About Us

We are a community coastal rowing club offering recreational and competitive rowing to local people, whether a new rower or a “seasoned pro”. We are affiliated to the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association and we started building our St Ayles skiff in 2019 and launched her in 2020. Today we have around 30 members of all ages and our activities range from simply enjoying being on the water, often accompanied by seals, porpoises and a variety of sea birds, to training hard so that we can take part in regattas in the summer months. Most of our members were completely new to rowing when they started and we encourage everyone from age 16 and up to come and give it a try.

Scottish Coastal Rowing Association (SCRA)

The Scottish Coastal Rowing Association (SCRA) is our parent body and the governing body for Coastal Rowing in Scotland.

The SCRA was formed in May 2010 to stimulate boat building and encourage rowing and racing of coastal rowing boats around the Scottish Coastline. Communities are encouraged to become involved in the building of new boats, principally the St Ayles skiff, a design inspired by a Fair Isle boat and commissioned by the Scottish Fisheries Museum at Anstruther. This has generated a growing enthusiasm for skiff rowing in coastal communities around Scotland and beyond. As the SCRA is our parent body we are bound by certain rules and regulations that it applies, e.g. boat measurement and specifications.

We recommend that every member becomes familiar with the SCRA website and regularly reads the up-dates and news posts that can be found on it.

Our Base

We are lucky to have our home amongst some of the most spectacular scenery in the UK and are based at Kyleakin, just across the Skye Bridge from the mainland. We row from Kyleakin, and sometimes from Dornie, Plockton or further afield.

Our Boat

Our 22ft St Ayles skiff is named after the legendary Norwegian Princess known as ‘Saucy Mary’ who was married to a Mackinnon chief. It is said that she derived an income by stretching a large chain across the Kyle. She would exact tolls from all ships passing through the narrows except from those from her own native Norway. Upon her death her remains were interred beneath a cairn in nearby Beinn na Caillaich so that the winds from her native land could pass over her final resting place.

Our Funding

We are an Unincorporated Community Organisation and we rely entirely on membership fees and fundraising to support our activities.

Our Aims

Our aims are to:

Organise, manage and develop coastal rowing for all members of the club.
Provide rowing facilities for our members.
Promote and support the community building of boats, to share learning, develop new skills, meet new people and have fun.
Foster the understanding of the skills and craftmanship involved in boat building.
Promote coastal rowing
Promote participation in competitions and organised events for the club’s
Representative teams and all members.
Organise, promote and run rowing events.
Ensure members adopt and apply best practice, competence, and safety.
Uphold the rules of the sport.
Provide equal opportunities for participation by all sections of the community and work towards alleviating barriers where possible.