Whilst the history and origins of St Ayles skiffs is well documented on the Troon Coastal Rowing Club website and the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association, it’s worth reflecting on what lies behind the very concept. From Fife miners building their own boats, the Shetlanders necessity for everyday life, to today’s growing Coastal Rowing clubs that come together with common aim and purpose, the answer is community.

Troon Coastal Rowing club is a great example of community, where people from a wide range of backgrounds and ages come together to share a common interest and passion. Community doesn’t reside solely on the water with so many examples of members supporting each other through challenging times and sharing a brew and telling tall tales of past regatta glories. 

At Troon we have a growing membership and we thought it would be interesting to hear from two of the newest members to the club.

The first member we will hear from is Lizzie Young. Lizzie joined the club this season and, after a very wet trial row, quickly joined the club. Like many of us, she is keen to increase fitness through a new hobby. She rowed at university (slidey seat variety) and is loving this new challenge. When asked what she enjoyed about the club, Lizzie was very clear. “Everyone in the club has been so friendly and welcoming. I love the banter and the friendly competition. The feeling of winning in regattas is unreal. Plus it’s just such a good feeling when you’re out on the water with the sun on your face.”

Lizzie loves hiking, spends time in the gym and does music theatre. Where does she find the time!

Lizzie recently won gold at the Royal West Regatta and is pictured in her winning team here with Lorna, Steve, Mike, Lizzie and Christine.

Her favourite regatta experience so far was “winning the gold and not realising straight away and still rowing past the finish line”.

Lizzie has heard about the incredible work that goes on in the background with build and maintenance and will look to get involved in this in the future. I wonder if Lizzie’s secret talent of spinning her right hand round 360 degrees is better for rowing or sanding?

To get to know Liz better and give you something to quiz her about, she is our very first victim of Dream Team Rowing. Who, other than our great club members, would she have in the boat with her for a slow row around Lady Isle ? 

Lizzie’s Dream Team Rowers
Cox	Gordon Ramsay
Stroke	The Rock
3	Lizzie
2	Emma Watson
Bow	David Attenborough

I don’t think Gordon will have an issue with shouting instructions and clearly The Rock will be doing all the rowing. What a great opportunity to take your time and just hear David Attenborough speak. Lizzie is a big Harry Potter fan so I think Emma may get more than a few questions too. What do you think? 

The next new member we will hear about is Euan Fell. Euan briefly rowed with the club when he was at school but stopped when he went to university. Like Lizzie, Euan was keen to improve his fitness and meet new people. He is delighted to have recently won gold at Troon’s 2023 regatta and is pictured here with Mike, Julie, Christine, Euan and Neil.

Euan used to play bagpipes in Troon BB pipe band and now plays rugby for Marr 3s. He also does CrossFit so clearly fitness isn’t an issue for him.

Euan’s dream team rowers are another interesting bunch.

Euan’s Dream Team Rowers
Cox	His grandpa
Stroke	Johnny Cash
3	Sir Christopher Lee
2	Oscar Isaac
Bow	Euan

Euan’s grandpa used to be in the merchant navy so hopefully would get them round Lady Isle and back. I’m hoping Johnny Cash would sing all the way and I bet Sir Christopher Lee could tell some stories. What a life! Euan finishes with a bit of Hollywood glam with  Oscar Isaac. Would you sneak a seat in that boat?

So now that you know a little more about our newer members, why not take some time out for a blether the next time you are in the boat with any of them. 

Who would your Dream Team be?  

Our next article will hear from some of our longest serving members of the club and how they share the same passion for coastal rowing as our newer members.

On June 4th, the club ran its annual regatta, which took place as usual on South Beach. Less usual, the weather was perfect!

Visitor included Arran, Ayr Renegades, Carrick, FOCCRs, Prestwick and Royal West. Troon won the overall regatta.

Skiffs took part in four 2k races on a triangular course, three monaco-style sprints, and two short coxed-pair races.

Here’s a short video highlighting some of the events. Many thanks to our member Thor for putting it together.

Troon Coastal Rowing Club have been presented with a Blue Flag by the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association in recognition of their fundraising efforts this year on behalf of Irvine & Troon Cancer Care.

Many, many thanks again to everyone who donated and supported the club rowers & cyclists.

This weekend TCRC crews have been taking part in “Castle to Crane – Five miles from home”.

Many thanks to all the boat builders, painters, sanders and organisers who got the skiffs ready to row.

Best placed were the men’s 50+ team who finished third in their category. You can find the full results here.

After what seems like an eternity of not being able to row, compounded with necessary but frustrating late maintenance operations, rowers and boats are ready to return to the water.

It is however not back to normal. The details of the new procedures for handling the boats and for setting up rowing sessions have been communicated to the membership and will be included here as soon as possible.

Hopefully the new rules will enable everyone to take part as safely as possible and let us keep track of member interactions should need be.

Luckily the weather seems ideal for the next few days so we hope all members will be able to take part and enjoy being back on the sea.

Meanwhile, please get familiar with our new procedures by checking out the Quick Reference and the Full Guidance (to be published ASAP).

It was with great sadness that we learned our friend and fellow club member David Sutherland passed away this week.

David was one of our founding members, our first secretary and his talents as an administrator ensured that Troon Coastal Rowing Club got off to the best possible start.

Whilst designing our membership form and compiling the club manual his enduring legacy was in the creation of our club logo and skiff figurehead.

From the first days when we were just a small group of people building a skiff, David was at the heart of the team, always willing to turn his hand to whatever job needed done, from building a rolling frame for the boat to painting on a gold inlay.

After stepping back from his role as Secretary, David became a regular feature at the slipway, cheering us on at regattas and even finding time to write his own entertaining take on the world of coastal rowing!

Troon Coastal Rowing Club was one of David’s passions, and the Club owes him a great debt of gratitude.

Thank you David.