Wraysbury Skiff and Punting Club (WSPC) is an English

skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-person or small crew. Sailing skiffs have deve ...

and punting club founded in 1931 based on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

at the start of the Surrey section of the

right bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrai ...

– between the rest of

Runnymede Runnymede is a water-meadow alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey, and just over west of central London. It is notable for its association with the sealing of Magna Carta, and as a consequence is, with its adjoining ...

(the meadow in the borough of the same name) and Bell Weir Lock (founded as Egham Lock).

Boats, training and racing

The club hosts boats for two traditional water sports -

Skiffing Skiffing refers to the sporting and leisure activity of rowing (or more correctly sculling) a Thames skiff. The skiff is a traditional hand built clinker-built wooden craft of a design which has been seen on the River Thames and other waterways ...

and Punting.

Skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-person or small crew. Sailing skiffs have deve ...

s are traditional, stable wooden boats which are sculled with a pair of blades (oars). Punts are 2 ft and 1 ft (-beam) racing punts. Skiffs are raced at skiff regattas run under the rules of the

Skiff Racing Association The Skiff Racing Association (SRA) is the governing body in the United Kingdom for the sport of skiff racing. The SRA is affiliated to British Rowing. The objectives of the SRA are :(a) To maintain the standard of sculling in skiff and kindred r ...

, and are used for leisure outings such as

Thames meander Thames meander refers to a long-distance journey over all or part of the River Thames in England. Walking the Thames Path is itself a meander, but the term usually applies to journeys using other methods such as rowing, punting, running, or swimm ...

s. Punting is carried out competitively (usually at the same regattas) under the rules of the

Thames Punting Club The Thames Punting Club (TPC) is the governing body in England for the sport of punt racing. History and constitution Punting as a means of water travel has a long history in the United Kingdom and is now practiced recreationally on a number o ...

. The club provides support and coaching for all levels from beginner to advanced. WSPC organises a club regatta in September, Wraysbury and Old Windsor Regatta and the Wraysbury Long Distance event in May. WSPC also hosts Egham Regatta, the last rowing regatta on the River Thames before Henley Royal Regatta. The club has also incorporated

dragon boat racing A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft originating from the Pearl River Delta region of China's southern Guangdong Province. These were made of teak, but in other parts of China, different kinds of wood are used. It is one of a family of t ...

into its activities. The club colours are blue, green and white.

History

The club was founded by a group of keen river sports enthusiasts from

Wraysbury Wraysbury is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in England. It is under the western approach path of London Heathrow airport. It is located on the east bank of the River Thames, roughly midway between Winds ...

, but as they were unable to find suitable accommodation on the Wraysbury side of the river, the first clubhouse was at Haines Boatyard in

Old Windsor Old Windsor is a large village and civil parish, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It is bounded by the River Thames to the east and the Windsor Great Park to the west. Etymology The name originates from ol ...

. The club later moved to accommodation next to Runnymede Pleasure Grounds, and has recently built a new club house there which was opened in October 2006.Go-Barging Newsletter November 2005
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Dragon boating

The Wraysbury Dragon Boat Club (now Wraysbury Dragons), an integral part of WSPC trains from these premises on Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings. Presently it has an affiliation with Bristol Empire Dragons and competes in the British Dragon Boat Racing Association (BDA) National league as Tao Dragons. Wraysbury Dragons has fielded a number of international Dragon boaters in all age classes from Juniors to "Grand Dragons" (50+). WSPC is a training base for the GB Grand Dragons and is also used by Junior teams. The youngest international thus far was 12 years old and the oldest over 60.

References

External links

Wraysbury Skiff and Punting Club

The Skiff Racing Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wraysbury Skiff And Punting Club Sports clubs established in 1931 Rowing clubs of the River Thames Sport in Surrey Rowing in Berkshire Organisations based in Surrey