We would like to welcome ten new skiffs to the UK St Ayles Skiff Register this spring.  Hopefully everyone will get a chance to say hello to them on the water:

161 Gunty Plucker, Portaferry Coastal Rowing Club

162 Grace Darling , Bamburgh and Beadnell, black with white sheer strake

and see the report and video in the Northumberland Gazzette.

163 Roon Roak, Portavogie Coastal Rowing Club. Sapphire blue with red sheer strake

164 Loxa, Lossiemouth Coastal Rowing Club. Light blue hull with yellow sheer strake

Loxa Launch. Photo from Lossiemouth CRC facebook page

165  The Witches of Morvern. Morvern Sailing Club

Morvern Sailing Club Skiff rowers group launch of their first skiff, “The Witches of Morvern” : PHoto shared by Miles Welsh to the SCR facebook group

166 Sprite, Eastern ARC. Light grey hull and yellow sheer strake

Sprite on the beach at Porty

167 , Lady Bay,Stranraer, yellow/blue and white

Lady Bay about to hit the water for the first time. Photo from Stranraer Watersports Association Facebook Page.

168, Patrick O’Rouke .Carrick Coastal RC, White Hull; Light and Dark Blue Sheer Strake

169, Black Raven,  Loch Carron Coastal Rowing Association

Finally there is a new skiff built by a private owner which will be rowed mostly on Loch Awe.  Details of that launch to be added here soon.    Well not “finally” really……  there will be more along soon we are sure.

Full listing of the register of skiffs is found on our “Craft Register” tab.

Due for completion on at the end of May, this boat is a prototype for a St Ayles version with fitted buoyancy tanks.  She is going to be used for stability and buoyancy testing before sale.  She may therefore be of particular interest to those who are thinking of expedition in more out of the way places, or perhaps for groups who live and race in France,  where our build method is not considered sufficiently “traditional” for the derogation from RCD.

She can be purchased as a bare boat – primed, no floorboards, oars or rudder for £9,950.00. Or  complete to the purchasers specification with footrests, floorboards & rudder painted inside and out to the purchasers choice of colours for £11,800.00.  Available from:

Solent Rowing Boats Limited, Unit 19, The Tanneries, Brockhampton Lane, HAVANT, Hants, PO9 1JB. Contact Mike 077 673 50512; Dave 077 755 17831; Tom 077 429 61444

The SCRA Youth Regatta Series 2018 got off to a fantastic start this weekend.  Eastern Amateur Coastal Rowing Club just managed to avoid the Beast from the East’s hangover and was delighted to host a successful event on flat seas – particularly having had to cancel the planned competition in 2017.

In total, 31 rowers from 5 clubs descended on the stunning (and just-about sunny!) Portobello seafront, with pretty much a 50:50 gender split. Hosts Eastern welcomed rowers from nearby South Queensferry, West-coasters from Prestwick and Firth of Clyde (Largs) and Deveron (Banff High School), who set off early for the long drive and borrowed a skiff for the day, courtesy of Eskmuthe.

South Queensferry (+Lucy from Eastern) won the first race, the Mixed U17, which was a brilliant victory for a first regatta appearance by 4 young rowers ably coxed by Louise.  The Mixed U19 race went to the FOCCRs with Eastern 8 seconds behind.  The hosts then took gold in the M U17 with the SQ team hot on their heels – just 4 seconds behind.

FOCCRs (+Amy from Eastern) won their second gold in the F U17 race, with Eastern in 2nd place and Deveron coming in 3rd.  The fifth race was a ‘two in one’ affair with both M and F teams racing at the same time. The FOCCRs (+William from Prestwick) won the male category with a female Eastern team coming in 1st for the women but also second overall.  Go girls!

The overall winners of the day were Firth of Clyde, who came out on top with 5 Golds and 2 Silvers. Well done!

The Winning FOCCR Team

The day just would not have been the same without the excellent crowd from Deveron who travel far and wide to have fun on the water.  Hats off to Roisin for her dedication and to the whole crew for their smiles and ready-for-anything attitude.  Huge thanks to Eskmuthe Rowing Club for lending them Steedie for the day – a lovely crew from Eastern’s neighbouring club rowed her round in the morning before everything got going and another appeared later in the day to row her back home.  Fantastic generosity.

The last race was an ‘Andy’ race which has become an excellent feature of many regattas, providing an opportunity to mix crews up in a friendly race.  Peter from South Queensferry – one of Andy’s best friends – was very pleased to cox Ferry Lass for that one.  Everyone who took part went home with a medal (or 5? Cameron…!) with some added ‘endurance’ medals for very young attendees for ‘being there all day’! Medals were handed out round a warming bonfire, intended to be an opportunity for folks to have a chat – however our luck with the weather had run out by that point.

See below the scores, the camaraderie and the bonfire – sums it all up really!  A big thanks to everyone for coming, and to Laura and her team at Eastern for putting on a great premier event – here’s to the rest of the series! See you all next time in Broughty Ferry for the next Youth Regatta on 19th May!

Cork Ocean to City Race takes place on Saturday 2 June 2018.  For those not in the know, this is one of the greatest single day races for rowing boats in the world.  The Ocean course, which is suitable for boats like St Ayles skiffs, gives a huge variety of rowing conditions from sheltered harbour, out into the open sea, then back up through harbour narrows, across a potentially exposed sea loch, past a castle and up the river into Cork City centre.

We know that at least 10 St Ayles skiffs will be taking part in the 2018 Race, with the early bird entries coming showing crews from Down Coastal Rowing Association clubs being joined by crews from Eastern ARC (Edinburgh), St Ayles RC (Anstruther),  RowFlo (Lewis), Renegade (Ayrshire) and FOCCR (Ayshire).  This will make the St Ayles one of the biggest classes is this prestigious event.  There is a trophy for fastest St Ayles skiff, as well as various other awards open to the competitors.  Any St Ayles skiff taking part must comply with the international measurement rules for the class, including the need for wooden oars without spooned blades, and wooden fittings for the oarlocks.

A St Ayles is currently being built in Cork, so hopefully we will see a local entry from them too.  Please do think about joining them.  A good testing ground for the Castle to Crane Race, as well as being a fabulous event in its own right, and a grand road trip, worth phoning home about.  Regular entries accepted up until 13 May.  For more information and to enter go to the race website:

www.oceantocity.com