Loch Awe 29th April 2022
- Details
The 22-23 April weekend saw 12 St Ayle’s Skiffs (Avoch, Arran, FOCCR, Appin, Prestwick, North Berwick, Loch Awe, Renegade, Row Porty, St Andrews, Chanonry, Royal Northern) descend on Loch Awe for a weekend of exploration culminating in a 15-mile race from Dalavich village to Taychreggan hotel and back. Representing North Berwick were the all-female dream team of Jo, Vik, Lyndsay, Ann and Jess.
The weather was gloriously sunny the entire weekend. On the pre-race day (Saturday), we all got acclimatised to our cosy hobbit-like accommodation (camping pods on the hilly shore of the Loch). Lyndsay, Ann and Jess donned our wet suits and did a spot of stand up paddleboarding. Ann even went swimming (on purpose!), which was very impressive as despite the gorgeous sunshine, the water was baltic! The hosts had put on a self-guided tour itinerary for us to enjoy at our leisure. Clive, Lyndsay, Ann, Vik and Jess rowed away the afternoon exploring the tiny islands of the loch.
We saw a wee grave site on one of our island stops, a beautiful ruined castle (which the more intrepid crew members – Clive - scaled for super views of the Loch) and rounded it all off with a sea eagle sighting! The evening activities included a jolly ceilidh, carbo-loading thanks to the super catering put on (& beer is a carb right?) and reasonably early nights for the NB crew.
Sunday, race day, factor 30+ was meticulously applied, snacks sorted, much faffing accomplished, and at around 10am ish all 12 skiffs were out on the water and ready to go! Lyndsay took the first turn at coxing, Jo in stroke and we set off. Some nimble coxing saw us overtake Arran early on and we settled into a comfortable rhythm overtaking Porty a little later. Jo and Lyndsay swapped the coxing half-way through, and we arrived at Taychreggan, the halfway stop in 4th place (pew pew!).
The timer was stopped, toilets used, blisters inventoried, teas, coffees, lemon cake, scones, bananas ingested (on lawns that gave off prosecco and afternoon cream tea vibes) and off we went again, this time with Vik as cox. Some crews swapped their entire team at this point - not us though! We shuffled the crew a bit with Ann at stroke now keeping a very nice and steady pace. The wind was behind us on the way back to Dalavich and it was all very civilised with Vik revving us up for a cheeky sprinting finish.
Very happy faces all around! We came 5th overall with a time of 3:04:34 (1st were Avoch in 2:52:48, 4th Prestwick in 3:04:34). But, if we were into counting such things (which of course we are), we were the first all-female crew to finish and second place for a crew of 5 (no swapsies at halfway, Avoch also had no subs). Overall, it was a magnificent weekend with a fantastic crew, brilliant hosts and friendly Skiffie community.
Jess Ivy
Five in a Row have crossed the Atlantic
- Details
Our members Ian Baird, Clive Rooney, Duncan Hughes, Ross McKinney and Fraser Potter have safely arrived in Antigua finishing third in the Talsiker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. You can read more about their epic adventure here Waves roared like jet engines
Not only have they completed this amazing adventure they have also succeeded in raising over £46,000 for their chosen charity, Reverse Rett through Ross's just giving page. You can still donate by following this link here.
We all look forward to seeing them back in North Berwick soon and hopefully on the water with us.
Fundraising rowing relay for Reverse Rett
- Details
flickr photo = 51825630640 size=medium
Enthusiastic club members of all ages took part in a rowing relay on Saturday 15th January, rowing non-stop for 12 hours from 8.00am to 8.00pm. The event took place beside North Berwick High Street in the grounds of St Andrew Blackadder Church and attracted a lot of attention from passers by, some of whom were keen to try out on a rowing machine. Each rower completed a one hour slot with some very keen folk doing 2 hours! Everyone who took part, either on the machines or in a supporting role, had an amazing day and their were a lot of smiling, if not tired, faces.
To see more pictures of the day click here.
The very good news is that we were able to raise £1000 for Reverse Rett and raise awareness of Rett Syndrome. We were very happy to add this to Five in a Row's just giving page to help them take their total fundraising over £46,000.
NBRC Christmas Gathering 2021
- Details
NBRC members enjoyed a festive evening of socialising and awards to celebrate rowing in 2021.
Captains Millie Lowe and Duncan McKay awarded the prize of the Tiger Cup to It’s all About the Bass crew made up of Lyndsay Henderson, Jacque Turner, John Irvine, Johnny Macnair and coxed by Sandy Wallace. The Tiger Cup has been running throughout the autumn and winter for crews to take part in a Craigleith time trial of about 3 km.
Other senior prize winners included Amanda Mustard (The One to Watch), Ann Hume and John Sanderson (Against the Odds), Sandy Wallace (Most Coxing) and Jacque Turner (Most Ergos).
The junior Tiger Cup winners, The Puffins, were made up of Kristen Coley, Chloe Combe, Alex Grant and Rufus Gallagher (not in photo). Other junior prize winners included Daniel Shields, Will Evans and JJ Wallace for their participation and achievements in winter training.
Sandy’s Big Christmas Quiz and a surprise video Christmas wish from Five in a Row in La Gomera waiting to leave on their Atlantic Challenge put us all in the festive mood. NBRC’s sweepstake to guess the time the boys will take to cross the Atlantic went live and all money raised will go to Reverse Rett.
Watch your emails for information on how to enter the sweepstake.
Merry Christmas from NBRC
Monster the Loch 2021
- Details
On Friday 17th September 5 intrepid adventurers (Duncan, Ross, John, Jacque and Ann) set off from North Berwick heading to Fort Augustus to take part in Monster the Loch III, a 21 mile row on Loch Ness from Fort Augustus to Dorres Beach along with 86 other human powered boats. The weather was wet on Friday evening but changed to sunny and calm for the start of the race early Saturday morning.
Click here to see a video of the start
We were among skiffs, yoals, outrigger canoes, 8's, double skulls, kayakers and 2 Sups and the field quickly spread out with the 8's and outriggers speeding ahead. We managed to complete the row in 3 hours 58 minutes with Ann and Jacque taking turns at coxing whilst the men put in full effort for the whole 21 miles. There were a few blisters and aching muscles afterwards but the were overshadowed by a huge sense of achievement, not to mention the medal and t-shirt!
A few more photos can be found here
Page 4 of 53