St Ayles Skiffs

The St Ayles skiff is a modern adaptation of the traditional Scottish Fair Isle skiff. In 2009 the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther approached boat kit manufacturer Alec Jordan to build a boat for the museum. Jordon thought it would be a good idea to revive coastal rowing regattas that had taken place in the coal mining villages on the east coast of Scotland in the 1950's. The Museum commissioned Australian ex-pat Iain Oughtred, to design a skiff for amateur construction. His design named the St Ayles Skiff, is built to a standard International one design from the kit consisting of laser cut marine ply components, epoxy glue and locally sourced timber for thwarts, gunwales, knees and oars.

These stable and seaworthy boats can be rowed by people of all ages and all levels of fitness. Over 300 St Ayles skiffs have been built by communities all over the world with the first built in Australia by Tasmania's "Women on Water" at Franklin, Tasmania in 2012.

The Denmark boats will join a growing fleet in Western Australia. Six skiffs have already been built, four in Perth and two in Augusta. Three are currently under construction, two in Perth and one in Nannup. Over 20 boats have been built by communities across Australia.

The St Ayles Skiffs are likely to be used in three ways (in order of popularity):

  • Social Rowing - Regular rowing for exercise and fun. Joining in with community events, festivals and regattas.
  • Competitive Rowing - Training, attending competitions and virtual global competitions using GPS devices.
  • Exploration Rowing, Raids - Discovering new waterways, joining long distance raids, camping.



Building a St Ayles Skiff

St Ayles Skifs are designed to be built by amateurs with a modicum of handyman skills and knowledge. Denmark Rowers is fortunate to have a few experienced wooden boat builders and repairers on the committee who can steer the project and produce fine looking craft.

There are plans, instructions and flow diagrams as well as countless Youtube videos that demonstrate the build process.

The hull is built on a frame and moulds upside down to begin with and then turned over for fitting out with seats, gunwales and other fittings before being sanded and painted.

There are other components like the oars and the rudder to build from wood but very few other extras except perhaps a mast and sail.

Building our St Ayles Skiffs began in February 2022 when we set up the building moulds we had collected from Nanup Men's Shed. The CNC plywood kits and keel timbers had made it across from Stray Dog Boat Works in South Australia, despite Covid and floods causing delays, and had been delivered to Thorntons Mitre 10 by Denmark Haulage (thanks guys). The progress of the project has been documented in the Building Blog. By Day 40, in mid May, we had reached the milestone of our first Turnover Day. We have had a steady group of around 15 of the members who have worked on the boats, varying from 3 to 8 on any given day. We are enjoying the process and the sharing of skills and the fantastic hospitality of Harry and Kay who's shed we are in. We have also had help from the Year 11 students of Denmark Senior High School who are doing their own boatbuilding course and restoring a traditionally built boat.

We welcome visitors and encourage the community to become involved through local press articles and our Building Blog