‘We must improve our stock of boats,’ insists Skibbereen Rowing Club chairman

BY KIERAN McCARTHY

THE most successful rowing club in the country urgently needs to update its fleet of boats.

The continued excellence of Skibbereen Rowing Club at national and international levels has seen membership increase, and the club, which held its 50th anniversary ball last weekend, acknowledges the need to upgrade its facilities.

In the wake of three Skibbereen rowers – Paul O’Donovan, Fintan McCarthy and Aoife Casey – winning medals at the recent senior World Rowing Championships, Holly Cairns TD called for the government ‘to properly support the club in funding the infrastructure for world-class athletes.’ Cairns highlighted that Skibbereen Rowing Club, home to many of the best rowers in the country, lacks a pontoon.

Club chairman Sean Murran has told The Southern Star that Skibbereen RC has several projects in place to improve the club, including building a new shed to house boats and also building a pontoon – but a priority is to update its boats.

‘The most pressing issue at the moment is that we have to improve the stock of boats that we have currently for our young athletes,’ Murran explained.

‘A lot of the boats have gone very tired because they are used on a daily basis. Boats wear out; it’s called getting soft. They are not as rigid and as fast as they would have been. 

‘That is a pressing problem for us now, to replace some of the old workhorses that we have with newer boats.

‘We have increased our membership significantly, we now have in the range of 70 young athletes and we have just taken on 30 beginners, and there is increased interest in rowers coming back to the club. Our use of boats at the moment is very heavy.’

Rowing boats are expensive. A new eight costs in the region of €50,000, while a four/quad is €35,000, and a double/pair costs €22,000. Skibbereen needs to invest in an eight, two fours/quads and two doubles/pairs to maintain the numbers the club currently has for racing. 

There is also a need for two to three doubles and a coxed quad for the J14-17s for training. 

‘The Sports Capital Grant is a big help because the club raises money and then leverages that with a grant, and it does provide for boats, which are a very expensive piece of equipment,’ Murran says. 

‘For a club to raise money on their own is a massive task. If we can avail of the Sports Capital Grant and Cork County Council grants towards the funding of boats, it means we can buy boats. To try and raise that money on our own is almost an impossible task where we might end up with one boat whereas we probably need four.’

World-renowned Skibbereen Rowing Club received a Sports Capital Grant of €66,000 in the 2022 allocation, to help increase its boat storage capacity and improve training facilities. 

The plan to build the new storage shed is ongoing, though rising construction costs mean additional funding will be needed to make up the difference. The club had started its plans to build a pontoon pre-Covid, but it was then put on hold.

‘That is something we want to do. It is something we will definitely seek funding for in the future,’ Murran says.

‘The shed will facilitate us to train all the athletes together, to load trailers undercover and to store more boats. They are things we need to do to expand the club and cater for the growing interest.’

Skibbereen Rowing Club is home to Olympic gold, silver and bronze medallists, multiple world champions and world-renowned coach Dominic Casey. This golden generation is inspiring the next, and the club needs new boats to keep moving forward. Skibbereen Rowing Club also tops the Irish National Championship rankings, having won a record 190 to date.