RGYC Skiff Rowing
RGYC Skiff Rowing is primarily social and about health, fitness and fun on the water and in the club house. It is a key element of our club’s plan to see our waterfront location and facilities enjoyed by the people of Geelong. Other elements of this program include the Wooden Boat Festival of Geelong, the Festival of Sails and the many national and international sailing championships which we host, all of which draw thousands of people and many millions of dollars to Geelong each year.
BOOK A ROW!
RGYC’s three St Ayles Skiffs are available for use by members, public visitors and businesses for casual recreation, exercise, team-building and even some competition. Some boating experience is handy but not necessary and rowing experience is not a prerequisite as coach is provided.
Participation may be for regular social or fitness rowing along the Geelong foreshore (perhaps to a café for a coffee or lunch!) or for day or over-night expeditions on Corio Bay or our regional rivers. You might even look to compete in State, National or even world championships or to have the yacht club host a regatta event specifically for your group, club or business.
The RGYC program is branded as “Skiff Rowing” instead of “St Ayles Skiff Rowing” in order to welcome boats and rowers other than St Ayles Skiffs to the club.
What are St Ayles Skiffs?
St Ayles Skiffs are beautiful four-oared coastal rowing boats with heritage in the Fair Isle skiffs of the Scottish North Sea. A flat-packed kit boat designed by Australian naval architect Iain Oughtred.
Who uses St Ayles Skiffs?
There are now 400 St Ayles Skiffs built and rowed by community groups around the world, over 200 of them by women. Many, perhaps most of their builders have never built a boat before and many of their rowers have never been in a boat before. There 30 active St Ayles Skiffs in community clubs right across Australia. We have three St Ayles Skiffs at RGYC which we look to make available to the Geelong community and businesses.
The St Ayles Skiff Association’s international moto is “Communities build boats. Boats build communities”. Building and rowing them is fundamentally about casual exercise and social enjoyment although national and international competition is certainly active.
How do I register to row?
Booking a seat is simple. Head to https://www.revolutionise.com.au/rgyc/classes/35235/ that will allow you to book an individual seat or seats or a boat for your group.
When you arrive at the club for your row, the session leader will ask you to register your attendance via our ‘Member Point’ which recognises you as an RGYC member for the day and invokes full club usage rights and insurance protections. Our team is available to assist you with this registration. RGYC members, simply declare yourself to Member Point.
You will be entitled to twelve rowing sessions after which you may purchase additional sessions or become an RGYC member. Once your crew is considered sufficiently experienced, the boats will be available to you for unsupervised rowing at your leisure.
Skiff Rowing Community
To support our growing community, we have created a Facebook Group for RGYC Skiff Rowing which we ask that you join. For a deeper insight into this initiative, you may like to visit the Australian associations page at https://sascraa.org/ or the international associations page at https://www.staylesinternational.org/ .
Thank you to European Affair to supporting RGYC Skiff Rowing.