Forfar’s community skiff named in honour of a popular town figure will be paraded on land before taking to the water of the loch for the first time this weekend.
A Saturday ceremony will mark the completion of the traditional rowing boat.
It has taken almost ten months and around 1,600 hours of dedicated effort to create the craft.
The Angus boat will become the 218th skiff to join a nationwide flotilla of coastal and inland rowing boats.
The partnership project has involved Forfar Rotary Club, the town Men’s Shed and Forfar Sailing Club.
And it will be a poignant occasion for the family of former town businessman Greg Luckhurst.
Greg was a well-known and popular local plumber but sadly died in 2021 at the age of just 45.
A generous donation from his family funded the purchase of the skiff kit.
It is being named in his honour.
The team of boatbuilders worked in a shed at Strathmore Cricket Club beside the loch.
In June, the Earl of Forfar visited the project.
He played his own small part in the scheme’s success, placing the wooden plaque bearing the skiff’s number into the rowing boat.
The project team say it has created huge interest and they are looking forward to showing off the finished four-oar, 22-foot long skiff.
It will be parked at Tesco Forfar on Saturday morning.
The skiff will then be taken on a tour through the town centre before the naming and launch ceremony at Forfar Sailing Club.
Other rowing clubs coming to Forfar launch
And fellow rowers from Aberdeenshire and Fife will join the Angus event.
Catterline Rowers and the North Queensferry Club are bringing their boats to the launch.
A second skiff kit has been bought for Forfar and work is due to begin on it next spring.
“Forfar now has a community asset the town should be proud of and we hope people will give it their support,” said a project spokesman.
Anyone interested in taking up rowing or using the boat can email skiff@forfarsailingclub.org.uk
Skiff rowing
Inspired by a traditional Fair Isle skiff, the four-oared rowing boat is 22 feet long with a beam of five feet eight inches.
It has a crew of four and a coxswain.
The design was commissioned by Anstruther’s Scottish Fisheries Museum in 2009 for use in the Scottish Coastal Rowing project.
