On the 20th to 22nd May, Ullapool Coastal Rowing Club hosted its 11th regatta with rowers from 14 clubs from all over Scotland from Orkney to North Berwick.
On Friday night the 6 local youth teams got a chance to race Avoch’s youth teams, and for many of them it was the first real race they had done. 21 of our youth rowers are coming to Kortgene in the Netherlands at the end of June, so our regatta was an important stage in their training. They rowed well and took the Youth Trophy.
On Saturday, Ullapool opened with a win in the Open Men in breezy and exciting conditions. Avoch followed by winning the Open Women. Eastern took both the 40+ Men (in the regatta’s fastest time of 12 minutes 11.4 seconds) and the 40+ Women, Orkney the 50+ Women, and the current World Champions at 50+ Mixed, Golspie, prevailed again. North Berwick beat us to take gold in the 240+ Men and Nairn scored a convincing victory in the 240+ Women. The 240+ category is for crews whose 4 rowers add up to more than 240 years of age, and for every year past 240 they get one second taken off their time.
Sunday was calm but very wet, and by Sunday night the umpire gazebo collapsed under the weight of its rainwater puddle. The calm conditions allowed some fast times, with Ullapool winning the U40 Men in 12 minutes 15.1 seconds. Strathpeffer’s strong U40 Women won their race and Gairloch got a creditable second place in the U26 Women.
Ullapool got 90 points in total with joint second place going to North Berwick and Eastern at 89 points, and Golspie and Orkney joint 4th at 81 points.
We thank all the above clubs plus South Skye and Lochaber, Eskmuthe, RowPorty, Cromarty and Bunillidh for taking the time and effort to come to Ullapool. Covid has affected all our social activities but it is great to host our regatta and welcome clubs from all over Scotland. Roll on Skiffieworlds 2022!
