Saturday 20th June dawned bright and breezy when a team of NBRC die-hards ventured to Granton Harbour for a different type of Skiff race. Although one of the larger clubs, our team was the only one where our runner ran twice, and our rowers...rowed twice. All other clubs had multiple runners and rowers.
9 Skiffie teams were soon sharing notes and swapping anecdotes from previous ventures: you know, the cameraderie we share is the envy of many other sports. The friendship and common love for this thing that we do is pure magic. It started with a yacht race from Granton to Newhaven, Claire being our 'baton' on yacht (a fancy name for a boat with a lid) Silver Lining (Hi-ho); on arrival the runners raced back up to Granton. Claire arrived a creditable 3rd, ahead of many other fancied runners. We cast off and raced around the Skiffie course, managing to keep our third place. Claire then jumped off, and raced back to Newhaven (what sadist thought this one up?), and re-joined Silver Lining (....and it's hi ho silver lining and away we go...).
Guess what? Yup, the yachts raced back up to Granton. Sadly, during this part of the race, Silver Lining (and it's hi-ho etc) got an 'override' (Google it if you want!) on a winch and lost lots of time, and places. At that point, the competition became a bit less frantic. We formed a procession around Granton harbour, and this was the starting order(with 2 boat lengths between each skiff) for the final leg; a longer Skiff race, finishing back at Granton.
Worthy of note, we made up one place. More significant was, the 'Anstruther girls' moved up from LAST position to 2nd (almost catching the eventual winners Cockenzie/Port Seton) in a race of some 2k. The way the girls row that skiff made everyone else seem pedestrian.
There followed a super feast, and vats of liquid refreshment. It was indeed a great day; we were pleased to finish 6th, and our thanks go to Newhaven and Royal Corinthian for hosting a very enjoyable day.