Details

They came on planes, in cars, on boats and jumped on their rental bikes on arrival. North Berwick crews, sporting their natty away-jackets, descended on Woudrichem in style for their first international regatta. 

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IMG_4496

The welcome they found in Woudrichem was overwhelming. A few of us would confess that the prospect of the free camping in a field (following a weekend of - shall we say - mixed weather camping in Achiltibuie) filled them with trepidation. Their fears were quickly laid to rest. The organisers had performed a minor miracle and had transformed the field into a pop up camp site with hot showers and lots of toilets - really impressive. The ferry and towing contingent had kindly erected tents for the late night flyers and were able to fill them in on how amazing the hospitality, area, club house and company were and to point them in the direction of breakfast-with-a-view. They raved about the day of touring and sprinting and the kindness that they had experienced on Thursday. The camaraderie was immediate as old friends and rowing rivals, newer friends -  met at the Skiffie Worlds -  and the newest friends from the Dutch teams, all bonded effortlessly. Laughter and banter was everywhere. On Friday, we rowed or ferried across the river, helped launch a new Dutch skiff in Gorichem and tested herring and Dutch Gin. Vana, Clive and John I. excelled at net-casting in the evening, others excelled at gin tasting on the fascinating city tour and we all enjoyed a trip to the fisheries museum and ate our fill of delicious fried fish (with a few tiny Heinis). 

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DSCF2930

Undeterred by the distracting range of activities, food and drink on offer, an excellent day’s racing took place in very hot conditions on Saturday. Two km races with an individual buoy turn. The heat provided truly testing conditions and there were some close fought results, with the newer Dutch teams proving to be ones to watch.  Somehow, we still found energy to dance the night away on Saturday at the excellent party night and barbecue. North Berwick medals jingled and we were hugely moved to receive a beautiful bronze sculpture by a local artist as best overseas club. The flyers departed early Sunday, leaving the trusty towers and drivers to pack in some last minute experiences of beautiful Woudrichem and its surrounds, before heading for the ferry. There really was nothing more our fabulous hosts could have offered to improve our stay. The haul of beautiful medals and trophies for North Berwick (overall winner, 5 Golds (Women’s 40+,Men’s Open, Mixed 40+, Men’s 60+, <25 Women);  4 Silvers (Men’s 40+, Men’s 50+, Women’s Open; Mixed Open); and 2 Bronzes (Women’s 50+ and Mixed 50+) was nothing compared to the haul of magical memories that we all have to treasure. 

Full Results here

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DSCF2944

 

Details

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.

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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

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coigach2

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 !

Details

NBRC are organising "have a go" coastal rowing sessions as part of RYA "Push the Boat Out" at East Lothian Yacht Club on  Saturday 20 May.  Half hour rowing sessions are on offer to beginners between 2pm and 5pm.  Go to the Yacht Club on the day to register, and you will be brought down to the beach at a time that you can get in the boat.  There are plenty of other activities to enjoy on Friday night and Saturday, including Motor Boating,  Yacht Sailing, Dinghy Sailing and Stand Up Paddleboarding.  The full programme can be found on the East Lothian Yacht Club website:  http://www.elyc.org.uk/

If you are not able to attend push the boat out, but would still like to have a go at coastal rowing in North Berwick e mail;  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will explain how to get involved.  Generally sessions for adult beginners take place on Sunday afternoons, and for youths (age 14-18) on Monday nights.

If you are not local to North Berwick, check out the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association Club Finder for your local rowing club......  there will almost certainly be one near you, but if not SCRA will be happy to speak to you about how to set one up.  http://scottishcoastalrowing.org/club-finder/

Details

This year will see the inaugural North Berwick Junior Regatta, with races for Under 17 and Under 19 we invite all clubs to enter, and encourage clubs to join and make up composite crews if necessary to get as many boats as we can on the water.

Schedule

  • 10:00 Coxes Briefing
  • 11:00 Race 1 U17 Boys
  • 11:45 Race 2 U17 Girls
  • 12:30 Race 3 U19 Boys
  • 13:15 Race 4 U19 Girls
  • 14:00 Race 5 U17 Mixed
  • 14:45 Race 6 U19 Mixed
  • 16:00 Prizegiving 

The race will be over a 1KM course, see the Notice of Race for course details.

For further information on the regatta, or anything else to to with North Berwick Rowing club please mail David Davidson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Details

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TradesCup2

Schedule

  • 2:30pm Coxes briefing - at Old Pier gate, all coxes to attend, rowers are optional
  • 2:45pm Crews meet on beach  - all crews to be on the beach and ready
  • 3:00pm First crews get on water

Expect to finish around 5:30pm

 

Entries

Following teams are fully entered, they have a crew, a cox and are ready to start training.... any other crews who think they have entered please contact us at email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and let us know the names of your crew.

  Team Cox Crew 1 Crew 2 Crew 3 Crew 4
1 Bingo Wings Robbie Wightman Lucy Tate Sarah Thomson Fiona McGregor Tina O'Rourke
2 Blister Sisters Laura Cram Sharon Street Sally Morton Caroline Smith Kylie Conroy
3 RNLI Simon Cowan Niall Grant Finlay Hall Andy Laing Jonas Valius
4 Mini Coaches Jacque Turner Colin Tate Scott McMenemy David Cunningham Pete Churn
5 That's How We Row Sandy Wallace Judy Lockhart Tommy Todd Sue Northrop Gordon Moodie
6 The Sopranos Jo Drewitt Becky Everett Roisin Smith Lucy Gibbons Philippa Marston
7 Stepping Out John Sanderson Rob Craig Craig Hodgson Grant Millar Amanda Bennie