Coastal Rowing

Wed, Jan 18th 2023 at 12:50 pm - 2:00 pm

John Ardley let us know what keeps him fit on January 18th

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Former member of the club and a previous President, John Ardley, returned to speak on the topic ‘Coastal Rowing, a St Andrews Story’. He told how the Fife coastal rowing clubs associated with mining communities in the 1950s had disappeared completely, but the idea was re-established in 2009 under the auspices of the Scottish Fisheries Museum based in Anstruther. The boat design is based on a Fair Isle skiff and comes in kit form from Alex Jordan of Jordan Boats. The kit, costing around £3,500 can be constructed by the community in around 6 months. It measures 22 feet in length and is very heavy, takes a crew of 4 rowers and a cox. Numbers of boats across the world are growing: UK currently has 224, the US 18, Australia10, New Zealand 28, Spain 1. St Andrews is one of some seventy clubs in the UK and has two St Ayles-type skiffs and three smaller Wemyss-type. There is provision for ‘adaptive’ rowing to accommodate rowers with special physical needs. Maintenance of boats is on-going and hard, often heavy, work. Safety is crucial so there is always on-shore radio and visual contact. There are many events including the St Andrews Regatta, ‘Row around Scotland’, ‘Castle to the Crane’ along the Clyde from Dumbarton, Solway to Bowness, the South Queensferry Regatta under the Forth Bridges, the 59-mile ‘Rowing the Great Glen and the Skiffie World Championship, to name but a few. While stressing the potential dangers unless care is taken, John encouraged his listeners to consider taking up the sport……..plenty of fresh air, physical exercise, team work, plus the social aspects, it is a great way to keep fit.

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