Build it. Row it. Love it.

The east coast town of Helmsdale held their inaugural regatta on the last Saturday in June and it provided The Skiffties with our first opportunity to compete against fellow skiffing clubs. Eight teams were in attendance from Anstruther, Coigach, Burghead, Newburgh, Ullapool, Wick and ourselves joined the hosts for some really competitive racing.
In a quite spectacular start to our competitive racing history our Ladies over 40’s team not only won the first race of the day, they crushed the opposition finishing more than 20 lengths ahead of the second placed skiff!!!
The rest of the crews found it a little tougher but performed well and with a 5th placed finish in the last race of the day, the mixed decades, Avoch secured a fantastic 4th overall. Our mixed decades crew contained by far the youngest rower of the day, Erin Lambert, aged just 13!! A Superstar is born.
Well done to all our rowers and supporters who made the trip. I am sure everyone who made the effort would agree it was a fantastic start for the club and lets hope this is just the start of things to come.

There are some pictures on the gallery pages link below.
 
Ice Breaker Regatta

Mike Armitage has arranged for an RNLI Sea Safety Officer to come along to the shed on Saturday 7th March at 1100 to give a brief talk on basic VHF operation, lifejackets and the use of flares. 

The club are holding a quiz on the 21st March in the Munlochy Hall with the doors opening at 7.00pm to start 7.30pm.  Stovies will be severed at the half way point, bring your own beer. There will be eight rounds so we should finish between 10.30 and 11.00pm.  Teams of people up to four.There will also be a raffle.

Sunday the 1st of February saw The Skiffties hold our first informal regatta. The event was a real success with boats from Ardersier, Gairloch, Ullapool and a good friends from Chanonry as well as some rowers from Burghead. The weather was once again was kind to us and everyone who attended seemed to thoroughly enjoyed the event.

There are some pictures on the gallery pages link below.

 
Ice Breaker Regatta

The general times for build session on the second skiff have been decided. They are as follows:
Mondays 10.30 to 12.00
Tuesday 10.30 to 12.00
Thursday 10.30 to 12.00
A further session on Saturday mornings has also been discussed and can be added if there is enough interest. If you would be like to be part of a Saturday session please contact the club via the usual routes.

The club have today ordered the kit for the second skiff from Jordan Boats in Fife. Delivery will be about three weeks. The build sessions are likely to follow a similar regime to last year. Full details to follow.

Also ordered today was our fabulous new combi trailer from Mersea Trailers in Cochester. It will take around four weeks to build and will be delivered to Edinburgh for collection by the club.

On the first day of the 2015 a group of brave Skiffties ventured to Cromarty to take part in their annual Splash and Dash fancy dress event. The weather was rather poor but spirits were still high and we managed to bring home the first win for Avoch Community Rowing Club!
Dressed in a replica of Zulu (complete with oars!) that had been lovingly crafted by Keith the crew won joint first prize for the best fancy dress of the day. Click on the link below to see some photos of the day and well done to all those who took part.

Slash and Dash

A very happy New Year to all the members of the Avoch Community Rowing Club and a big thank you to those that made our Hogmanay Bash such a success. The curries were terrific and the music great too so a BIG well done to everyone involved in making it happen.
The past year was amazing for our club with the our launch day in August being the highlight. I am quite sure that with the combined efforts of all the clubs members that 2015 will be even more memorable.

The Skiffties have been very active during the Christmas period taking advantage of the glorious weather. Well done to all those who made the effort to prise themselves away from the turkey and mince pies and a very warm welcome to the new members that joined up too.

There are a photos of the Christmas day rowing on the images page and the link below.

Christmas Day Gallery

Our near neighbours Chanonry Sailing Club held their official launch day on the 30th of November and The Skiffties where on hand to offer a hearty cheer as the ‘Chanonry Maid’ finally entered the Firth. After previous postponements due to poor weather she looked a picture as she slid in to the flat calm waters, flanked by ‘Zulu’ and ‘Esther’ from Ardersier. The sun shone brightly and those present where treated to a screening of the ‘Chanonry Maid’ build video in the sailing club clubhouse. Back on the water and mixed crews, including members from the Burghead and Colliston clubs, enjoyed the early afternoon conditions before ‘Zulu’ and our crack team of rowers headed back out in to the Firth and returned to home waters. Terrific weather, the company of good friends and a handsome new edition to the Moray Firth fleet. A good day all round.

Megan kindly took some nice photos of the day and they are on the website.

Chanonry Launch Gallery