After a public meeting in early December 2015 it was decided that there was enough interest to reform the existing but dormant MSC & elect a new committee. In February we organised an open day fund raiser at the village hall which was well attended & resulted in a rapid rise in membership to over 50.
Our initial aim was to get local younger children sailing then to provide boats for teenagers followed by adults. Another ambition is to build & race our own Morvern St Ayles skiff.
In May 2016 with the assistance of Morvern Community Trust we were able to purchase five Optimist training dinghies for 7 year old children upwards. Since then the club has initiated a basic & intermediate training program for the younger children. This consists of lifejacket wearing, knot tying, paddling a dinghy, steering, capsize drill, boat care, mooring & dinghy rigging.
So far 12 children have completed the basic course which means that they are capable of handling a boat on their own & have now graduated to the intermediate course.
We have recently been donated a Topper dinghy which is more suited to teenage sailors. Although at the moment we only have one dinghy in this class we would like to expand with more boats & more teenagers.
Our club base is at the pontoons where with the help of MCDC, the mine & Ardtornish Estate we are building a dinghy park which will eventually house our boat shed. MSC membership now is getting close to 100 so the dinghy park will be an essential space for members to store & use their own dinghies.
Very recently we have been awarded a grant by Scottish Sea Farms to help with the building of a St Ayles skiff. This project is aimed at members of the community from 12 years upwards who would like to be involved in building the skiff as well as racing against other community teams.
I believe that MSC has given another dimension to the pontoon area where our sailing days are proving to be great community events with children & parents all joining in together & enjoying what the loch has to offer.
Malcolm Burge
Commodore MSC
