Practice days are June 29-30; race finals are July 1, weather permitting.

More details SOON.

Sponsored and produced by WoodenBoat Magazine.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hewes-Company-Marine-Division/138957102790976?v=wall

Mount Desert High School

George Stevens Academy (Blue Hill)

Belfast Alternative High School

Deer Isle – Stonington High School

Sumner Memorial High School (Sullivan)

Washington Academy (East Machias)

Vinalhaven High School

Out-Of-State Schools & Groups:

The Community Boatworks of the Hudson Valley (Peekskill, NY)

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (Vergennes, VT)

Renbrook School (Hartford, CT)

Chariho Tech Center (Wood River Junction, RI)

Moravian Academy (Bethlehem, PA)

Wind & Oar Women’s Rowing Club (Portland, OR)

Manatee Technical Institute (Bradenton, FL)

We hope to announce the dates and locations of the EMBARC (Eastern Maine Boatbuilding & Rowing Challenge) and BARC (the national  Boatbuilding & Rowing  Challenge) in the next week.

www.ProBoat.com — “Cutting a St. Ayles Skiff” in Shop Shots.

Oh, and here’s a link to some nice TV coverage:

http://www.wlbz2.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=676406966001

The St. Ayles Skiff, photo courtesy Peter Nisbet

The St. Ayles Skiff was designed by Iain Oughtred in Scotland at the request of the Scottish Fisheries Museum.  Its initial purpose was to serve as a rowing boat that communities could build and then compete in rowing races with other communities. The Scottish Coastal Rowing Project’s website www.scottishcoastalrowing.org will keep you abreast on that group’s history, present, and future.  I believe 30 Skiffs have been built or are being built so far in Scotland.

The St. Ayles Skiff is 22 ft long, with a beam of 5′8″.  The standard crew is four rowers, each with a single oar, and a coxswain.  The name of the design comes from the former chapel which now forms the entrance to the Scottish Fisheries Museum.  The boat weighs approximately 330 pounds without crew.

Check out this video from the BBC.

(Photo courtesy Peter Nisbit)

The St. Ayles Skiff, photo courtesy Peter Nisbet

(BROOKLIN, ME) Carl Cramer, publisher of internationally renowned WoodenBoat magazine, announced details today of the company’s newest effort to stimulate boatbuilding and rowing skills to Downeast Maine high school students.

“This is our pilot program: to involve students from three area high schools to build and then row their very own boats,” said Cramer. “We are honored to announce that shop and marine program students from Deer Isle – Stonington High School (Deer Isle), George Stevens Academy (Blue Hill), and Sumner High School (East Sullivan) will be joining in this first effort. I fully expect the parameters of this program to be adopted on a nationwide basis, by high schools and communities alike. We are calling the program ‘WoodenBoat BARC’ (Boatbuilding & Rowing Challenge).”

The boat chosen for this program is the 22-foot-long St. Ayles Skiff. Designed by acclaimed yacht designer Iain Oughtred and engineered by Jordan Boats (both in Scotland), this design has already captured acceptance throughout Scotland, where communities have begun building them this year in order to bring communities together in the building and rowing process. The boats each have a crew of five people.

Cramer continued, “The Deer Isle-Stonington High School marine program students will begin building their boat next week, once the first kit has been cut. The goal is to get all three boats launched and competing against each other in early June 2011.”

WoodenBoat has donated one boat kit each to the programs from Deer Isle — Stonington High School and Sumner High School; Hewes & Company (of Blue Hill, Maine), the company that produces the kits, is donating one to the program at George Stevens Academy. Kits are available to anyone in North America from Hewes & Company.

The Landing School (Arundel, Maine) will be providing assistance as well. “The Landing School staff and faculty are eager to contribute their support and expertise to the students endeavoring to learn the art of boatbuilding. A representative from The Landing School will visit each group of Maine high school students to offer guidance and encouragement as these aspiring boatbuilders take on Iain Oughtred’s St. Ayles Skiff. The collaboration with WoodenBoat, the regional marine trade and public high schools is an opportunity to advance the craftsmanship and integrity of boatbuilding for which Maine is renowned.

Products are being donated to the three programs, as follows:

• Epoxy — West System (Bay City, MI)
• Fasteners, hardware — Hamilton Marine (Searsport, ME)
• Paint — Epifanes North America (Thomaston, ME)