A sport that was once a familiar sight off the east of Scotland is to be revived as a way of introducing a new generation to sea-going boats.

In the Twenties and Thirties the Forth Estuary was alive with rowing boats. The mining communities lining the Fife coast were united by summer regattas but the building and racing of boats disappeared along with the pits.

Now coastal rowing is to be reintroduced on Nordic-style skiffs which community groups can build from kits. The Scottish Fisheries Museum is backing the plans — the brainchild of local boat-kit builder Alec Jordan — as are local rowing clubs and charities.

William Davidson, 79, remembers pre-war summers spent on rowing boats and, in the Fifties, winning races with his cousins. Competitors came from all over Fife and most, like Mr Davidson’s father, were miners who built their own boats with money collected from local shops.

“We were brought up on [rowing],” he said. “There was nothing else to do. In our holidays we were out on the boat all the time, catching cod and mackerel. I think it’s a great idea if they get the young ones interested in rowing. Hopefully it will start a trend for kids. It keeps them out of trouble.”

Like Mr Davidson, Mr Jordan, 50, grew up with boats — albeit on Caribbean waters off St Lucia. He believes that boat-building is a way to bring communities together, as well as a means to encourage greater participation in rowing. “I’m hoping we will have fathers and grandfathers building the boats for their sons and daughters to row. I want to see all ages rowing,” he said. The owner of Jordan Boats feels that, in some parts of Scotland, locals have “turned their back on the sea and are looking inland again” and endangering their maritime heritage”. He said: “I think it is because of the long, slow death of the fishing industry.” “I want people to look out to sea again and realise what they have got here — what a resource for recreation.”

Mr Jordan is building a prototype of the boat in his Leven workshop. The design — named the St Ayles skiff after a disused chapel on the fisheries museum site — is by Iain Oughtred, an celebrated craftsman from Skye. The boats will be 22ft long, 5ft 4ins wide and take four rowers. They should cost about £3,000 to complete.

The first is to go to the fisheries museum where it will be assembled in the viewing gallery by college students. Already, a local rowing club has paid for a kit, a branch of the RNLI is raising funds for one and other clubs are looking into the project. There has also been interest from the west coast and Mr Jordan hopes coastal rowing could be popular around Scotland.

The regattas, which Mr Jordan hopes will begin next year, will be run by the Fishing Museum. David Tod, a museum board member, said: “It’s a very good idea. The government is pushing to keep kids fit and it’s good for community spirit as well.”

For Mr Davidson, now a father of two and grandfather of six, it is a chance to revisit the scenes of his childhood. “I’m looking forward to seeing the boats in the water. It will bring a lot of happy memories back,” he said.

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