Carrick Coastal Rowing Club lifted the Median Trophy for the first time, showing the grit and determination that was required by the whole fleet to drive into a gutsy and gusty headwind. What was thought to be a decent cooling breeze on a hot and sunny day turned into a bit of a challenge.

Congratulations to all of the 75 boats who took part in the challenge from the massive 10 oared Birlinn “Orcuan” down to the delicate double sculls. One of those double sculls, “Georgie Rose” of Broughty Ferry won the “Bonniest Boat” prize, while the prize for double scull, as adjusted for age and gender, was won by a ladies crew from North Berwick rowing a Teifi Skiff “Flossie”.

Anstruther proved their heritage and hard work. “Fresh” from their St Ayles win at the Great River Race, all three of the St Ayles skiffs won at Castle to Crane in each of their categories, Mens Open, Womens Open and Women 50+. Orkney retained their Men’s 50 + trophy, and also made their long trip worth while with a win in the Shetland Yoal class. Also rowing a St Ayles, Ullapool won the Youth Trophy.

The other St Ayles prizes went to Eastern in Sprite for the Mixed Open, and to Arran in Seabhag. Other four oared classes featured Jolly Boats, Solent Galleys and a Seine Boat. Congratulations to the crew of Naiad of Royal West for the best performance in other four oared boat, adjusted for age, gender and boat class. Finally Sidmouth were rewarded for their long journey north for coming both first and second in the Pilot Gig class.

Thanks to all for coming along, and to our supporters from Teal Engineering, Murray McDavid, Sandpoint Marina and Glasgow City Boats. Thanks to all our volunteers who make the day what it is!

Full results and photographs to follow. In the meantime, put 5 September in your diaries now for Castle to Crane 2020.

Teal engineering are once again helping the participants at Castle to Crane by bringing spare trolleys for clubs to use when recovering their boats at Kelvin Harbour. The support is very much appreciated as tired crews come off the water and have to get their crews up to the Riverside Museum level. The launching trolleys quicken up the process and make it safer, so many thanks to Teal Engineering.

If anyone would like to purchase one of the trolleys they will be available after the end of the race on a discount from usual price. Get in touch with Teal engineering if you are interested.

Congratulations to all those who took part in Great River Race 2019. What a spectacle and what a fantastic effort from the organisers to make it all possible.

Congratulations especially to Woudrichem in Groot en Grut 2 who came third in the Men’s veterans 60+ category, and to Anstruther who came second in the mixed open category. Provisional results are found here.

There were several St Ayles skiffs taking part including those from Soutars Skiffies, Anstruther, Woudrichem, Findochty, Findhorn and Morven. For those not in the know the St Ayles is a great four person coastal rowing boat that is built from a kit which both keeps the cost down and entertains a community of boat builders! St Ayles kits are available from Jordan Boats. Scottish Coastal Rowing Association is the Class Association for the St Ayles skiff, with other National Class associations now thriving in Northern Ireland, Netherlands and Australia and starting to get established in North America and England. Join our community!

Results for St Ayles Skiffs:

It is also worth noting that the St Ayles Skiffs acquitted themselves well against the Harkers Yard Gigs which are handicapped for being much faster boats.

Sadly, someone who was not a member of the Anster crew and now cannot be traced went to pick up the fastest St Ayles Trophy. I am pleased to be able to say that the Trophy has now been recovered and will be on its way to Anstruther in a few days time.

Congratulations to all who rowed the course.

Along with partner organisations SCRA organises the Castle to Crane Race as part of the Clydebuilt Festival. This year once again Whisky suppliers “Murray McDavid” are helping to make the race a much better one by allowing us to use their eponymous motor launch as our race control vessel.

Murray McDavid is a whisky bottler with a long tradition of practising the art of maturation to produce inspired Scotch whisky. They offer a complete range of scotch from vintage single malts and select grains to vatted malts and crafted blends.

Their family of whisky includes Mission Gold, Benchmark, Mystery Malt, Select Grain, The Vatting and Crafted Blend. So please do consider thanking our kind sponsors in kind by tasting and purchasing their whisky.

Along with partner organisations SCRA organises the Castle to Crane Race as part of the Clydebuilt Festival. This would not be possible without the assistance of Sandpoint Marina, who host our fleet overnight in advance of the race, and allow us to use their launch facilities.

Sandpoint Marina lies on the north bank of the Clyde estuary, across the River Leven from Dumbarton Castle and on the very edge of some of the best cruising in Britain. With easy routes of access from all areas of the country Sandpoint Marina makes the ideal place for berthing and lay-up. It is an independently run marina and takes a pride in offering a professional and personal service to every boat owner. With ongoing redevelopment and investment Sandpoint Marina offers the best in service and value to existing boat owners and will be delighted to offer a warm welcome to new ones.

One of the attractions of Sandpoint Marina is the ability for our highly experienced team of operators to handle a wide range of boats up to 85 ton. Sandpoint Marina is the only boatyard in the area which can offer full lift out and indoor or outdoor storage facilities all year round tailored to individual requirements.     There is a large indoor storage area for boats up to 80 feet in length, 20 individual workshop units available for rent, as well as pontoon berths with on shore facilities available to visitors.

So a big thank you from all of our community to Sandpoint Marina for making the great event that is Castle to Crane possible.

We are delighted that Scotia Seeds, suppliers of Scottish Wildflower seed packets and meadow mixtures are sponsoring the SCRA Freshwater Sprints in 2019. Read about them and about the racing in the SCRA Freshwater Sprints 2019 Notice of Race.

Racing will be under the NEW SCRA Rules of Racing 2020…. please be aware of the changes, particularly with regard to clarifying that crews must not stray out of their lane coming in to or going out of the turn.

The Racing is once again in Regional Teams, rather than in Clubs. Regional captains have been appointed, as set out in the notice of race. They will be in touch with clubs to recruit teams. It is hoped that at least a couple of representatives from every club will be in a regional team….. so that they can be present to represent their club at the AGM which follows on when the racing finishes.

SCRA AGM Saturday 26 October 2019

Location: Loch Tummel Sailing Club Clubhouse

Agenda
1. Apologies
2. Minutes of Last Meeting (SCRA 2018 AGM)
3. Matters Arising
4. Treasurer’s Report (TD)
5. Feedback from Skiffieworlds 2019
6. Convener’s Report (RW)
7. Proposed Resolution: To Set up a SCIO, and transfer the rights, responsibilities and Assets of SCRA to SCR SCIO (Committee)
8. Proposed Resolution: To Transfer the rights and responsibilities of the SCRA/ SCR SCIO in respect of being the International Class Association of the St Ayles skiff to St Ayles Skiff International. (Committee)
9. RowAround Scotland 2020
10. Election Committee for 2019/2020
11. Any Other Business

Election of Officers and Committee:
Nominations for Election to the Committee – Clubs are requested to submit any nominations for the Committee to the Secretary by the 1 October 2019.

Clubs are requested to submit agenda items/ AOB to the Secretary by the 1 October 2019.

Submission of Cruising Log entries : to the Secretary by 16 October 2019.

Club Nomination for Green Flag/ Blue Flag Awards to be submitted to the Secretary before 16th October 2018.

Training Notice
There will be a Regatta Course Laying Course on Friday 25th October from 2-00 pm until 4pm.
There will be an Umpiring Course held on Friday 25th from 4.30pm until 6.30pm.
Both the above events will take place at Loch Tummel Sailing Club. Anyone wishing to attend should apply to secretary@scottishcoastalrowing.org, saying in the heading what club you are from.

Notes:
The AGM is a meeting of clubs.
We can only guarantee space for two representatives per club.
Anyone speaking at the AGM is speaking on behalf of and as instructed by their clubs.
It is therefore helpful if clubs have discussed any of the issues that are going to arise in advance of the AGM.

secretary@scottishcoastalrowing.org

Queensferry were delighted to be holding their Youth Regatta as part of the SCRA Youth Series . Our Forth Bridges correspondent writes:

40/50 teenagers ,all to be organised into crews and reach their correct skiff in time to do the ‘long row’ to the start line !! It could have been a headache ,but it wasn’t ,it worked . This was managed very well with great humour by the adult helpers from each club. The teenagers themselves were very good at suddenly making up crews for an empty skiff ,while we had changeovers at the pontoon and not a problem to them ,that they had just come off a row, so coxes suddenly found themselves going straight back out!! 

There were seven clubs at the regatta –Strangford with 10 rowers drove from N Ireland and arrived late Friday evening. One of their rowers reported “it took six and a half hours but  we were so excited” !! They had the use of Ferry Lass from Queensferry. Killyleagh with 8 rowers flew over and also arrived late Friday evening. They all ‘bedded”  down on mats and sleeping bags with their Strangford friends ,in the Scout Hall at Port Edgar Marina !! Oh the joys!! Killyleagh had the use of Steedie Falconer from Eskmuthe towed up to us during the week.

Deveron from the North came with two rowers Jessica & Connor ,and they had the use of Ferry Sonnet from N Queensferry ,but they also spent the day in and out of other boats! We also had Elie with  Archie and 7 rowers. Foccrs with  Saltire and 6 rower.s Eastern came with Skelf and a good number of girls and less boys ,so this complemented Queensferry as we had 7 rowers but only one girl.

The day started with magnificent sunshine and flat calm seas and stayed this way all day ,how good is that!! The races started just west of the Hawes Pier and finished through the Road bridge – 1 K no buoy turns ,just a big blast to the finish line ! The row to the start of the races gave these youngsters a great opportunity to sight see. They marvelled at the bridges. There was a magnificent cruise ship just east of the railbridge and tenders ferrying the passengers back and forward. Overheard from a crew member “ this is great ,I have never rowed under  anything before”.

All our skiffs were complemented by John  Howell on our starter boat .Everyone took heed of the ‘restricted area ‘ to allow all this marine traffic to carry on their business as normal.Forth Belle was doing her Bridges tours and picked up passengers at the pontoon where we were all gathered.  These tourists were enthralled at what the youngsters were taking part in  and asked lots of questions.  The racing made great spectator viewing. There was plenty of cheering and support as the finish line was just below us. Resident commentator Donna was complemented on her continuous information and encouragement . There were lots of close finishes ,and a couple of clear winners .Good timings all day .Special admiration was given to the two youngest competitors of the day Oscar from Eastern aged 12 and Lucy  from Killyleagh, also aged 12 . There were wins for Queensferry, Eastern, Elie and Foccrs.  Eastern boat also won the last race – the Pick n Mix where all boats had a mix of all club rowers.  The results board tells the strory, although there was drama such as Boys Under 19 where Queensferry and Foccrs were ‘neck and neck ‘ heading to the finish line ,when the footstrap   snapped in 2 position on Queensferry boat ,knocking the boy off his seat and the oar went out of control . A great but difficult recovery ,saw the crew trying to make it through to a medal position ,but being pipped by Killleagh ,Elie and Eastern.

We finished the day with a very welcome BBQ ,and a medal should be given to Joshua for eating the most burgers ,I believe . Our Irish friends were seen off on Sunday morning with a hearty breakfast of bacon rolls in the shed, many thanks to Peter Locke.
Great photos on the Queensferry Flikr Page.

SCRA committee have approved two changes to the Rules of Racing, and have reissued them as The SCRA Rules of Racing 2020 Edition. The new rules will take effect from 7 October 2019.

There are two changes from the 2017 Edition. Firstly the rules applicable to turning at multi lane events have been clarified at 8.5.2 by deleting the suggestion that  “….boats approaching their turn shall give way to those coming out of their turn……”, and reminding crews instead that all crews should stay in their lane throughout the race, and in particular must stay in their lane in the vicinity of the turn. This will hopefully prevent crews from either swinging wide on the way into a turn, or leaving the buoy before turning the full 180. Remember…… tight turns.

Secondly we have always stated in response to queries that crews racing in finals should be the same as crews racing in heats. Rule 5.1 is now amended to express that “Crew members must not be changed between heats and finals without the express, advance permission of the chief umpire.” There must be good reason for a change to be approved.

Finally by way of reminder, we have previously issued Safety notice 3, with regard to racing incidents. Everyone should please remember that instructions of umpires must be complied with. Umpires are all volunteers, must be respected and must never, ever be the subject of abuse.