

I think all the aims are perfectly reasonable and if builders use the kit moulds and planks according to the instructions the hulls should be very evenly matched. It would be quite difficult to use the kit parts and make a faster shape, and given how good a designer Ian is, it would be very risky to depart from his lines.

As long as builders declare they have built the boat using the kit parts I doubt whether measuring would be necessary, but it could always be done at an event to save the measurer travelling. 

We have already declared an intention to use spaced gunwales. These will use the same dimension timber as the plans but spaced away from the inside of the planking by blocks. In fact with the weight of the blocks they will be a bit heavier than the standard gunwales, but stronger and stiffer. Since they do not sacrifice safety for speed they are within the aims you have stated.

We also want to try the ancient Viking steering oar instead of a stern hung rudder. If it works, fine, others may want to try it, and if not then we'll grind it off and make a rudder. I don't think it will create an unfair advantage, I just think it'll be easier to lift when beaching.

As to oars, kabes, rudder, etc, I think they should be open to experimentation so that the best systems evolve. Obviously we don't want outriggers, sliding seats and so on. Oars can use a lot of tuning and so can the exact rowing geometry, which is going to be part of the fun. Our oars are solid timber and with no hollows, as seems appropriate for oars which are to be easy to make. 

I have posted a message on the building part of the forum suggesting that thole pins working in a slot in the oar might be a better system than kabes and humlibaunds, which seem to have an unavoidable amount of slop. Other boats which use this system include the Irish racing currachs, which use a metal pin for the thole pin.They are quite crude and cheap boats, much lighter and cheaper than ours. They are covered with tarred canvas.  The pins are I think mild steel but stainless would be better. It could be done with a timber pin, say 1 inch diameter oak, if metal is not allowed, but I think we should be allowed the experiment. Metal pins would allow the slot to be narrower and thus make the oar less bulky.

We might also want to try plastic wear plates instead of wood, but they could be greased wood if we don't mind the grease on our clothes. 

The website says this is a development class, with a fixed hull shape. I think that is good because it should give level racing but allow some experimentation. At the end of the first season we should meet and decide if any further restrictions are needed. If developments are taking place which we think are unhealthy then we can deal with that. 

We are all enjoying the build and tonight scarphed the second planks.

Cheers, Topher.

robbiew said:

Hi folks,

I am trying to draft rules of measurement for the St Ayles skiff, with the aims of (1) ensuring that boats are evenly matched, and races are a fair test of effort, skill and seamanship and (2) ensuring that safety is not sacraficed for speed (3) ensuring the moderately skilled home builder can produce as effective, if not as beautiful, a boat as a professional. 

Plan is to say that the hulls should be standard by being build from a kit supplied by an approved supplier, as accurately as possible to the plans of Mr Oughtred, with an understanding that builders will declare that they have abided by the spirit of the aims.  Timber and plywood to be the materials.

Plan is to leave oars to development, but rule  that they are made of timber, and without any concave surface (ie no spoon blades).

Initial thoughts are to leave tiller / yoke design and kabe (sp) design to the builders, again as long as all made of timber, and no outrigger type arrangements.  I will try to post a first draft soon, but would welcome any thoughts in the meantime.

Robbie

I am trying to draft rules of measurement for the St Ayles skiff, with the aims of (1) ensuring that boats are evenly matched, and races are a fair test of effort, skill and seamanship and (2) ensuring that safety is not sacraficed for speed (3) ensuring the moderately skilled home builder can produce as effective, if not as beautiful, a boat as a professional. 

Plan is to say that the hulls should be standard by being build from a kit supplied by an approved supplier, as accurately as possible to the plans of Mr Oughtred, with an understanding that builders will declare that they have abided by the spirit of the aims.  Timber and plywood to be the materials.

Plan is to leave oars to development, but rule  that they are made of timber, and without any concave surface (ie no spoon blades).

Initial thoughts are to leave tiller / yoke design and kabe (sp) design to the builders, again as long as all made of timber, and no outrigger type arrangements.  I will try to post a first draft soon, but would welcome any thoughts in the meantime.

Robbie

Hi Mr Purple,

Brilliant that Catterline are commiting to building and rowing.  Good Luck.

My broker could not find me any insurance for the build, so we have started without it. Not a course that I would reccomend.

Third party insurance for the boat once built should not be a problem.  I will e mail Mr Pink a copy of the North Berwick Rowing Club constitution, which you are welcome to rip up, or rip off.  Watch this site for the constitution for the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association, which should hopefully be posted shortly.

Robbie

We're just starting out in Catterline, and had our very first meeting of interested people at the weekend. There is, we think, enough support, so we're going to go for it.

We'll probably start by setting up an association so we can open a bank account and take things forward on the fund raising front, which presumably some group have already done. Does anyone have any example constitutions that they could share with us so we can pinch the best ideas (suitably attributed, of course).

In the long run I presume we're also going to need some form of thrid party liability cover, at the very least. Does anyone have any advice on this?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.