Perth rowers take on world championships in Scotland

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The small Scottish town of Stranraer will become a hub of activity in July, when yacht clubs from around the world take part in the St Ayle's Skiffs Club World Championship. Australia will be represented by a team from Perth, where the sport has battled to become an integral part of its yacht club.

Transcript

00:00Early on a cool Perth morning, these rowers are hard at work, preparing for the St Isle

00:09Skiff Club World Championships in Scotland.

00:12We're now taking 16 rowers over to Scotland, mixed.

00:18We are all over 50, and the age range goes up to 79.

00:25Attention!

00:26Go!

00:27St Isle Skiffs are based on traditional Fair Isle Skiffs fishing vessels, originating

00:32from a push to help stimulate boat building in Scotland in 2010.

00:36Since then, interest in the sport has taken off with the Skiffs being built around the

00:39globe and the inaugural World Championships held in 2019.

00:43A trip to Hobart a decade ago sparking the club's interest in this unique discipline.

00:48And while I was there, I literally stumbled across one of these boats that was partly

00:54under construction.

00:55So I was very taken with it.

00:58But when it came to accepting rowing at a yacht club, it wasn't all smooth sailing.

01:02Initially, there was a little bit of a, well, you know, John, we are a sailing club.

01:06And I pointed out that in the early days of the club, there were more rowing races than

01:11there were yacht races, and the club very quickly thought it was a good idea.

01:17The Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club is representing Australia at this year's event, held in July

01:22on Scotland's southwest coast.

01:24Part of the rules are that these boats have to be built by the community to a certain specification.

01:28This boat isn't actually going to Scotland, but one identical to it will be borrowed for

01:32competition.

01:33A club from Perth hoping to launch on the world state.

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