A team of six young people, living on the islands of Westray and Papa Westray in the north of the Orkney Isles, have revived the boat-building tradition of the islands by building a Westray Skiff. With funding from The Prince’s Trust and Millenium Commission the team has built a new skiff and restored an old skiff, and in the process been trained in traditional boat-building and sailing skills.

Until recently the Westray Skiff were the sea taxi used to transport people and small cargo between the isles. These boats were built maintained and used locally and exported to other islands. As local transport systems improved, reliance on the skiffs decreased, as did the skills to build, maintain and sail them.

This project has enabled all members of the community to retain and learn about their heritage whilst getting a chance to be involved in the project and mix with people of different generations. The team researched the original Westray Skiffs, their sizes, their uses, builders, owners and general history through the generations and made contact with the members of the community who had expressed interest in helping them with their project. The team recruited the expertise of Peter Miller, who lives on a neighbouring island, and who was the last person to build a Skiff on Westray.

The old skiff ‘Ibis’, and the new skiff ‘Aanno’, are now finished and have been raced extensively locally. ‘Aanno’ has been displayed at the Deerness Boat Show on mainland Orkney and has also taken part in the Kirkwall Regatta, Holm Regatta and at the Great Glen Rally. ‘Aanno’ is to be donated to the local sailing club.

As well as boat-building and sailing skills, the team also received training in order to be able to set up a website. More information can be seen on the site: http://www.westray-orkney.co.uk/westray_skiffs  One member of the team also took regular video recordings of the project, borrowing a video recorder from the Community Education Department, and these have been edited and a tape is now available for loan.

The Team are: Sam Harcus - Team Advisor, Peter Miller - “The Expert”, Ann Kent, Christopher Bain, Darren Harcus, Rodney Leslie, Gary Stove, Daren Drever.

To see our Uist boat-building news story - Click here.

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