ISSUE #6 | ST AYLES SKIFF
ST AYLES SKIFF
© Provided by Ali Grant, SCRA
Medals are Not the Only Fruit…
Scottish Coastal Rowing & the St Ayles Skiff Ali Grant, Scottish Coastal Rowing Association
Conference brought together representatives from a variety of bodies from around Great Britain and Ireland, with a passion for coastal rowing in fixed seat boats. Ali Grant from the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association, brings you the presentation she presented in how the St Ayles skiff transformed coastal rowing and its influence on communities not only in Scotland but around the world.
“Don’t be scared to open the box’, because you need the project. You need the confidence to do it. It isn’t going to do itself. You see it, you’ve been, you’ve watched them, you’ve maybe had a shot in one, you’ve felt the wind and the power and the water and you’ve felt the goodness and friendliness, and you think ‘we want to do this’ ”
© Ali Grant
In February 2020, the inaugural Fixed Seat Rowing
The quote above captures the sense of energy and gives some insight into the fact that not only is building a boat truly magical, it connects a community in a unique way.
© Ali Grant
‘Those with children have found new social networks and their children, new friends. The original ‘skiff kids’ are now 10 years older and often visible in junior teams.’ I began by showing others what a St Ayles skiff looks like in its flat-pack form. When the first of these were cut, they arrived with few instructions and relied on the early St Ayles pioneers sharing skills and knowledge. In some ways, this sowed the seed of goodwill and collaboration from the outset. The brief for the kit was 2-fold. Firstly, it had to be affordable by community groups and secondly, easily built by those with limited or no experience. The earliest boats were built primarily with hand tools in everything from empty shop units to derelict warehouses to car ports with a tarp for shelter. It was not unusual to see a notice outside encouraging passers-by to ‘lend a hand’ and get involved. Indeed, that is how many of the early clubs got off the ground.
26 | The Wave Rowing
Another outcome is that lots of women are involved in boat building. Those with children have found new social networks and their children, new friends. The original ‘skiff kids’ are now 10 years older and often visible in junior teams. There have been quite a number of boats now built-in schools and the experience can be transformational. Retaining young people once boats are built, can be difficult though. Those in the smaller communities leave to go to University or in search of work, girlfriends / boyfriends and other competing interests often get in the way. The aging demographic of our sport is to be celebrated, but it can have the effect of lowering the attraction for young people. However, others have also described the attraction of inter-generational interaction.
@TheWaveRowing
