Author: Barbara Agnew

Yes, spring has sprung, the clocks have gone forward, and it’s time once again for evening rowing on Tuesdays and Thursdays – tides and weather permitting, as ever.

This week we shall have rowing from 18:00 until 19:00 this evening, the 9th (only one hour because of the tides), and on Thursday the 11th from 18:00 to 20:00. Both sessions will be on a turn-up-and-row basis. The more the merrier! We have two skippers available for each evening, so we could possibly get both boats out.

On Saturday the 13th, we shall have a bookable row in Ferry Maid from 09:00 and turn up and row rowing in Ferry Lass from 09:00 till 10:00 (tides restrict the end time). On Sunday the 14th, both boats will be away at North Berwick to take part in a row in company around the Bass Rock, so there will be no social rowing session.

Happy New Year everyone! With the Lass off the water for her makeover, it was just the Maid who attended this year’s Dook – along with St Margaret’s Hope and Ferry Sonnet from North Queensferry. It was a special row for one club member, George, who was celebrating his 85th birthday. Many happy returns George!

Also at the Dook was Richard, paddling his kayak. A couple of onlookers on shore were overheard musing about why the kayaker was shadowing the skiffs. “He must be the rescue boat,” the chap said. “Oh yes, gosh that’s good of him, isn’t it!” Well done Richard – we’re sure you’d have managed to pack all six crew into your kayak in the event of a capsize!

On shore, braving the Dook, was Lorna.

After the Dook, the Maid visited the old harbour to wave to Sheena and Ranald.

More photos on the club Flickr.

Apologies for any formatting glitches – I’m posting this from my phone.

Following is the agenda for the upcoming AGM, plus nominations for officers and committee members, plus a proposed amendment to the constitution.

Queensferry Rowing Club
AGM 11th October 2023
7.30pm, Port Edgar Boat Station

Agenda

1. Apologies

2. Approval of 2022 Minutes

3. Matters Arising

4. Captain’s Report

5. Treasurer’s Report

6. Sub-group reports

7. Election of Office Bearers and Committee Members

Nominations
Captain: Peter Locke. Proposer John McKean, seconder Mike Breewood

Vice Captain:

Treasurer: Anne Purcell. Proposer Marianne Sandison, seconder Donna Martin.

Secretary: David James. Propser Paul D Dourley, seconder Cherry Kelsey.

Ordinary Members:
Beth Curtin – proposer
Maria Van Dalen, seconder
Marianne Sandison.
John Howell – proposer Douglas Carse, seconder Alan Sutherland.
Alan Sutherland – proposer Suzanne S, seconder Douglas Carse.
Suzanne S – proposer Peter Locke, seconder Alan S.
John McKean – proposer Alan S, seconder Alistair.
Anthony Bacon – proposer Alistair, seconder George.
Michelle – proposer Peter L, seconder Susanne S

8. Proposed Changes to the constitution

Proposed by Mike McD, Seconded by Peter Locke.

a. Clause 4.2 Management – All office bearers and committee members shall retire annually, but shall be eligible for re-election, with the exception of the offices of Captain and Vice Captain, which may be held by a member for a maximum of two consecutive years, after which they cannot stand for re-election for a period of two years.
– Proposal to delete all after ‘with the exception of…’ (as
shown in italics).
b. Clause 5.1 General Meetings – Proposal to increase the quorum for a general meeting from twelve to twenty members

9. Any other competent business

Click here to view or download a copy of the agenda.

Club captain Marianne writes: First…..Eskmuthe. What a wonderful day out for the club!  The regatta was a great mixture of club races, and mix-up races, over 1km with a buoy turn. The format gave everyone opportunities to race with skiffies from other clubs, and in other boats.  

Our partnership with our immediate neighbours, Newhaven and North Queensferry, continues with rowers Sean, John and Sarah welcome additions to our racing crews. Our wonderful friends at Alnmouth gave us race coxes for the day, and a different set of boat orders into the mix. It’s fair to say that our rudder – they launch off beaches so have one that can be raised – gave them something to think about too!

Virtually everyone came home with a medal, including Filip and Ondrej, two of our youth rowers. Well done lads! Eleni, in her first regatta, came home with a medal too.

The weather while it behaved most of the time, broke in an appropriately enough for a Sunday, biblical downpour during the Men’s Open and saw Richard and Sean completely drenched. The thunder was a bit triggering for those of us who were at Ullapool! 

Thanks to everyone who was involved in packing and unpacking in any way, to our tower Richard, and to the Monday crew who came in to the wet gazebo draped over every possible surface to try and dry it. 

Hot on the heels of the fantastic fun of Eskmuthe comes the test that is North Berwick’s regatta, on Saturday. With a course of over 3km (I’m sure it’s longer…) around Craigleith, it’s probably the toughest regatta racing test in Scottish coastal rowing. It’s also a lovely day out at the seaside! We have a youth crew racing, with the addition of a young NB rower.

Apologies for my tardiness in posting this! Time ran away from me…

Club captain Marianne writes: Our regatta.  What a day!  Sunday had it all: rain, wind, sun, challenging conditions, fierce but friendly racing, but above all joy, community and a lot of fun!  

We’ve had some wonderful feedback from the other clubs, who loved the inclusive format of the regatta. We also had feedback from Ali Grant from our governing body the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association (SCRA) congratulating us on the inclusive, friendly nature of our regatta, which still allowed very competitive racing. Ali has fed this back to the SCRA directly, so we can be very pleased about that!  

Ali finished her message saying ‘Andy Jarvis would have been proud’. I know this accolade will mean such a lot to many members. Sadly I never met Andy, but he was famous for jumping into any boat in the true spirit of our sport. He gave rise to the phenomenon of the ‘Andy race’, a feature of regattas across the country, and the format we used for our entire regatta.  

It’s always dangerous to thank people individually for fear of leaving someone out, so on behalf of the Committee, I want to thank every single one of you who played a part, big or small, to make our regatta such a success.  As usual you all rose to the occasional and quietly rolled your sleeves up, got stuck in and made it a success.  We could not have done it without you!

There are still plenty of events to come, including those listed at the end of this message. Not a comprehensive list, so keep an eye on email and the Shed noticeboard.

More photos on the club’s Flickr.