We started 2021 with high hopes that COVID would soon be a distant memory – how wrong we were! Nonetheless, it’s been a productive year for the club given the difficult circumstances and we’ve even managed to welcome a number of new members. Fundraising efforts have continued. Thanks to the efforts of students at the primary school we’ve now rolled out our club logo. We got involved in the local ‘Changing Life through Waterbased Activities’ think-tank, and participated – albeit from the shore – in the SCRA’s RowAround Scotland event. David Roy represented our club at the SCRA AGM, and we seem to have moved a step closer towards some formal youth involvement on account of the fact that we have a qualified coach within the skiffing family.
Perhaps the biggest news of the year is the fact that within the past few months we’ve finally managed to get our boatbuild up-and-running, and things have been moving along quite nicely – a number of planks have already been made up, and we can hopefully expect to begin planking the hull early in the new year. I’d like to reiterate that everyone is invited to get involved in this. Even if you have no experience whatsoever in DIY – let alone building a boat – there are jobs at all levels, lots of opportunities to learn, and future bragging rights in view of your early contribution to our fledgling club!
Our initial hope for 2022 was to have our boat ready for the Skiffie Worlds in the Netherlands, but this is no longer going to be possible. However, Kinghorn Coastal Rowing Club (with whom we’re loosely affiliated) will be attending the event and have invited our members to join their delegation as a sort of ‘Fife syndicate’. Anyone who’s interested should contact Chris Mitchell as soon as possible.
Our new committee was elected at our AGM on 25th November. I am standing down as Chair and am delighted to say that Martin Birrell has agreed to take on the role next year. Brian Morley is continuing as secretary, and Martin Blankenstein has been re-elected as treasurer. The full list of committee members is as follows:
- Adam Arnott
- Martin Birrell (Chair)
- Martin Blankenstein (Treasurer)
- Joel Houck
- Chris Mitchell
- Brian Morley (Secretary)
- Elisa Robertson
- Finlay Robertson
- David Roy
As always, any member who’d like to get involved in committee affairs is most welcome to express interest at any time. Fundraising and social events will soon be on the cards again, and we can look ahead to 2022 with high hopes that our boatbuild will quickly progress. I’m hopeful that we’ll be on the water by this time next year!
Article written by Elisa Robertson, outgoing Chair
