TASMANIA

Living Boat Trust

Location: 3337 Huon Hwy, Franklin TAS 7113

About:

Background

The Living Boat Trust in Franklin currently has 3 St Ayles skiffs.

“Imagine” – the first St Ayles skiff in the Southern Hemisphere – was built in 2012 by a group of enthusiastic local women (“Women on Water”). Only one  woman had previous boat building experience; however their build was supervised by a very experienced Franklin boat builder. All was achieved in 8 months and funded by a grant from The Huon Valley Health Services Advisory Committee.

Such was the demand for rowing opportunities, that it was decided that a  second skiff was needed.  “Billie” was built in 2014-15 by a keen group of LBT members again supervised by a skilled boat builder. Funding for the boat kit was sponsored by the Huon Valley Community Bank (Bendigo).

Some competitors in Franklin’s first skiff regatta were inspired by the skiff concept and decided to build a third boat.  “Freya” was built in 2016 by a team at the Wooden Boat Centre, just next door, and was subsequently given to the LBT to manage.

Regular skiff rowing

Skiff rowing has proved a very popular activity that caters to a wide range of needs – rowers who want to enjoy a social row on the river, and rowers who prefer a more intense workout. The Living Boat Trust has been represented at all three World Championships as well as local and interstate events.

Women’s only social rowing takes place on Friday mornings – for those new to rowing, as well as those who simply enjoy being on the water together with others.  Any woman can turn up and is very welcome to join the group for a row.  No experience needed, support and training will be given.

A men’s group rows on Tuesday afternoons, and again any men who would like to join them are more than welcome.

Additional times for crews are continually being added.

The Living Boat Trust is also well know for the Tawe Nunnagah. The Raid is a 10 day trip, whereby both sail and rowing vessels travel from Recherche Bay (in the far south of Tasmania) up the coast to Hobart, in time to join the opening boat parade of the Wooden Boat Festival in early February every second year. Skiff rowers travel from interstate and internationally to participate in this event.

Contacts:

Links:

http://lbt.rforster.org/

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Port Cygnet Sailing Club

Location: 145 Lymington Rd, Lymington TAS 7109

About:

St Ayles Skiff Rowing

Port Cygnet Sailing Club has a very enthusiastic group of rowing members, with two St Ayles skiffs, The Swan and The Cygnet, active six days a week.

Both boats were built here in Cygnet by our members. These two boats are often seen out on the bay; rain, hail or shine and the keen following has greatly benefited PCSC membership.

St Ayles skiffs are kit built to a 2009 design by Australian Ian Oughtred, based on the Fair Isle and similar skiffs in use around Britain for hundreds of years. There are now around 200 boats world-wide. 6.7 metres long, with four rowers and a cox, they are a fast, stable and dry boat. To keep costs down, the design is simple – no sliding seats or feathering oars.

If you’d just like to keep fit, or participate in the occasional inter-club or even national or international competition, try rowing a St Ayles skiff at Port Cygnet Sailing Club. You’ll be welcomed by all club members – it’s a relaxed and friendly environment.

Contacts:

Links:

https://www.cygnetsailing.org.au/our-sailing-programs/st-ayles-skiff-rowing/

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Taroona Coastal Rowing

Location: 23 Stewart Crescent, Taroona 7053

About:

Contacts:

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Dover

Location: Port Esperance Sailing Club, 71 Station Rd, Dover TAS 7117

About:

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VICTORIA

The Warrnambool St Ayles Skiff Community Rowing Club

Location:

About:

The Warrnambool St Ayles Skiff Community Rowing Club

Members of the Warrnambool Club started out whaleboat rowing (beetles) and we have called ourselves the Stroke Team because some of us were members of the Warrnambool Base Hospital’s Stroke Team that cares for stroke survivors while inpatients. Since 2011 we have promoted the National Stroke Foundation’s F.A.S.T. stroke recognition message and plan to continue doing this as it has effectively become a tradition for our Club.

So in short we are all about promoting the health and well-being benefits of rowing and being involved in a wonderful group activity with a stroke awareness and prevention twist. We chose to ‘grab an oar and get involved’ in the St Ayles Skiff movement to do this.  A foundation group of about ten members agreed to raise funds to purchase a St Ayles Skiff kit. We were incorporated as a not for profit association on the 17th March 2014.

As the Australian St Ayles Skiff community was quite small in those days we were soon linked in with other groups who had already built a skiff. Several of our members made the pilgrimage to Franklin and some of the Living Boat Trust skiffies came to Warrnambool to check us out. Seeing what others had achieved served to inspire and enthuse our growing membership.

Our initial fund-raising efforts were a slow burn, taking off only after a successful crowd funding campaign conducted over 6 weeks in August/September 2014 earned us $10,000. The necessary networking and promotion that is part a crowdfunding effort not only achieved the target but it also made the Warrnambool community aware of our existence and our goals.  Applications to local philanthropic trusts, the Gwen and Edna Jones Foundation and the Ray and Joyce Eubergang Foundation were both successful with $5000 provided by each. The Warrnambool Community Development Fund via the Warrnambool City Council donated $1000 and an anonymous donor contributed $2000 towards our yet to be built boat trailer. We effectively arrived at a $25,000 bank balance by the end of October 2014.

At this point we ordered not one but two skiff kits from Stray Dog Boatworks. The kits arrived in November and we held a small wooden boat expo’ on the Warrnambool Civic Green to effectively celebrate our fund-raising success as well as introduce ourselves to the local community. Jim Barr brought Cariad (AU02) and Robert Ayliffe brought the John Liddy (AU04) to show the community what we had in mind. The Club gained 6 new members that day.

The Club had formed a close relationship with Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum where we started building in early 2015. Several of our members had built small wooden boats before and others had useful technical skills. The rest of us did the whatever we could to help, learning much along the way. We also had access to Flagstaff Hill’s Shipwright, Jeff McMurrich’s expertise as well as his workshop and tools.

Over the 11 month build time we conducted celebrations like drinks and nibbles at the build site to share the journey with as many of our supporters and donors as possible. Fast Messenger (AU07) was launched on 1 November 2015. With Cariad and the John Liddy once again in Warrnambool at that time, the Club staged its first St Ayles Skiff regatta on the Hopkins River. This was an impromptu and informal event but a resounding success.

Since launching Fast Messenger we have rowed her on local waterways in the South West of Victoria and traveled further afield to participate in promotion, regattas and raids. The original core membership of the Club, Stroke Team have continued to row whaleboats and of course have joined with the new members in rowing Fast Messenger and other visiting skiffs. We have staged the South West Regatta (inclusive of the Victorian St Ayles Skiff Championships) over three consecutive years from 2017-2019, which has seen crews come from across Victoria and interstate to compete. Despite a hiatus for this event in 2020 we plan to stage the Victorian St Ayles Skiff Championships again soon. It is likely that the future of that event will entail alternate hosts perhaps on a biennial basis.

It has become clear that not all people want to row in the context of a regatta and therefore over 2019 to early 2020 the Club has dedicated energy to social rowing and engaging new members. It has also been important to reinvigorate out second build which had not moved much beyond its existence as a kit since 2017.

Our second build progressed well over the latter half of 2019 with several new members joining the build team. However, the advent of the COVID 19 pandemic and the social distancing rules that came with it has stopped both rowing and building. The plans of a 2nd launch by end of 2020 have been thrown out the window but we have learnt that building a skiff is very much an organic process, one that often disregards schedules. While it is important to keep the impetus of a build going by having regular build sessions, it is equally as important to enjoy the process of the build and the social engagement that is such an intrinsic part of the endeavour.

Open the link below to a great video by Alex Storer of AWS Productions which aptly provides you with some of our members’ views and feelings about the Club:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIislxHIO5Y

Current Goals:

Promote the health and well-being benefits of rowing, including from a stroke awareness perspective by continuing to promote the F.A.S.T. message.

Recruit new members to participate in building & rowing skiffs.

Build and launch our second skiff in 2021.

Promote St Ayles Skiff building & rowing in the South West and beyond.

We welcome any individuals or groups who wish to participate in the construction and rowing of skiffs.

Contacts:

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/st.aylesskiffwarrnambool/

https://youtu.be/Gufko47GY9o

https://youtu.be/I92MBR-Z_sQ

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Mordialloc Sailing Club

Location: 12A Bowman Street, Aspendale, Victoria 3195

About:

The Club

Located 25 km south east of Melbourne, at the mouth of Mordialloc Creek and North Aspendale beach. A family based ‘off the beach’ sailing club established over 70 years. The club encourages and supports personal development by offering all the community to share with us the safe ‘on water’ experiences provided at Mordialloc. Please drop by or call us to discuss your interests.

The St Ayles Skiff

With sponsorship from Parkdale Community Branch of the Bendigo Bank, Mordialloc commenced skiff construction in early March 2019. An enthusiastic build in the boat shed enabled sea trials in February 2020 in time to participate in Victoria’s first Steamer Raid on the Gippsland Lakes. A fantastic 3 day, 65 km row from Port of Sale to Paynesville, just prior to the Covid-19 National lockdown.

The club was inspired to build a St Ayles skiff to offer the community another fun, safe and enjoyable way to explore the many rivers, lakes and waterways around Melbourne and along the eastern shores of Port Phillip. With the higher gunwales, flexible seating arrangements and its very seaworthy stability, the St Ayles skiff offers a more secure experience than the excitement of a smaller tenderly balanced sailing craft. Also rowing in the company of friends offers a shared memorable experience of fun and physical effort with the opportunity to enjoy a rest from rowing every now and then and enjoy the view.

With the high level of race and regatta management, at State and National levels, it is anticipated skiff cruising along with integrated sailing events will become regular activities on the Mordialloc Sailing Club calendar.

Mordialloc SC offers community membership to groups and individuals after a trial period.

The sailing club is trying to raise dedicated mid week St Ayles Skiff crews. Contact us if you are interested in joining or making up a crew.

Contacts:

Links:

http://www.mordiallocsc.com.au/

 

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Coastal Rowing Williamstown (CReW)

Location: Williamstown, Victoria, Australia

About:

Mission Statement

Involve members of the community of Hobson’s Bay and surrounding Western suburbs in coastal rowing activities using St Ayles Skiffs.

 Focus on and engage women, youth and isolated people in the community.

 Encourage community engagement through rowing, maintaining the skiff and working as a team to learn with others new skills in boat building and water safety.

 Connect with other St Ayles Skiffs groups  locally and internationally

Coastal Rowing Williamstown(CReW) is a group of nine women who met in 2017  after a poster was distributed in Williamstown asking for women who were interested in building a ST Ayles Skiff Rowing boat resulting in learning new skills in boat building. The boat comes in a kit form and cannot be owned by individuals, only by communities. So therefore the community participation is a main focus with this group. The plan is for community members living in the Western suburbs to have access to the boat to row in the future.

The CReW members are a group of women from a range of professional backgrounds and ages They initially raised funds from the Hobson’s Bay Council and the Outlets Co-operative to pay for the kit. The women who have joined the group have participated for many reasons. They have learnt how to row using a borrowed Skiff, but importantly it has enabled them to learn new skills in boat building processes such as using electrical tools, hand tools and boat maintenance. Importantly the group have formed trusting, strong relationships and the ability to make team decisions.

The group has the generous support and expertise of a local boat builder, his partner and colleagues who are located at the Seawork’s boatsheds in Williamstown. The boat was launched on the 23rd of November,2019  in Williamstown with many community members attending the event. The local Newport bagpipe band played and many people expressed interest in attending come and try days at the post launch BBQ.The boat is called Thursday as it has been built over three years on a Thursday evening.

The next phase in this already established community project is to advertise, connect with and involve many more community women in the process of learning how to row a St Ayle’s Skiff and how to maintain the boat in a good and safe condition. Also education people in water safety, boat safety, first aid sessions  and rowing lessons are being planned later in 2020..The committee is currently assessing funding opportunities to be able to access funding to pay for rent for storage , equipment and workshop activities.

In 2020 CReW  was successful in obtaining funding to train women from Cultural  and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds (CALD)  in Water Safety , First Aid and rowing techniques. Due to COVID 19 restrictions we are anticipating this will happen in the middle of 2021.

In the meantime the foundation members are busy training in the beautiful Williamstown Bay in preparation for the Regattas in 2021 ,where we will be representing Williamstown and hoping for a win!

Contacts:

Links:

https://www.instagram.com/willyskiffies/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1736083513330349/

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Marlo Coastal Rowing

Location: Marlo, Victoria, Australia

About:

Marlo Coastal rowing is made up of a small group of keen rowers, but open to all to participate.  The Summer months make a difference to attendance.  We row every Sunday morning.

The Snowy Estuary being relatively sheltered allows us to row in quite strong winds.  We now have made a Mast and Sail. (A Dipping Lug Rig, a progression from a Square Sail.)  We sometimes row out and sail home, adding interest to the boating activity.

The Shetland Connection.  My Father was a Native of the Islands and as a child I had two Summer holidays in Shetland, and Boats and Ships were part of everyday life for all.

As soon as I became aware of the St. Isles Skiff, I recognised it as of Shetland design.  The St. Ayles Skiff is patterned on the Fair Isles Skiff, one of a number of traditional models.  They were all of similar shapes, being double enders, but varied in length and purpose, the largest of them being a Thirty Footer known as the  Sixareen.  Most of the different models were rowed or sailed, but the Fair Isle Boat having to contend with strong Tides, its principle propulsion was rowing.  She has a flatter bottom rather than the sharper floors of the other models.

When there as a child these boats were still in use in the Traditional manner being for Fishing, transport of People, Goods and Live Stock and in Regattas.  Motor Vehicles at that time being few.  We have the Norwegians to thank for the original  design of these boats,  brought with them when some left home, otherwise known as the “Vikings”.  Many of them stayed in Shetland and the Islands became a staging post for Voyages to and from Norway to the Faroe  Isles and Iceland.

The boats were imported to Shetland from Norway as complete boats, but were also built and pricked together parts numbered, dismantled and imported in Kit Form, maybe the first form of flat packs, possibly where Ikea got its ideas from, and reassembled in Shetland.

It was an ambition of mine to build a Shetland Boat, having a basic plan for the Fourareen Model, but then stumbled on the St. Isles Skiff Kit.  The boat was built by myself, Harry Ferrier, with assistance from my Wife,  Daughter and friends.  The name “Da Mirrie Dancer” is Shetland dialect for the “Northern Lights”.

(In the words of Dave Craigie)

Contacts: David Craigie, davidcraigie@bigpond.com

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SOUTH AUSTRALIA

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WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club

Location: 1 Hobbs Pl, Peppermint Grove WA 6011

About:

The St Ayles Skiff group extend an invitation and welcome to every member of Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club who harbours a wish or inclination to row on the spectacular Swan River.

Two St Ayles skiffs Dotsie and Ripple were built by Club members, launched in 2016 then gifted to RFBYC. Each of the fixed seat skiffs is crewed by four sweep oar rowers plus a cox; 22’ long, beam 5’6”, weight 166 kg. The skiffs are available to member rowers, through the booking system at the Club’s On-Water Office or members are welcome to join the weekly roster for a regular row at scheduled times.

Contacts:

 

Links:

http://www.rfbyc.asn.au/content/on-water/rfbyc-st-ayles-skiff-project.php

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Augusta Rowers

Location: Yacht Club Road, Augusta, Western Australia

About:

Augusta’s new community rowing skiffs were launched with colour, music and enthusiasm on Sunday 27 September 2020, beginning with a parade through the main street of Augusta and culminating in a toast of single malt whiskey as they were launched at Turner Street Jetty.

The St Ayles skiffs, built by local enthusiasts over 18 months in a shed on a local farm, are part of an international initiative that sees the four-oared rowing boats being built by communities for community use. Many fundraising activities were held to raise the funds for the project.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings were devoted to skiff building, with a group of like-minded active retirees, which included a dentist, doctor, lawyer, builder, a logistics expert, banker, farmer, a wine maker, all with varying skills and abilities making up the skiff building team.

This also included wives, friends and visitors who all made some contribution. Every turnover of the skiffs to work on the inside/outside, or to paint, was celebrated with a dram of whiskey.

At the launch crowds lined the main street to watch the parade, consisting of the two new skiffs ‘Zoom’ and ‘The Colour Patch’, led by bagpiper Adam Christensen, drummer Deb “Spoons” Perry, community builders and supporters, with traffic management by the local police.

Members of the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club were in attendance with their own St Ayles skiffs, having provided valuable support throughout the planning and building process.

Speeches were given by St Ayles Skiffs Captain John Longley of the RFBYC; Member for Forrest Nola Marino; and ACRA President Bill Perry, with Peter Wallace as the entertaining MC.

Cliff Owen was presented with the inaugural life membership of the Augusta Community Rowing Association in recognition for his outstanding contributions to the project, including the long-term use of his shed and tools.

The skiffs were then carried to the foreshore where Reverend Dr Sarah MacPherson gave a blessing of the skiffs together with her rendition of The Skye Boat Song.

Generous local naming sponsors, Di Ellis and Steve Wall, toasted the respective skiffs, ‘Zoom’ and ‘The Colour Patch’ with words of encouragement and a splash of whiskey. With that the skiffs were officially launched into the water ready for all to enjoy.

The skiffs are housed at the Augusta Yacht Club and are available for community use. Everyone is welcome and holiday time sees a huge increase in the number of visitors and those wanting to “have a go “. Membership numbers are increasing all the time.

It has been a wonderful project for all involved, and for now Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays are regular rowing days (other times can also be organised), as we all come to grips with rowing technique and terminology.

Contacts:

Links:

https://www.augustarowers.org.au

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NEW SOUTH WALES

Community Contact
Living boat trust/Women on Water – Franklin/The Bitterns Lorrie Harrison Contact
Warrnambool St Ayles Skiff Club Patrick Groot Contact
Melbourne Welsh Church Jim Barr Contact
Geelong Diversitat Peter Doyle Contact
Marlo Coastal Rowing Club David Craigie Contact
Spire Community Robert Ayliffe Contact
Royal Freshwater Bay St Ayles Skiff Squad John Longley Contact