Cold water sprinting

Boating events are great for getting us out when we otherwise wouldn’t go and coastal rowing is great because the skiffs are available to do so when yachts and dinghies are at rest. The first formal event of 2014 at Loch Insh will be hard to beat for the competitive buzz, great company and an excellent location purpose-built for watersports.

On Sunday the forty participants were divided into eight teams plus coxes, resulting in a total of seven races - four heats, two semis and the final.

Novices and more experienced rowers were mixed but our crew were all entering just our second season, Will Glover from the Isle of Islay and myself from the Isle of Seil plus two from slightly newer clubs, Gillian Innes from Eskmuthe and Donna Martin from South Queensferry. Will and I grabbed our usual rowing stations, bow and stroke respectively and left it to the women to deliver the real power in the middle of the boat.

Usually everyone likes to have good quick blast on the water to open up the blood vessels and get rid of any residual hangovers, but this wasn’t possible with heats scheduled ten minutes apart so that you climbed aboard less than five minutes before the start. To make matters worse the temperature was hovering around zero.

 

One always has difficult choices about what to wear, knowing that you can’t change once you’re out. In general I think it’s worse to wear too much and risk becoming overheated and dehydrated, but in these conditions it was better to be well covered up. Gloves are another issue – in general I hate them as even slight separation between the fingers makes the grip less comfortable but they were certainly required at the weekend.

Suitably wrapped up and gloved we joined our cox the experienced Adam Graham aboard the Esther and just had time to sort out our footrests before lining up for the start.

When you’re in a race you don’t seem to see much, all your effort goes into delivering and you’re truly just one piston in a four cylinder engine. You’re running on rocket fuel made from an oxygen and adrenaline mix.

The leg out to the turning mark was pretty hard, the gasps of ice cold air really hurting and the legs suffering from it being a month or so since I was last out. I just remember Adam’s constant urging us on, then the turn, which we did quite well considering we’d never rowed before as a team. On the return leg I think the two skiffs were probably about level most of the way and the finish was the closest of our three races.

It was only after we finished that I realised we had won. This meant, of course, that we had to do it all again twenty minutes later, just time for a quick pint of water.

We drew the Soy Loon for the semi-final. He feels lighter, but maybe that was just his colour, after black Esther. I liked my rowing position further from the pin and felt that my oar suited me rather better. Adam was rowing against us, so Phil Robertson coxed us.

 

The first race had served as a warm-up and I found the second one much easier despite, I think, my setting a slightly faster pace. As our crew felt confident we did a racing start too.

Again I had no idea during the race about how we were doing but I know the result was pretty close. The closing stages seemed to last much longer than the thirty seconds or so they took in reality.

Thus we found ourselves with less than five minutes before the final race, just time for a slug of water from Will’s bottle.

I’m told the black boat beat us to the turn, but after we were round we settled down to a good fast clip and after half a minute or so I saw her just behind us. The combination of good coordinated rowing, a slight following breeze but most importantly Phil’s incredible coxing kept us ahead, until suddenly he shouted “You’re going to win, take it a little easier and enjoy your success!” and we finished a length or so ahead.

The best thing about coastal rowing is the incredible generosity of the clubs. At Ullapool we had to borrow from North Berwick to complete our over sixties crew and it happens time and again. Rowing with experienced people from older clubs and in other skiffs is the best way to learn and is the way to bring everyone up closer to level. On this occasion the main lesson learned (apart from having drinking water aboard) was the value of good coxing from Adam and Phil, two of the best.

Finally a word about our hosts, the www.lochinsh.com. Offering a combination of good accommodation, plenty of parking, an excellent restaurant with covered viewing, everything was ideal for skiffing. 

The only problem is the possibility of ice at this time of year, but then if you come in summer it seems you may be treated to aquatic acrobatics, see here: Loch Insh at play

First four photos courtesy of Ian Bright, Portsoy.

Bending the Rules

As is well known, the good people of the Slate Islands have a reputation for the utmost integrity. Never in their history have the residents of Easdale, Seil or Luing even contemplated taking an unfair advantage, not only in their working lives but also in their moments of leisure and recreation.  

For example it’s well known that when the sailing ship Norval struck the South end of nearby Insch on 20 December 1870 and broke up a fortnight later, not a single match-stick from her a cargo of fine Canadian housebuilding timber found its way into any of the residents’ modest cottages. You can read the story here, Report from Easdale

Now, one and a half centuries later, the islanders have been presented with a moral dilemma and like their forebears have decided to close their ears to the sea-nymph’s call.

The weekend just passed saw the island residents turning over the Seil Skiff, one of the latest additions to the growing Scottish Coastal Rowing fleet . The build is of course nowhere near finished, but we’ve got a lovely fair hull and know for sure that we’ve got a great foundation to  build on. More important for those of a competitive nature is the simple fact that fairness and smoothness of line are essentials for a fast boat, as the less disturbance caused the better. This much is plain to a layman like me, but other aspects are less obvious.

The moral issues have come as the building work has proceeded. Everyone knows that boat-building is at least 90% sandpapering and doing mindless work as a group allows time for discussion. On Seil our team includes a diverse range of talent with a heavy emphasis on science, engineering and design.  Coming as I do from the law’s dusty purlieus I have been able to contribute nothing, but have listened as various potential contributors to boat speed and manoeuvrability have been analysed.

I’m not going into too much detail unless I give people ideas, but it’s relevant to share the exchange of emails I’ve had with two of the main people in the project

Ewan’s email to Topher and Robbie

“There are a few practical matters that I'd like to run past you …. It seems that rudder design is uncontrolled and we are free to plan what we want in terms of the size, shape and angle of incidence of the rudder blade.  It also seems that there's no problem with an open inwhale, which we see in the photos of other boats and would like to adopt.     We're considering moving the thwart positions a wee bit forward, as we see that some skiffs are squatting especially when they have a heavy cox aboard. I think some teams have done this already. Finally I'm thinking of introducing a small amount of rocker, possibly reducing the depth of the external keel at the ends by an inch or so from Iain's construction drawing. It's difficult to be sure from the photos online, but it looks as if there are some variations already in keel profile.”

Topher’s Reply

“Well done for getting the planking finished, and I look forward to seeing the finished boat. The rudder does seem to be as you say, uncontrolled, and there are many variations on a theme. Slotted gunwales are also OK and we have gone down that route (without reducing weight) for reasons of strength and drainage.  If you move the thwarts my advice would be to keep the number 3 seat centred on the frame, move the stroke seat 2 inches aft, number 2 seat 2 inches forward and the bow seat 4 inches forward, thus increasing the space for each rower by 2 inches and moving the rowers forward, on average, by an inch. We did this on our second boat and so did the Sailing club here. Although oars are many and varied, a consensus does seem to be forming that the oars are better restrained in some way from floating in or out at the oarlock. My advice which you are well experienced enough to ignore would be to make the cheap oars on the oar tab of the SCRA website, and then using those as a datum make better ones when you know what you want. I'd be a bit uneasy about introducing rocker or reducing the outboard part of the keel, because of the advantages to speed and turning which this departure from the plans would introduce. I'm aware as I write this that the same could be said of changing the seat spacing or fiddling with the rudder, but somehow the outside of the hull is sacrosanct, and I would not like to see people cutting their outside keels down to reduce drag. As you say this may already be happening and so far we have not done anything about it, but it could get out of hand. We may have to issue guidance on this, what do you think, Robbie?”

Robbie’s Reply

“Agree absolutely with Topher.  In the measurement rules there is a difference between hulls and fittings (including thwarts).
For Hulls the rule is:

2.1 The hull is to be constructed as faithfully as possible to the St Ayles Skiff plans produced by Mr Iain Oughtred. The hull may be constructed from a kit from the approved kit supplier or may be built entirely from the plans.  That to me excludes varying keel shape by introducing rocker.  For fittings the rule states:

4.1 While the plans show how Rudder, Tiller, Oarlocks, Thwarts, and Seats can be constructed, it is open to the builders to innovate and experiment with these fittings.
4.2 Oarlocks must be at the gunwale. Outriggers are not permitted.

Innovation to me includes spacing the thwarts slightly differently, and that has improved the trim of some boats.  

IO introduced extra buoyancy in the hull shape after the prototype to try to sort out the fat cox problem, but the boats do still tend to sit rather heavily by the stern. It can be helped a little bit by the fat cox sitting forward to shout in the stroke's ear, rather than sitting back and relaxing.

Full measurement rules are here:  St Ayles Skiff Measurement Rules

We need to form a sub committee to review the measurement rules at some point.”

With nearly a hundred boats built or building there is definitely a need for more precise rules.

Oddly amongst the existing generalities there is one rule which is very prescriptive and has no obvious purpose, other than to challenge ingenuity. It is laid down that rowlocks must be made of timber, rather than of metal, which has been the preferred material for several hundred years. This would be understandable if the boats had to be constructed of solid timber, rather than glued plywood. Then the whole project could be seen as an historical pageant, rather than community sport. 

On Seil we’re hoping that this may be something that the promised rules sub-committee will look at early on. 

Update at 19 November

Topher comments:-

I am glad to read your assurance Ewan that the Slate Islanders would not dream of taking unfair advantage of any loopholes in the rules of the St Ayles Skiff. It fans the flames of patriotic pride in my country to hear of the upright probity of these new entrants to skiffdom. Nevertheless we in the SCRA will deal severely with any club found to have used helium filled plywood, and indeed have invested in a helium detector to stamp out this pernicious practice.

We look forward to hosting you in Ullapool in July next year at the World Championship, and if there are any pipers or drummers in your number we especially invite them to take part in the St Ayles Skiff World Championship Pipe Band. 

Well done for getting to the turning over stage and enjoy the fitting out and painting. It is a great moment when you have the first row in your new boat!