In late May eighteen rowers and various children travelled to Achiltibue for the regatta which is probably the furthest for most to travel to but nonetheless one of the most popular in the calendar. The weather forecast was for a dreich day, we were not let down and the club gazebo made life bearable for spectating.
Eleven clubs took part and we were not sure where the competition would come from and whether rivals Coigach, Eastern and Ullapool would come with strong squads, or not. Nerves were settled when we won the first race, the Women 50+. This was followed by a second in the Men 50+ and a win in the Decades category. The all-important points tally was looking good for us but we didn’t compete in the Novice, Men Under 19, Mixed 60+ and Men 60+ so lost some scoring opportunities. We then got back on track with the Women 40+ (2nd), Men 40+ (3rd), Mixed 40+ (1st) and Mixed 50+ (3rd). The Open races are always the most anticipated events and in the Mixed race we came in a close second behind Eastern, a result which was repeated in the Women’s race. The Men were able to reverse the result in their race and came in first in front of Eastern. Probably for the first time every rower went home with at least one medal
The tally for the day put us in equal first place with Ullapool and then Eastern (3rd) followed by Coigach and Avoch.
The evening social event in the village hall was the usual presentations, eating, drinking, chatting, and laughing. A thoroughly enjoyable day for everybody, well organised and welcoming from our Coigach friends.
On the Sunday John I, Lizzie, Vana, Jacque and Sandy went off for a four hour adventure around the Summer Isles, in slightly better weather. Spectacular scenery, navigational challenges and planning further adventures were the order of the day. We’ll be back !