We have a fleet of over eighty Scows, some seventy of which are kept on the CSC hard

The fleet is very active with sailing events on as many as five days in a week. Even during the Winter, sailing continues, over a limited course, the last race being on New Years day. A full programme of Seasonal Series and Trophy races are run at weekends and in the evenings during the week. Fun racing each Wednesday, called ‘The Scow Capers‘, gives new people the opportunity to get used to the conditions and hone their skills in this very friendly atmosphere. It is very popular, sometimes as many as 36 Scows will be racing.

Fleet Social events include Scow Fleet Prize Giving Dinner, Scow Capers Lunch, Lunch at the Avonmouth Hotel (Avonmouth Trophy), The Elbow Trophy Dinner and The Fishermen’s Challenge Dinner.

The Fleet includes sailors of ‘National’ standing as well as those who aspire to greater things, so there are good examples to follow, and there is good advice available

The Scow Sailing Dinghy is very much suited to the shoaling waters in which we sail, the tides, the shallows, the wind hollows, weaving through moorings, all add to the interest and challenge of sailing in the waters of Christchurch Harbour

The dinghies here are all of GRP ‘carvel type’ construction but based on the earlier wooden clinker built dinghy originating in the 1920’s. The Scow can be seen throughout the central South Coast in and around the Solent. We have progressively developed a set of rules for details of rig, dimensions and construction to ensure that the boats can be raced fairly against one another. Christchurch rules will be likely to differ in some details from many of the other South Coast Scow fleets.

The Scow is 11 feet in length and weighs 250 pounds minimum, it has a balanced lug sail of 65 square feet, a swinging centreboard made from steel plate, oars and an anchor. It can be used for many purposes, even for carrying passengers, but when sailing competitively it is sailed single handed. The balanced lug rig results in none of the spars being longer than the hull, this is convenient for storage and for transporting.

The Club owns a mould from which hulls are produced and there is a cottage industry within the Club membership for production of spars, rigging, sails, covers and other parts to make or maintain the Scow.