Cornish skiffs to gather for anniversary regatta to celebrate 75 years of the Cornwall Rowing Association

by John Collings

*TAKING THE STRAIN: Competitors row their 15’ (4.6m) skiffs under the road and rail bridges at Saltash during a race from the 1960s. Photograph courtesy John Collings.*

Think fixed-seat rowing in Cornwall and the Pilot Gigs immediately spring to mind. But what is not widely appreciated is the fact that the wave of enthusiasm for the gigs was triggered by the all-encompassing success of the Cornwall Rowing Association in the 1960s and early 1970s. That august body is still going strong and will be celebrating an impressive milestone next month.

On Saturday 13 June, the Association will be hosting the 75th anniversary regatta with a special 15’ (4.6m) skiff event at Boscawen Park, Truro in Cornwall.

Originally formed in 1951, the Cornwall Rowing Association (CRA) has classes for 18’ (5.5m) flashboats as well as the skiffs. The clinker-built wooden flashboats were rowed by four people and a coxswain, while the carvel-built wooden skiffs accommodated a crew of three – and no cox.

Both classes of rowing boat were built to a strict one-design and at weekend regattas throughout Cornwall – and at times across the Tamar border – there were competitions for men, women and age groups from 14 to 18-year-olds.

*Looe senior rowing crew 1950: Claude Tambling, Roger Passmore, Norman Richardson and Bill Spry, coxswain unknown. Photograph courtesy John Collings.*

To mark the anniversary, the CRA is bringing together as many 15’ (4.6m) Cornish skiffs as possible. “Whether your skiff is afloat or ashore, we’d be delighted to have it there,” said CRA spokesman Chris Baker.

“For those that do float, we will be holding a procession on the river as part of the celebrations. This anniversary offers a wonderful opportunity to showcase these boats, their craftsmanship, and the community that supports them.”

*CRA boats at Looe. Photograph courtesy John Collings.*

The design of the skiff was inspired by the traditional Fal oyster punts while the flashboats – often named ‘watermen’s boats’ – had their roots in East Cornwall, where they were used for river salmon fishing, as well as transporting cargo and people across the border into Devon.

But, as ever when people are involved, competition was not far away and the various boat owners were soon eager to prove that their craft were faster than those of their colleagues.

This rivalry is believed to have led to the well-known Calstock boatbuilder James Goss creating a much lighter, finer and faster rowing boat in the 1920s, which was dubbed a ‘flash boat’ by traditionalists… and, of course, the name inevitably stuck.

By 1951, the two types of boat – by now being raced regularly throughout the county – were united in competition with the formation of the CRA.

Its heyday was undoubtedly in the 1960s and early 1970s, but even in the 21^st century there remains a full programme of weekend regattas, of which next month’s anniversary meeting will be one of the biggest.

RIVER RACING: Youngsters line up at Calstock, on the upper reaches of the River Tamar in South East Cornwall, for the start of a pair of paddles event in 15’ (4.6m) skiffs. Photograph courtesy John Collings.

After the action on the water on 13 June, there will be a reception at the nearby Scout Hut in Boscawen Park, Truro, where people will be reminiscing about the glory days of the ‘proper’ Cornish rowing.

For further information, please call Chris Baker on 07955 090 122.