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An invitation by Eastern Rowing Club for a fun day of race practice last Sunday at Portobello. Clubs attending alongside us were Eskmuthe, Row Porty, Alnmouth and of course Eastern. A welcome opportunity to get on the water for some much needed race training after the abysmal, stormy winter! A chance to see our fellow rowers too, lots of catching up and cake.
The weather played ball and whilst the sun took a while to appear the wind didn’t pick up enough to cause any real problems. Getting the boats in and out was a bit of a challenge in the waves, some folk got a bit of a drenching and the poor boat was sloshing some water about by the end. Once out past the breaking waves though the water was nice and the 2 km triangular course was enough of a challenge for us.
A big shout out to the 7 juniors who did really well under Claire Simpsons coxing on a 1.2km course, for some of them it was their first taste of ‘racing’ conditions.
Another first was for Jackie Suprenant, first time in a boat! Talk about in at the deep end! Well done Jackie.
Although it wasn’t about the ‘racing’ everyone was keen to get home first.
Our results:
U50 Women 5th (Novice women’s crew)
U50’s Men 3rd.
050 Men 2nd to Eastern
Women 50 + 1st
50 + Mixed 3rd
U50 Men 2nd Eastern 1st
Let’s hope we can get on the water regularly now, next Regatta is Eskmuthe on the 5th May.
Lynn Hanley
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The NB mixed open team came first by a hare’s whisker and received beautifully handcrafted medals. The novice, mixed decades and 240 crews gave it their best and rowed hard for their well earned positions. Third for a novice crew that have hardly rowed and never all together, very commendable.
The weather forecast was spot on with the wind picking up steadily by lunch time and peaking to the extent that the remaining three races were cancelled. This was a hard call for the organisers as some rowers did not manage to get on the water. Despite the shortened day the atmosphere throughout the event and at the prize giving was as cheery as ever. Great to have clubs supporting each other in the Andy boat too, to make up numbers. With Portobello, Eastern, Troon, Broughty Ferry, Newhaven, Eskmuthe and Dunbar all there, so plenty of chats and catching up after a long winter.
Many thanks to Port Seton Rowing Club for hosting.
The Crews
| Race | Cox | Stroke | |||
| Mxd Open | Ann | Amanda | Saartje | Robert | Ross |
| Mxd Novice | Jaq | Eleanor | Kath | Jeremy | Richard J |
| Mxd Decades | Jo | Lizzie | Ann | Richard B | Johnny |
| Mxd 240 | Lizzie | Sheena | Lynn | Dave H | Phil |
| W 45+ | Richard B | Claire S | Jude | Ann | Jaq |
| W Open | Ann | Lizzie | Amanda | Jo | Saartje |
| M Open | Claire S | Simon | Ross | Robert | Duncan |
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On Friday morning we packed up St Baldred and headed up to Loch Tummel, the Cowan car plus Jax (the pine martens) and the tow car, Simpson Wallace and Ann, (the otters) ready to compete in the Freshwater Sprints with South East Region. Little did we know what a journey it was going to be..
The pine martens got a message on Google maps to divert round about Loch Earn, which we decided, she knew best, we had no idea where we were, but every corner was a wow, the colours and countryside were spectacular. Fabulous driving by Simon and co driven by Lizzie, like being in a rally car, but much safer. The otters stuck, literally, to the M90/A9 and experienced huge tail backs, road works, flooding you name it…at least they had a boat if it got too deep.
We were all booked in for the 2 courses put on by the SCRA, one on course laying and the other for umpires. Pine martens arrived about 15 mins after they started, and seeing the bath tub motor boat leaving the shore, I was glad I wasn't on that. We heated up, ate and drank plenty of hot drinks, whilst the teaching continued on land, ably put on by Stuart, Ralph and Andy, who were all very patient and with great model boats a white board and coloured pens, what more do you need.
Otters arrived an hour and a half later, after an epic 5 hour journey, but in time for the umpires course which was really informative. After the course we set off for our accommodation, the Loch Rannoch Highland Club, a spectacular 25 mins drive away. Built on the side of a steep hill, the apartments were very well equipped, clean and spacious with amazing views over the Loch, if you wiped the rain smattered enclosed balcony windows. Lizzie, Simon and Jax were staying in a Pine Marten apartment whilst Claire, Sandy and Ann were in an Otter apartment.
Otters were on dinner duties so pine martens settled in, played hunt the duvet and packed up our food to head up the steep hill for an evening of hilarity and chats round the table, a great opportunity to relax.
Saturday dawned very wet, blowing a gale, but we layered up, packed every set of waterproofs and cosy footwear with a backup set too, and had a beautiful drive back to the sailing club where all the other regions were arriving. It was a brilliant spectacle of colours on the shores as well as the countryside.
After breakfast rolls we were ready to row. Racing was fast and furious, 500 metre sprint to a starboard turn buoy and 250 back to finish at the starters hut. The hooter ringing out in the valley as each region passed the finish. It's a great opportunity to row with others, but styles and coxing can be quite different and challenging especially over such a short course. It is all down to tight turns and belting it back as quickly as possible.
We put all our umpires’ course work to the test looking at all the different roles both on the water and on shore. Being on the safety boat was actually great fun, watching for any infringements, crossing of lanes and tight turns. We coxed, rowed and managed plenty of chats, catching up with long term skiffie family members all helped along with food a plenty in the sailing club.
North and West took the overall prize but we did get gold in the 230+ mixed with a mainly NBRC crew too, lovely medals. Well done.
Claire, Ann and Sandy stayed on for the SCRA AGM, while Simon, Jacque and Lizzie headed back to get ready for an evening of mulling over all we'd learnt, and how to put it all into practice. Exciting times ahead in our skiffie journeys. Also managed to enjoy the rugby finals too, and delicious food.
After a hearty breakfast we packed up and headed back to pick up St Baldred, changing to the Cowan’s towing, a pleasant journey home to a very wet NB. We would highly recommend sprints, great fun, good rowing and an opportunity to socialise. Some do just drive up for the day but also so good to stay over and enjoy our last regatta of the year to the full.
Other pictures of the weekend can be found here
Bring on winter training, 2024 regattas and heading onto the Worlds 2025
Jacque Turner
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Skiff John B, Blackadder and skur Euphame had a grand morning out to Fidra island on Sunday 24th September.
Their excited contents, in the form of 14 NBRC rowers, met at 8.45am to prepare for the outing.
We finally all got out onto the water at 9.15am. A rising tide took us further into the Forth, Fidra-bound and a falling tide swept us back out of the Forth home to North Berwick. Perfect planning by our coxes, Jacque, and Phil. We did have to put some effort into the rowing as there was a wee bit of wind, but as the wind was coming from the south, we were able to stay close to the coast and avoid the bigger gusts that were evident further out into the Forth.
Blackadder, with 5 onboard (Jacque, Tracy, Jude, Rachael, and Adam) were a touch ahead, slipping through the Lamb archipelago! No signs of the resident seals there but plenty of Shags and some Black Backed Gulls. There were Guillemots still around too, the ones we saw were looking healthy, which is encouraging. Gannets were swooping overhead and diving in to catch fish. Skiff John B had 6 onboard (Phil, Sandy, Jen, Lynn, Sheena, and Claire C) which allowed swapping of rowers and coxes. Euphame had Amanda, Ann, and Duncan M onboard also taking it in turns to cox and row.
Blackadder with a little more time managed to row right around Fidra before all 3 vessels got into the harbour, tidied all the oars away, tied up together and all rowers safely disembarked.
We walked up the steep pathway alongside the disused lighthouse track, which was once used to haul supplies up to the lighthouse. The lighthouse was built by the Stevensons and became operational from 1885. It became automated in 1970 and is now operated by Forth Ports plc. Slightly above the lighthouse, at the top of the island, we had wonderful views over the Forth to Fife and towards Edinburgh and the Forth bridges. This was where we were able to have our picnics (which mainly consisted of coffee/ tea and cake) and chat.
The sun even tried to come out. Looking out towards Fife we caught sight of a minke whale, which was feeding not too far away. It came up a few times but a few of the party frustratingly didn’t manage to spy it. Our return was a little more challenging as the wind had increased, but the sea conditions remained good and with the falling tide we all arrived safely at North Berwick, just before midday.
Although, with autumn/winter fast approaching, our intermediate, newbie and regatta training evening outings cease – we can still get out in the daytime and enjoy being on the sea and having adventures along our beautiful East Lothian coast and islands. Watch out for the emails, sign up and enjoy!
More pictures of the outing can be found here
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