Fife’s coastal rowing craze sweeps country

PHENOMENON: Trend that started in East Neuk sees people from all walks of life build their own boats and take to the oars

A new nautical craze launched in Anstruther is sweeping the country and has even made it as far as New Zealand.

Coastal rowing has its roots in Fife’s East Neuk, when eight years ago a project was started up to encourage communities to become involved in building rowing boats.

Now clubs are popping up all over the country and beyond, including one on the other side of the world.

The trend has become so popular that St Andrews academics Professor Nina Laurie and Jen Remnant have launched a study into the rowing phenomenon.

Involved in the study is Kinghorn Coastal Rowing Club, which has seen people from all walks of life take to the oars.

The sport has become particularly popular with women over the age of 40.

It is now a year since the Kinghorn club built its first boat from a kit and new members are always welcome.

Club chairwoman Christine Feechan said: “We have some people who join for the social side, some to help with the boat maintenance and some who purely want the exercise and we have members of all ages.

“There are more than 200 coastal rowing clubs in Scotland and now some even as far afield as New Zealand.”

The model of boat used is a four-oar St Ayles Skiff.

It is based on vessels used by miners in the mid-1950s. Workers constructed their own boats from timber scavenged from the collieries.

Working with the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther, Taunton-based boat builder Alec Jordan made kits to allow communities to build their own craft.

Mr Jordan said the success of the skiff had “surprised everyone involved”.

Ms Feechan said the combination of community spirit and outdoor exercise had made coastal rowing an attractive pastime.

“The health and wellbeing benefits are incredible – nothing beats being out at sea on a beautiful sunny day,” she said.

She added: “Up until the 1960s there was considerable interest in rowing and boating among the mining communities in Fife, and a strong fisheries industry in the East Neuk.

“These communities, including Kinghorn, held their own regattas on a regular basis using their local boat designs.

“In 2009, the Scottish Fisheries Museum supported an initiative to restart this ‘intercommunity rowing’.

“The project developed quickly and interest spread along coastal communities of Scotland and, in 2010, the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association was formed.”

Nothing beats being out at sea on a beautiful sunny day. CLUB CHAIRWOMAN CHRISTINE FEECHAN

Picture: Sarah Burns. Members of Kinghorn Coastal Rowing Club standing next to their boat ‘Yolande’ on the one-year anniversary of their first boat launch.