St Ayles Skiff World Championships 2013

The first St Ayles Skiff Championships are being held at Ullapool in the North West Highlands of Scotland, on the 8th to13th of July, 2013. Last year this time, I expected to attend and was pretty excited about the prospect. As fate dictates, this will not be for me, this year. I'm trying to not be too disappointed and to soothe me, the organizers have sent me a patch for my sweatshirt. Isn't that nice of them? Thank you! Apart from the St Ayles being an incredible boat, it's the spirit behind this endeavor that draws me to it. Nice people, those Scots.

If you intend to participate in the first World Championships for the St Ayles Skiff, you have just four days to sign up. You will find all the information you need on the SCRA World Championship "Notice of Race" .

A truly novel entrant will be Sephira, also known as The Musical Ark. Sephira was built collaboratively by students and teachers at Moravian Academy, a pre-kindergarten to 12th grade college preparatory school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The vessel is a seaworthy St. Ayles-style skiff, rigged with eight long piano wires from masthead to stern to make it a sea-going harp. The string length and resonance properties of the hull are designed to play notes in the frequency band of whale song.

A $12,000 fundraising goal is currently underway to ship Sephira across the Atlantic. This figure includes $8,000 for the vessel's round-trip across the Atlantic Ocean in a 40 foot-container, as well as $4,000 to support the crew of students with travel and accommodations. The Moravian Academy has asked us to help make this epic voyage possible by supporting this project with a donation. You can help by pledging on the Musical Ark's Kickstarter page. 

Follow this link to hear Sephira's Whale Song.



This is an independent trip abroad and is not being offered by Moravian Academy. Any student who goes will be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

St Ayles Skiff World Championships – July 8th to 14th, 2013

Doryman hopes to take a trip to Scotland in 2013 to enjoy the festivities at the first St. Ayles Skiff World Championships. Hope you can come along!

Here's the invite that came in the mail today:

"The Ullapool Coastal Rowing Club is delighted to announce that Ullapool has been selected by the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association as the venue for the first World Championship for Coastal Rowing using the St Ayles Skiff. With the astonishing growth of St Ayles Skiff building and rowing by communities internationally the time is right to run a Skiffie Worlds to give an opportunity for Rowers from across the Globe to meet in friendly competition."

"Ullapool, on the banks of Loch Broom, a large sheltered sea Loch in the Northwest of Scotland, is an ideal location to host such an event. With an existing infrastructure developed to cater for the needs of visitors and great community experience in running large cultural events SkiifieWorlds will be well within the capacity of the village."

"Ullapool Coastal Rowing Club together with their partner organisations, the Loch Broom Sailing Club, Coigach Community Rowing and the Ullapool Harbour Trustees look forward to welcoming visiting crews to our magnificent waters. A full programme of maritime and landbased activities and entertainment is planned culminating with the Prizegiving followed by a boisterous Ceilidh Dance on Saturday 13th, 2013."



It's hard to pass up an invitation like that. I've been promised that there will be "loaner" boats available for international guests who can't bring their own Skiffs.

Let the races begin!

Photo courtesy of Chris Perkins.