On Saturday 29th June 2024 Albany hosted a Regatta featuring St Ayles skiffs from around the State to celebrate the launch of Albany’s own skiff building program. Here is a report on the day:
At 1000hrs on Saturday 29th June the Boat Shed witnessed the official opening of the Festival with an eloquent speech well delivered by Cr Malcolm Trail who spoke at length on the St Ayles Skiff project and the official launching of our community build project under the auspices of the Albany Maritime Foundation with the endorsement of the City of Albany
We had four invited teams of St Ayles Skiffs with five boats attending with their crews numbering approx 60 rowers. These boats traveled from Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, South of Perth Yacht Club, Augusta Community Rowing association and Denmark Community Rowing Association.
All boats were launched by 9.30am and assembled with crews on the beach prior to the official opening. This made for a great spectacle of beautiful craft on the waters edge of the foreshore and with crews additional to the visiting public, made for a busy shed and waterfront. Subsequently, boats were made available for visitors to the festival to participate in a row around the harbor if they so wished. The “Albany Shantymen” were also provided with a boat for some publicity and photo opportunities to assist in promoting the Shanty Festival starting the following week
The weather was perfect for rowing events with sun filled skies on calm waters and boats enthusiastically rowed in different classes over five main events on the Saturday as per the program below.
Racing program was:
1300 Race 1 “Sea Sirens Sally” Women 500 metres
1345 Race 2 “Crusty Barnacles Splash” Men 500 metres
1430 Race 3 “Sirens & Barnacles Bash” Women & Men 500 metres
1515 Race 4 “Old Salts Grumble” Veterans 500 metres
1545 Race 5 “The Slipway Dash” Mixed 600 metres
Presentation Dinner
An evening presentation dinner event was held at the Premier Hotel in the upstairs area with the facility packed to the rafters and approximately 80 people celebrating the day on the water. Service & catering was of a high standard with music provided by the “Albany Shantymen” rendering some stirring Shanties to kick the evening along.
Results found all teams had a win on the day with Augusta Rowers victorious overall on the day winning the “Black Jack Sally” trophy for best team.
John Gaunt
Coordinator, St Ayles Skiff Project