Rowing at the Sailing Club
Rowing may not be the first thing that you connect with a Sailing Club, but we are part of a growing number of Sailing Clubs that include rowing and other water based activities in our offer. Stour Sailing Club has always been about promoting the ‘quiet enjoyment of the river’ including sailing and other activities. Club members are involved in sailing, fishing, kayaking, paddle boarding, ‘wild’ swimming and of course Coastal Rowing.
The Club has two Harker’s Yard Gigs – William Rose and Hunter. The Gigs enable the Club to take part in the thriving Essex wide racing scene coordinated by the Harker’s Yard Gig Association as well as providing opportunities for members who don’t want to compete to row for fun or for fitness.
The Club also has a single Coastal Scull, Sarka, donated by a member of the Club in 2019.
We also have the use of a Claydon Skiff made available by her owner.
We are always keen to hear from people who would like to row or Cox (and if you want to row then we will also expect you to Cox unless there are good reasons why you can’t!) whether you are currently a member of the Club or not. We row all year round and plan to have at least two ‘Open’ rowing sessions most weeks (depending on the tides and weather) that any rowers can book on to, one during the week and one at weekends, as well as racing. However, all of the Club rowing sessions are dependent on a very small number of volunteers who take rows out – as well as the tide and the weather. If we don’t have volunteers then we can’t go out.
You don’t have to have rowed before, and rowing is a brilliant team sport for people of all ages. We will take you out as part of a crew and you can see how much fun it is. You can row for pleasure, to get fit, or to compete (or all three).
If you are interested in trying rowing in the future there is lots of information on this section of the website and in the short leaflet Rowing with SSC – January 2024 and you can contact us by email: rowing@stoursailingclub.co.uk
We will ask you to complete a form to provide us with some very basic information SSC-rowing-contact-form-2024
Once you have returned a completed form we will get you out for a first row as soon as we can!
Outside of Open Rowing Sessions and Races the Gig is also available to be booked for rows by Club Members who demonstrated that they have the necessary experience to take responsibility for a Gig and Crew and have signed up as ‘Approved Gig Users’.
