Rowing Adventures Ltd

(EST: 2020- supported over 420 people to participate in coastal rowing)

&

Lymington Rowing Club

(EST: 1881- increased membership by 100% in 2020/21)

Our story:

When our ambassador; Heather Stanning, opened the new clubhouse for Lymington Rowing Club, we met her ‘Aunty Jilly’ who mentioned she would really LOVE to row with Heather. An idea was born and soon after, Rowing Adventures Ltd was established as a Learn to Row centre using safe, stable and durable boats. Jilly has now completed her Learn to Row course with us and is enjoying adventures on the Solent with Heather. She also continued her rowing journey by completing a ‘Try Crew Rowing Course’; introducing her to rowing a coxed quad at Lymington Rowing Club, supported by mentors. She is now armed and ready to join our thriving community of Recreational Rowers, should she choose.

Rowing Adventures Ltd offers a Learn to Row, an Explore and a Compete Programme and aims to remove barriers and welcome everyone into this community.

Aged between 8-88yrs, of all levels: beginners to club/university/ current and ex Olympians and those with specific needs; blindness, autism and PTSD.

Established in February 2020, RA Ltd has now assisted over 420 rowers and *increased the Lymington Rowing Club Membership from 68 members to 120.

*The increase is spread equally between Junior and Adult squads and is encouraging both ex racers and novice rowers through our clubhouse doors.

PATHWAY:

Once RA Ltd rowers have completed their Learn to Row course, they are given a Passport to Explore and encouraged to continue their rowing journeys on our expanding adventure programme or to Try Crew Rowing prior to committing to joining the rowing club which welcomes new members. The Try Crew Rowing course is an introduction to club life; Indoor, Coxed Crew outing and a general Club/ Boathouse tour.

UNIQUE BOATS:

Glide Boats (Solo and Tide) are the core of our learning vessels for relaxed progressive learning. They are durable, stable, affordable and offer relaxed learning. Rowers progress through a variety of boats that suit their progression rate and end goal. (We also offer demo boat trials should rowers wish to compare and contrast before deciding which boat they may buy.)

We pride ourselves in professionalism and enjoyment and are blessed with a fabulous location to offer this service.

Lymington Rowing Club’s Recreational Rowing Model

Lymington Rowing Club offer flexible, paid (seat fee) sessions on an OFF PEAK daily basis using SPOND as an easy booking system. Sessions are ability rated to try and ensure suitability level. We also offer an Indoor Rowing programme to encourage rowing specific fitness and have introduced specialist Pilates. Visits to other Coastal Rowing sites are planned for 2022. EG: Row for Life, Studland.

With this model, it is easy to progress rowers into the club in a flexible way. Once in the community, we see a significant number opt to then join race squads.

Recreational Rowing currently brings over £5k revenue in membership fees and utilises the club facility and equipment which would otherwise be idle. It also offers a mentor pathway to encourage new coxes, coaches and generally increases the skill pool for our community.

Our Vision:

To increase awareness and participation in Costal Rowing

1. To encourage more RA Ltd Accredited Centres to open up around the British coastline so rowers can visit a variety of locations and explore new areas with local guides/ instructors.

Outlay:

10 glide solos/ 6 Glide Tides/ Rannoch Explorer/ Variety of progressive coastal FISA boats to demo
Trailer
Qualified coaches
Website/ Social Media presence
Connected to the regional and national Coastal Rowing Community.

2. To encourage increased participation at local clubs and widen the rowing community.

offer an accredited framework to support the Coastal Rowing community (similar to the RYA model) for both performance and coaches.
seek appropriate venues with slipway access and safe learning environments and remove the barrier of restricted ‘boathouse space’ at Rowing Club boathouses.

3. To support this growth by introducing a variety of options for leisure adventuring and racing.

Junior Beach Sprints Championships. June 2022. Location tbc. Using theGlide Solos.
The Lymington Off Shore Rowing Regatta (LORR) April 23/24 2022. A weekend of endurance racing and adventuring in the Western Solent.

4. To encourage Coastal Rowing clothing and boat manufacturers to support this growth

We have collaborated with Rooster Clothing and designed coastal rowing specific apparel to be launched at LORR.
We have invited FISA Costal Boat companies to attend LORR to showcase their boats with a captive audience.