SCRA World Skiff Championships on Loch Broom,

St Ayles Skiff World Championships 2013

Ullapool 8 to 13 July 2026

Notice of Race

Entries for the Inaugural World Championship have now closed and the final race schedule can be found below.

Venue

The Championships are being held at Ullapool in the North West Highlands of Scotland. The Ullapool Tourism Website contains information on the location and on options for travel and accommodation.

Initial launch and final recovery of skiffs to and from trailers will be at the wee pier. During the event skiffs will be kept on the beach beside West Shore Street, and crew changeovers will take place there.

Race Control will be situated by that beach.

Rules of Racing

All racing will be held under the 2013 Edition of the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association which should be viewed at:

Rules of Racing

Club officials, Coxswains and Crews should all make themselves aware of the content of the rules of racing prior to attending the championships.

The water around the racing will not be closed to other traffic, and when encountering other craft, crews must abide by the International Rules for Prevention of Collision at Sea. In particular it should be noted that the Stornoway Ferry is restricted in her ability to manoeuvre when arriving and departing the Ferry Pier, which is beside the championship race course. Crews must keep clear of the ferry.

Racing is timed to avoid the ferry sailing times. It is therefore essential that all races start on time, and it is the responsibility of crews to be ready to take position on the start line prior to the advertised start time.

Measurement Rules

All Skiffs should comply with the Measurement Rules for the St Ayles skiff issued by the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association. A club official will be required to sign a declaration to the effect that their clubs skiff does comply with these rules. If there is any reason why an exemption is required, this must be notified to and approved by the organising committee or the referee in advance the day of the race. No such exemption will be given if it is deemed that the craft will gain an unfair advantage.

The current measurement rules can be found at

Measurement Rules

Championship Races

Championship Races will be held on 10, 11, 12 and 13 July 2013. The final timetable for these races is as follows:

Note that the numbers following the categories are the number of entries, and the numbers in brackets are the number going forward from each heat to the final.

This is a spreadsheet with the same information which you can print: Published Race Schedule

Note that no rower in an Open “A” Mixed crew may row in an Open “B” Mixed crew.

Championship Races (other than for Under 17 categories) will be held over a course of 2km. Start and finish will be from individual marks on a line running out from the beach. Crews will then race across the loch to their own turning buoy, where they will turn 180 degrees before racing back to the start finish line. Each boat will be in an unmarked lane between their start mark and their turn mark, and must as far as possible stay in that lane.

Turn marks will be 30m apart and this involves very tight turns. Crews are advised to practice 180 degree turns with marks at this spacing. The best technique seems to be to apply full starboard rudder and hold back with starboard oars about 4m before the mark, and aim to hit the mark with the bow oar about a foot out from the gunwale. It will fold over and lie under the oars. Port oars continue to row the boat around the mark and when the turn is complete the starboard oars take up again to get the boat up to speed.

The mark needs to be rounded by the hull and rudder, but there is no penalty for hitting it.

Crews approaching their turn must give way to crews coming out of their turn. This is set out in the rules of racing.

Under 17 races will be held over a 1km course, from the location of the Championship Turning buoys to the Championship finish line.

Sprint Race

A sprint time trial will run throughout the week. Entry is made on the day. The course is approximately 250 metres long, from The Wee Pier to the Inner Harbour, parallel with Shore St. Entries will be accepted from composite crews.

Long Distance Races

Two long distance races will be held on Tuesday 9 July. The course of the first race will be from a start line running SW from Ullapool Point at to a finish line at Isle Martin. The race is approximately 4 miles in length. The first race will start at 1100.

The second race will be over the same course in the opposite direction, and will start at 1400.

Men will be required to race into the wind. Women will be required to race with a tailwind. An announcement will therefore be made at the morning briefing as to whether men or women are racing first. Prizes will be awarded for 1^st Male Crew and 1^st Female Crew.

Entries will be accepted on the day. Non racing crews of either gender may accompany the race, but must not interfere with racing crews. Entries will be accepted from composite crews.

Championship Points

There will be an overall prize for the club with the best performance in the Championship events throughout the week. There are 19 categories on offer. Only the highest scoring 10 results from each club will count towards the club championship.

Points will be awarded as follows:

1^st: 14 points

2^nd: 13 points

3rd: 12 points

And so on until:

14^th: 1 point

Points will be awarded on this basis in both heats and finals. Events with sufficient entries to have heats and finals will therefore have more points available.

Double points will be awarded in the Open Category for Men, Women and Mixed “A” .

Points are only awarded in Championship events. No points will be awarded for the long distance or sprint races.

Prizes will also be awarded for best performance by an overseas club and best performance by a “New Club” (defined in SCRA rules of racing as a club that “ is a member of the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association and has been putting crews forward for racing in up to two calendar years, or has had the status of “New Club” conferred upon it by the SCRA committee for a fixed period of time. “)

Entries

Entries will be accepted from UK groups/ clubs that are members of the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association, and from international groups/ clubs . All entrant groups must either have a St Ayles skiff launched or in build.

Entries must be made by an official of the club/ group, who is authorised to make undertakings on behalf of the crews for whom the entry is made.

There is no entry fee. Entry is to be made using this form:

Entry Form

Registration

On arrival at Ullapool clubs are asked to register crews to confirm that they will be racing, and who will be in the boats. More details of registration will be issued in due course.