Irish Coastal Rowing Federation

The Irish Coastal Rowing Federation introduced the One-Design Celtic Yawl in 2002 in order to provide a level playing field to all clubs competing at the All-Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships. Prior to 2002, the type of boat in which a crew rowed had as much impact on the level of a crew’s success as the skills, strength and talent of the crew, it was for that reason that the ‘One-Design’ boat was introduced.
The idea of a ‘One-Design’ boat was actually first mooted at the very first ICRF AGM in 1993 which was held in Bray, Co. Wicklow and which coincidentally, was the same meeting where the first ICRF Committee was elected. It took a further 9 years to actually introduce the ICRF One-Design Celtic Yawl.
The boat was designed by Mr. Rob Jacob, a highly reputed boat & yacht designer from Kinsale in Co. Cork and at the time, the agreed boat builder was Mr. Roddy O’Connor of CustomWorks in Cork. Mr. O’Connor was given an exclusive contract to build 25 boats and we are pleased to report that the contract was honoured and subsequently surpassed given that in the region of 80 boats have since been built.
Given the economic climate we now find ourselves in and the increasing difficulties that our clubs are experiencing in raising much needed funds, both the clubs and the associations were becoming increasingly concerned with the unaffordability of new boats and so, the ICRF was given the task of bringing down the cost of new boats.
The Federation then contacted a number of established boat builders in the country (both North & South of the border) and sought quotations for the manufacture and supply of new boats to our clubs. Extremely competitive quotations were received from a number of boat builders and following due consideration we signed a contract with O’Sullivan’s Marine of Tralee, Co. Kerry.
The agreement we reached was that a new mould would be built for the ICRF at a significantly reduced price, giving the ICRF immediate ownership of the mould and that boats would be manufactured and supplied to clubs at a guaranteed price of €8,300 per boat including a choice of colours and trim which were previously optional extras at additional cost and the prices were inclusive of VAT. In return, the ICRF had to guarantee a set number of orders over a three year period. This is a similar agreement to that which was made with our original builder in 2002.
Since then O’Sullivan Marine has supplied boats to a number of clubs in accordance with the improved terms. Mr. O’Connor also supplied boats to a number of clubs on mutually agreeable terms and everybody was happy.
On the 10th March 2013, without any consultation with the Irish Coastal Rowing Federation and using the ICRF’s own e-mail resources, a new price list for the manufacture and supply of boats and accessories which undercut that which was contained in the agreement between O’Sullivan’s and the Irish Coastal Rowing Federation was circulated. Also included in the price list were a number of optional extras, some of which have never been discussed or agreed with the Federation and some of which had been previously rejected by our associations and which if fitted to any boats could potentially make them ineligible for competition.
Potentially, this action could have undermined the Irish Coastal Rowing Federation’s efforts at providing a more affordable boat for our clubs and, could possibly lead to a return to the high prices of the past. A finding could also be made against the Federation that we failed to honour our agreements, something which we have proudly did since 2001.
We are constantly being reminded of how difficult it is to run a club, how difficult it is to attract and retain members, how we all want to keep the sport open and affordable to the common man and woman and how difficult it is to raise funds and keep subscription and membership fees low. That is the whole point of this exercise, to make the purchase of boats as cheap as possible for all of our clubs which ultimately makes the sport affordable for everybody.
All bidders had equal opportunities to provide competitive quotes. Some chose to be competitive and imaginative in their proposals and some chose to keep their prices high. Had competitive quotes similar to what is on offer now, been submitted at the time of asking, there could have been a very different outcome to the competition and we would all have been happy. Now, those who tendered their quotes, & the ICRF who had to make a decision (in our clubs best interests) based on the information contained in the quotes, are all bound by the decisions we made. The bidders by what they decided to put into their quotes and the ICRF by what they found in the quotes.
In order to regularise the situation, the Irish Coastal Rowing Federation is pleased to announce that a number of measures have been put in place with immediate effect to secure the future of the sport of Coastal Rowing in Ireland.
Those measures are:
1. A register of all ICRF One-Design Celtic Yawls will be assembled.

2. All existing ICRF One-Design Celtic Yawls must be registered with the Irish Coastal Rowing Federation.
a. Each registered ICRF One-Design Celtic Yawl will be allocated a unique ICRF Registration Number which must be permanently affixed to the boat in a common location on either the inside or outside of the hull. (the location to be agreed following consultation with the associations)
b. Only registered ICRF One-Design Celtic Yawls will be eligible to compete in the All-Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships.
c. Unless unauthorised modifications have been made to any existing boats, it is envisaged that all existing boats that are currently eligible to compete shall continue to be eligible for competition in the All-Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships.

3. With immediate effect and from this day forward, all future ICRF One-Design Celtic Yawls must be manufactured directly from the ICRF owned moulds which shall for the duration of the current agreement, remain in the possession of O’Sullivan’s Marine of Tralee, Co. Kerry or alternatively, new boats which are manufactured from moulds other than those owned by the ICRF shall have to be inspected by the ICRF or an authorised agent on it’s behalf as set out below:
a. Whilst the current agreement is in place with O’Sullivans Marine, Tralee, Co. Kerry, any clubs wishing to engage their own contractor to manufacture an ICRF One-Design Celtic Yawl must ensure that the manufacture of the boat is strictly in compliance with the registration criteria as set out in paragraph 4 hereunder. The ICRF will charge each Club the sum of €1,200 for inspection and administration costs.
b. This arrangement may change at the conclusion of the current agreement when an open competition may once again be held in order to secure the best possible terms for our clubs.
 
4. All future and presently under construction ICRF One-Design Celtic Yawls must be registered with the Irish Coastal Rowing Federation and the following details must be supplied:
a. Boat Builder.
b. Builders Works Boat Number
c. Name of the Boat (if known)
d. Colour of Boat
e. Identifying Marks
f. Year of Manufacture (existing boats only)
g. Date of Delivery (future boats)
h. Club.
i. Signed confirmation that:
i. The boat has been produced from the Official ICRF Moulds. (future boats)
or
ii. The boat has been inspected by the ICRF or an Authorised Agent and the boat is compliant and is eligible to compete. (future boats)
j. The weight of the boat upon handover, co-signed by the Builder and Authorised Agent of the ICRF. (future boats)
No fees shall apply for the registration of future or existing boats except those which are described in clause 3.a. of this statement.
5. Ordering Procedure:
ICRF One-Design Celtic Yawls must be ordered directly from the supplier as has been the case heretofore. In addition however, clubs must also advise the ICRF Secretary by completing a ‘Boat Order Advice’ form’ which can be found on the ICRF website at www.coastalrowing.net and e-mailing it to administrator@coastalrowing.net.This must be done in every case.

24th May 2013.