As a result of the pandemic and with some regret we have to announce that there be no 2020 Fresh Water Sprints at Loch Tummel Sailing Club. Loch Tummel SC have kindly offered to host us in October 2021 and hopefully by then restrictions will have been lifted to allow us to return to normal.

The Annual General Meeting of the Scottish Coastal Rowing SCIO SC050345 will be held by Zoom on Sunday 1^st November at 15:00 hrs.

There will be a restriction of one zoom attendee per club and we request that clubs send an e mail to secretary@scottishcoastalrowing.org (cc Secretary Andy Rendle at  edithrendle@gmail.com ) stating Club Name in the Title and giving the name and email contact for their representative available for that time.

This information should be sent in by 17^th October. An invitation link will then be sent to each email contact to allow them to connect for the meeting.  

The SCRA became a SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation) in August 2020. The existing committee who managed this process and submitted signed declarations to the Charities Regulator, were automatically deemed to be Trustees of the new organisation. November’s AGM will be the first under this new governance structure.

Our constitution allows for a Board of 12 Trustees, voted-in at our AGM, following receipt of nominations in advance. It also gives scope to co-opt a further 3 Trustees at a later date.

Of the existing Trustees, 10 have indicated their willingness to continue in this role, subject to being nominated and voted-in at the AGM. Robbie Wightman, who has been at the helm of the SCRA for the last 10 years and more, has indicated he is stepping down from the Board of Trustees. Our very grateful thanks for all that he has done.

Clubs are requested to send any nominations for Trustee positions to the secretary, no later than 17 October. This includes nominations in support of the existing Trustees.

Any suggestions for agenda items must be submitted by clubs by the 17^th October and items under Any Other Business must be in the form of a motion – see below.

In order to take part in any vote, clubs must have paid or made arrangements to pay their subscriptions for 2019/2020 in advance of the AGM. Please contact Wendy(Clements) the Treasurer(eastervilla@gmail.com)  or advise through the secretary of circumstances where there has been an issue as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the new SCIO, only Scottish based clubs can vote at the AGM. Subscriptions for 2020/2021 fall due at the AGM.

DRAFT AGENDA

1. Apologies; Matters Arising and Approval of 2019 Minutes
2. Treasurer’s Report – to be submitted prior to the meeting
3. Convenor’s Report – to be submitted prior to the meeting
4. RowAround 2020 & 2021
5. SASI
6. Proposed Resolutions – (to be submitted to the secretary by 17^th October).  
7. Green and Blue Flag Awards and other Awards
8. Election of Board Members / Office Bearers. Clubs to send in nominations for board members (trustees) to the Secretary by 17^th October.
9. Club Representatives COVID Rowing Feedback Reports (either in advance by email or verbal on zoom link)
10. Any Other Business (Items submitted under AOB must be in the form of a motion from a club only and must be advised to the Secretary by 17th October)

Anyone speaking at the AGM is speaking on behalf and as instructed by their clubs. It is therefore helpful if clubs have discussed any of the issues in advance of the AGM.

Andy Rendle
Secretary
Scottish Coastal Rowing SC050345

Those of you who are just rediscovering the magic of getting back on the water, the blisters etc, will be relieved to hear that the First Minister’s speech on Tuesday 22nd did not tighten the restrictions on outdoor contact sport. It is still permitted for people to come together in ‘field of play bubbles” (e.g. a crew) to engage in their activity, with a reduced need to socially distance – for the duration of the activity only.

Before getting on the water and once off the water, the main public health ‘FACTS’ messaging remains: Face coverings; Avoid crowded places; Clean your hands regularly; Two meters distance; Self-isolate and book a test if you have symptoms. We are still in the midst of a pandemic, so clubs should follow and regularly review their risk assessments, ensure that they have a Covid 19 officer(s) and adhere to the latest government guidelines here:https://www.gov.scot/…/new-measures-to-drive-down…/

Two changes which may affect clubs are the restrictions on car sharing out with your own household and if you go for an after-row ‘refreshment’, chucking out time is now 10pm! Stay informed. Stay safe and please share any useful information and experiences with us.

A fantastic effort by all involved in Castle to Crane this year. We all missed being on the Clyde, with great hosts in Dumbarton and Glasgow. However opening the race up to anyone to post a time from their home waters meant that we could have a far bigger entry (we estimate 680 athletes took part in our race this year) and we were able to be joined from clubs much further away. We welcomed entries from distant waters like Tasmania and Cornwall. We also had a more diverse fleet with smaller boats able to take part where they might not normally be able to deal with the conditions on the lower Clyde, as well as bigger boats with crews of up to 13, which are a bit tricky to transport from mainland Europe to the Clyde. We hope that everyone enjoyed the event and will keep in touch and hopefully join us on the Clyde in the future.

The Castle to Crane Course usually goes from Dumbarton Castle at the mouth of the River Leven, up to the Finnieston Crane in Glasgow. In normal years it is part of the Clydebuilt Festival, held under the auspices of The Tall Ship at the Riverside Museum in Glasgow.

Everyone was a winner obviously, by being able to take part. However, you probably want to pore over the results, and join us in congratulating the winners of castle to Crane’s Median Trophy 2020……… Burghead Coastal Rowing Club, in their St Ayles Skiff “Tarbh Uisge” – Gaelic for water bull.

Congratulations to them. They represent the whole fleet in taking that award.

We have applied a “corrected time” style handicap to boat classes (“the Greenock Yardstick”) to allow us to compare effort between classes. If ever there was a race where it is about taking part, rather than winning, it is this one! Many clubs are deliberately not expending maximum effort, as a precaution against Covid; rowers are racing in very different conditions (although thankfully everyone had fairly reasonable conditions at some time over the race window). However, we are all happy for those who attained fastest in class and category, and are sure they will be appreciative and respectful of all those that they placed above.

The corrected times can be viewed by clicking here:

Castle to Crane 2020 Results
(with times adjusted for boat class handicap)

Remember that those times are not corrected for gender and age, so where a men’s crew has gone faster than a women’s crew it should not be assumed that they have given a better performance. For those who want to view the data before handicaps are applied … they can peruse this spreadsheet here.

Castle to Crane 2020 was organised by Scottish Coastal Rowing Association, the Scottish Governing Body of Sport for Fixed Seat Rowing.

Not everyone was able to get on the water on a rowing boat, due to lack of boats, or local covid restrictions etc. We therefore welcomed those people to take part in the challenge by alternative means. Therefore here is a final spreadsheet showing times for those who took part by walking, SUP, canoe and kayak. Thank you to all who took part. Certificates are being prepared and will be with you in due course.

Welcome back to competition.

Some further guidance and restrictions have been put in place by the Scottish Government on 14 September which affect outdoor exercise. The exemptions for organised sports, such as Coastal Rowing organised by SCRA clubs, remain so most SCRA club activities can continue not withstanding the changes.

The change is that informal outdoor (and indoor) exercise should be restricted to a maximum of six persons, from a maximum of 2 households (not counting children).

Coastal Rowing in fixed seat boats, as Governed by Scottish Coastal Rowing Association, falls under the guidance for Organised Outdoor Sports and requires all clubs to fully comply with the specific agreed requirements and operate in their assigned “field of play” bubbles. For more information on the safe return to rowing on the sea, check out the SCRA Covid Hub.

To confirm, all clubs engaged in our outdoor sport will have a named Covid Officer (who will have completed the helpful SportScotland on line Covid Officer Training) , will have appropriate risk assessments and procedures in place, including hand hygiene; cleansing and sanitising of equipment; social distancing as appropriate and use of face coverings. There must also be procedures in place to support the ability to track and trace participants and contacts.

Please note that additional geographical restrictions in place which may impact on circumstances. https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-local-measures/

SCRA are delighted to have received over 100 entries for Castle to Crane this year. When entries close tonight participating crews will be sent the results form, which they will complete with a screenshot of a timing app to show the course they completed and the time they took. We believe the 120 or so crews already signed up make Castle to Crane the largest rowing event to have taken place in the UK since at least March. The full list of entries will be published on Tuesday.

There is a very diverse field including Spanish, Irish and Dutch classes, as well as Thames skiffs and Venitian style boats whose home waters are a bit flatter than what we can expect normally at the start of Castle to Crane. As everyone would expect there are a fair number of entries from Scottish Clubs rowing St Ayles Skiffs. We appreciate that quite a few clubs are preferring to take a slow and cautious approach to returning to the water, but it is great to see that Annan, St Andrews, Prestwick, Nairn, Royal West, Newhaven, Wormit, Ullapool, RowFlo (from Lewis), Troon, Avoch, Isle of Seil, Loch Broom Sailing Club, Chanonry Sailing Club, Kinghorn, RowPorty and Burghead have entered…. many of these clubs have never missed a Castle to Crane race. There is a more international St Ayles fleet than we might be used to with entries from Northern Ireland (Sketrick), England (Blakeney), Netherlands (Woudrichem, Z&MV De Zuidwal ) and Australia (Mordy Skiff of Melbourne, and Living Boat Trust from Tasmania).

If, for whatever reason, crews are unable to get on the water in their boats, they are encouraged to undertake the “alternative challenge” instead, which is to run, wheel, walk or kayak 5 miles. The results will be recorded in the same way, with just one time submitted for each crew. As with all parts of the event, crews must abide by any local Covid restrictions that apply to them.

Give the Castle to Crane Facebook Page a like, to be kept up to date with information as the event progresses. Put your entry in by 1800 BST on 14 September by clicking here.

At this week’s Scottish Government briefing (10th Sep), some slight changes to the guidance for were made, namely, the restriction of “social gatherings” to 6 individuals from 2 households. However, the guidance for meeting outdoors for the purposes of exercise or activity continues to permit meeting 5 individuals from up to 4 other households. Organised, contact- sport outdoors also remains unchanged. ‘Field of play bubbles’ (ie a rowing crew) are permitted for the purpose and duration of that sporting activity.

All other safety and hygiene measures should still be adhered to, as per your individual club’s risk assessment and in compliance with any measures set out by your club’s Covid 19 Officer.“Where contact sport is permitted, Sports can use a ‘field bubble’ where physical contact is allowed on the field of play when the activity is taking place. Outwith the ‘field bubble’, people should abide by the guidance on physical distancing as outlined above”. (Scottish Government 10th Sep 2020). The only new consideration would be to encourage crews to disperse on completion of the activity, rather than hanging around in a way which could transcend into a social gathering.

Stay safe and please share your own “return to rowing” stories so that we can all learn from them. Refer to the SCRA Covid Hub for more help and information.

A: No not really. The crews that win in your category in Castle to Crane 5 miles from home will probably be pulling very hard. They will probably also have the advantage of smoother water and perhaps more time on the water before the event. Many crews will feel, from a Covid point of view, that they do not wish to over exert themselves. We would like Castle to Crane to be the Biggest “on the water” rowing event in the UK since the start of spring 2020. It is not the winning crews that will achieve that, it is the rest of us! If ever there was an event where taking part is more important than performance it is this one. Get your clubs name on the results, and remember that Castle to Cranes premier cup is the Median Trophy, awarded to the crew with the most average performance.