Ullapool gets the nod

Ullapool Pier

St. Ayles skiffs beached at Loch Broom

Skiffie racing

A skiff in the foreground during Ullapool Tall Ships

Ullapool

The Harbour

Loch Broom

Coigach


all images courtesy
SCRA World Skiff Championships

Word came in my inbox today that Ullapool has been selected to host the Scottish Coastal Rowing Associations first ever World Skiffs Championship in 2013. What a great choice! I got to know Ullapool many years ago when I spent a summer just north of there on the Coigach coastline. A warm and welcoming town surrounded by spectacular mountains, moors and the sea, and the best fish & chips in the world. Here's the press release sent out by Chris Perkins for the Ullapool Coastal Rowing Club:

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

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.

For more information please visit the dedicated Website http://skiffieworlds.com/, a work in progress which will grow in detail as we get closer to the event.



To find out more about the Iain Oughtred designed St. Ayles Skiff see my earlier posts and visit the Scottish Coastal Rowing website.

Nordlandsbåt; krumstevning

All photos courtesy Iain Oughtred

In a discussion with acclaimed small boat designer Iain Oughtred about the taxonomy of certain Norwegian boat types, he casually mentioned that he was involved with a Nordlandsbåt that had recently been discovered on Skye, his home. Piqued my interest, he did. After some wrestling with google translate we more or less resolved that issue and Iain responded to my request for some info on the 'rescue operation'. It's a rather interesting story.
Iain contacted Gunnar Eldjarn in Norway to ask for help both in identifying the boat and how to proceed. Gunnar builds traditional Norwegian boats and his website is here. Gunnar identified the boat as a Krumstevning, which he elaborates a bit below. He further named it a Ranværingsboat, a boat built in the Rana area, a little more that halfway up Norway's west coast. They are dating the boat anywhere from 1840 to 1890, pending further investigation. Iain had originally envisioned a restoration, but Gunnar went on to say:

"It is a krumstevning. A treroring and has had six oars.
A small treroring like this is actually a 2 1/2 room boat with 3 rooms. This is not very special, but is a northern Norwegian specialty.
I see now that it has a very special keel, a gatakjøl which has both the keel an the keelstrake in one peace. This I have heard about, but never seen on a small boat like this.
Then, most of the strakes are probably hewn, and almost impossible to shift, at least very difficult.

I would actually be careful and keep the old boat without much repair, and also use it very little. All the old material is brittle and cant take much beating. Making a copy is a good idea. But it is not a very easy boat to build. But if the old boat is kept untouched, 100 copies may be built and used. If the old one is much repaired, the original is gone. The boat should be thoroughly documented, lots of good pictures, measurements etc.
The boat is worth a lot, not much money, but as a cultural document.
Please take care of the boat.!!!!"

The 18' x 54" boat is on the grounds of large estate in southern Skye, a district named Sleat, and the owner contacted Iain at the urging of one Fergus Walker, who I've written about before. Lucilla (said owner), Iain, and some other interested parties are in the process of securing a tent to protect the boat from the elements and commencing preservation strategies. A little more from Iain, first a portion of his reply to Gunnar:

"Many thanks for your message. It is a valuable contribution to our quest, and we are privileged to have this authoratative statement which confirms our feeling that this is a rare and special boat that deserves to be cared for properly. And measured up, recorded, photographed, drawn up as Bernhard F would do. That will be my job."

Plus this to me:

"Lucilla wants to keep her close to home, ultimately on display with all relevant information presented in English, Norwegian and Gaelic.

I have found a nice board of Scots Pine to replace the missing capping piece on the starboard gunwale. And some scraps of oak for missing and damaged bits of frames. We will have tollepinnar (thole pins) for the keip/'kabes'/oarlocks. I got the Norwegian Varnol thin penetrating oil. I hope that Mark Stockl, the boatbuilder from Ullapool, may be able to do much of this work, after setting up the cradle, which will support the hull comfortably all round. She may even need to gently settle into her rightful shape before new pieces are fitted!

I do not think the boat will actually be used. She's quite fragile. But hopefully we could just launch her and take some nice photographs." I will see if Lucilla is up for asking Gunnar about a replica that she can play with.

Iain has consented to keeping me updated on progress made good on the 'bonny wee boat' and
I'll be letting you know.

Original article posted @ 70.8% by Thomas Armstrong

A gathering of the Clan, WoodenBoat honors Iain Oughtred at Mystic Seaport

Matt Murphy getting things underway

Geoff Kerr of Two Daughters Boatworks had some personal remarks by way of introducing Iain

Himself

A nice turnout, many of these folks are builders of Iain's designs

I sat with my friends Russ and Julia Mannheimer, made some new ones as well, in particular, and out of view to the right, were Steve and Mary Bauer of Portland ME, owners of an Al Mason designed Ostkust, for which they just launched an Oughtred Humble Bee pram, as tender to their boat, at Mystic. Photo in a later post.

Geoff Kerr's first boat, which launched his boatbuilding career, Ned Ludd

Geoff answering the endless questions, all part of being there.

Geoff's Caledonia Yawl is named for an historic British character, Ned Ludd, possibly originally Ned Ludlam, whose reaction to the industrial revolution was taken as a rallying point for those whose way of life was being radically changed and challenged. They became known as the Luddites.

Geoff and Ned Ludd out in the Connecticut River

Andy Kitchen and Iain Oughtred with Andy's J II, named for Iain's mother and which morphed into the Arctic Tern, hands down my favorite of Iain's interpretations of the Shetland Yoles

During the two days I spent at the show, I never walked past Andy's boat without there being a few admirers.

No doubt because she is such a lovely boat...

A tribute to both her designer and her builder

these four photos courtesy Andrew Kitchen

Here's Ed Segen's Patina, a Caledonia Yawl meticulously finished, down to his cast bronze knees in the shape of a whale. A beautiful boat Ed sails out of Wilton, CT just across the river from Mystic.

Ed allows he spent about 1250 hours bringing his boat to life.

A less commonly built Fulmar, trailed in from WI , this boat is a work in progress. The work is being done by Dave Tilley and his son Eric. My brother John looks on as Eric demonstrates...

...an ingenious innovation for raising and lowering the mast, similar to a tabernacle, except the mast is full length and rotates on a pin set just below the deck. The foot of the mast slides along a little track in the bow as the mast is lowered. Dave's invention allows for easy singlehanded mast manipulation. The beautiful finish was achieved using Le Tonkinois.

Annie is another less commonly seen Oughtred design, the 15'9" Whilly Tern.

Annie was built and is daysailed and camp cruised on the Connecticut River by her owner, John Denunzio of Durham CT


all photos Thomas Armstrong unless otherwise noted

The 19th WoodenBoat Show, sponsored by WoodenBoat Magazine was again hosted by Mystic Seaport. This was my first WBS and it was great fun and a bit overwhelming. The honored guest this year was one of the worlds pre-eminent designers of small craft for home builders, and one I hold in the highest esteem, Iain Oughtred. Undoubtedly best known for his seaworthy double enders based on traditional Scottish boats with a Scandinavian heritage, Iain's work spans a long career and a wide range of boat types. Not only does Iain continue to publish new design's, he is constantly revising and tweaking older designs to make them better.
Saturday last was the night for the tribute dinner for Iain. It was this event which, at the last minute, pushed me over the edge to commit to going to the event. Glad I did, it was well worth it. First up was Matt Murphy, editor of WoodenBoat Magazine, with some anecdotes and introductions. Next, Geoff Kerr, an early builder of the Caledonia Yawl, explained how building this boat ignited the fuse to an explosion of energy which resulted in his transition from a suburban McLean VA corporate worker bee to full time boatbuilder. Geoff now does business at Two Daughters Boatworks in Westford, Vermont. Geoff visited Iain at Struan Cottage, Isle of Skye and desribed the journey as "two planes, two trains and a ferry". He also allowed it to be an insightful and productive meeting of the minds. Geoff then courageously took a mystical tack, describing Iain Oughtred as a 'Wizard' at finding the essence of traditional boats and bringing them forward and making them accesible to the backyard builder using modern techniques. Geoff ascribed this ability to a sort of genetic memory, and challenged the audience to deny that everyone there probably had a bit of Norse or Scandinavian blood in their ancestry. No one spoke up.
Iain took the bait, and agreed, in his talk, that he thought Geoff was on to something. Then he went a bit further and recounted that many years earlier, while touring Norway in his beat up VW van scouring the countryside for examples of traditional workboats, he heard a voice impelling him toward his future. The voice, whether from his own subconscious or the muses, simply said "you need to work with boats". I do not discount this phenomena, having on at least two occasions had a similar experience.
Iain then went on to offer a brief synopsis of his evolution beginning with his building/racing career at a very early age in his native Australia and culminating in his currently vibrant achievement as a one of the foremost designers of neo traditional boats in the world accompanied by a relevant slide show. His talk concluded to vigorous applause!
Much to my pleasure I was able to have a few words with Iain, and brother John kept running into him on Sunday.
As you can see in the photographs above, several devoted builders were compelled to bring their Ougthred boats to the event, both within the I Built It Myself exhibition and at large. The folks above are only a portion of the Oughtred boats present in Mystic. A very rewarding weekend and not one to be soon forgotten.
I'll be writing about other highlights of the show very soon.

Andrew Kitchen's J II/Arctic Tern

Taken at Mystic Seaport, this photo of Andrew's J II was used as the header for this years John Gardner Small Craft Workshop at Mystic, June 5 & 6.

J II pre launch

In the water

Andrew sailing at Mystic

The J II or Jeanne Henderson bears Iain's mothers name and is quick and lively, but a bit tender, IO redesigned her with a bit more beam and she's now the Arctic Tern

A very nice build, indeed.

The accursed yoke tiller. Even Iain Oughtred doesn't like them

all photos courtesy Andrew Kitchen

Timing is everything, it is said. Recently a posting on the Oughtred Yahoo group caught my eye. Andrew Kitchen had uploaded some pictures of his Oughtred J II. The J II is the first iteration of my all time favorite of Iain's designs, the Arctic Tern. She was fast and nimble, but a bit tender, so Mr. Oughtred redesigned her for more stability, with a bit more beam and more strakes per side. From Andrew:
The boat was completed in 2004, so she is actually a J II Yawl (the
earlier design on which Arctic Tern was based). She performs
beautifully, although she is a little tender, which I think explains
why IO modified the design. I have day-sailed her since, but never
cruised. I'll be showing her at this year's Wooden Boat Show at Mystic,
as part of the IBIM exhibit. I am particularly excited about this as
Iain Oughtred is scheduled to attend the show this year.

Yes, indeed. Last night I made a last minute decision to purchase my ticket to the Oughtred Tribute Dinner next Saturday evening at the WoodenBoat Show at Mystic Seaport. Now sold out. I'll be looking to meet Andrew and his boat, which he's bringing to Mystic for the I Built It Myself exhibit. Maybe I can even cadge a sail!
Silent Maid will also be there...hmmm, maybe I'll be able to cadge another sail. I know that Russ Mannheimer is also planning to attend, unfortunately not arriving in Sjogin, oh well. Still it looks to be a great weekend. See ya there.

Scottish Coastal Rowing Project: Coigach and Ullapool launch, and have at it

Ulla, the Ullapool boat was launched without ceremony on Friday, May 21

Splashed!

Adrian Morgan, a local boatbuilder and well known ex boating journalist, standing, lent a guiding hand to the builders of Ulla, led by Topher Dawson

In this photo, as ell as the two preceding, one can see the
the Viking style steering board, like a paddle, used by Ulla to eliminate problems with a rudder. It's a bit of an experiment, and we'll see how it performs. A full exposition of this steering method and the rationale behind it can be found here

Putting their backs into it on Loch Broom

Loch Broom

Lesley Muir, on of the moving forces behind Achiltibuie's Coigach Lass, proudly display's the wax model which will be cast in bronze and become the Lass' figurehead.

The Lass being carried down the ramp at Old Dornie for splash.

Lass' sea trials

Ulla rowed over for the ceremony from Loch Broom,

and of course, an informal match race began!

The Lass pulls ahead

Coigach Lass raced with five other boats at Anstruther this weekend with an all women crew, all over 40. They didn't win the race but won something more precious.

this photo courtesy P Nisbet/Coigach Lass

all other photos courtesy Chris Perkins

The Scottish Coastal Rowing Project is very healthy and rowing into it's first sanctioned races. The Ullapool boat splashed unceremoniously on Friday, May 21, and the Coigach Lass to somewhat greater ceremony (pipes) on Saturday, May 22. A cordial crew from Loch Broom rowed over to share the moment for Coigach, and naturally, a match race was soon underway. It's enlightening to read the teams respective blogs of what ensued. According to Coigach, they won the match hands down, but the Ullapool site has it that out of deference to Coigach Lass on her splash day, they 'allowed' her to pull ahead. H'mmm.
In any event, the first full regatta took place on Saturday, May 29, in Anstruther with six boats/teams attending. More here...

I've been following this project from it's inception last fall and am highly impressed with the vitality, industry and eagerness of the participants, really a remarkable phenomenom. It would be especially nice to see this Scots bred concept travel round the world, and invovle communities from other cultures building their own historically indigenous craft as a mirror to this Scottish idea.

The boats used by the various communties are all built to Iain Oughtreds St. Ayles design and kits are available through Alec Jordan.
Visit the Coigach Lass.
Visit Ulla.
VisitThe Scottish Coastal Rowing Project.