St Ayles

St Ayles - launched 31st October 2010

The St Ayles is our second boat and did take a little longer to construct than the first with the start of the build being made by the students of Adam Smith College. Once they had constructed the hull the boat did lie untouched for a little while until several members of the Museum's Boat Club undertook the job of finishing off the project by the end of October 2010.

The boat was unveiled on the 31st October 2010 on the anniversary of the launch of the first boat and thanks has to go to the Museum Boats Club, in particular Donald McDonald, Tony Davis and Wince Stewart. Built to the same dimensions of the Chris o' Kanaird however, after a great deal of discussions and with the enforcement of the rule to keep to wooden construction we opted to try wooden tholepins and have the rudder controlled by ropes rather that the tiller method used in the Chris o' Kanaird.

This was a great decision as over the years of rowing the St Ayles has travelled the length and breadth of Scotland as well as a couple of trips across to Ireland to compete in regattas and attend various events.

The names St Ayles (pronounced Saint Isles), put forward by Linda Fitzpatrick curator at the Scottish Fisheries Museum, and was very fitting as this is the comes from the sixteenth century chapel which stood round the site of the current Scottish Fisheries Museum courtyard.


The Club

The club is made up of a diverse group of people of all ages and is open to both men and women ageing from 18 – 80, or older if you feel up to it. A crew consists of 4 rowers all taking one oar each and the cox who ensures the correct timing is kept and the safety of all on onboard. We have regular training sessions for the members, weather and tide permitting, and welcome interest from local people to come along and have a go and see how much fun this can be.

The Scottish Fisheries Museum

As part of the Scottish Fisheries Museum we have the benefit of being able to use the Museum facilities and have built up a great relationship with the people in the Museum and especially the Boats Club who have been instrumental in the building of our second boat.

Our Achievements

2019 has been a busy year with trophies being won at Greenock regatta and Newhaven Midsummer Challenge with the highlight being the World Championships where we successfully returned with Silver medals for the Under 40 Men & Womens'  and Bronze medals in the Womens' Open and Mix 280+ categories. 

Find out more by following us on FACEBOOK or Twitter