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Thirty five intrepid rowing club members made it to Kortgene in Netherlands to take on the world. All the photos can be accessed here.
 
Here is a snapshot of what happened.  
 
Day 0 - And so it began!
 
The formalities kicked off with the official opening by the Kings representative and a row-by from all skiffs. And what a wonderful sight it was. The NB crews for the next day were then able to head out to row the course ahead of the racing starting for real. Team NB were buzzing with excitement and hopes were high that all the hard work over the winter in the pain cave and then the last few months on the water would pay off.
 
 
 
Day 1 - Lift-off
 
The racing kicked off with vengeance. We had sunshine and torrential rain and even news of a tornado nearby! Racing was paused until conditions settled which caused some confusion in revised start times as communication were “patchy”.
 
All three NB crews reached their respective finals. The 60+ ladies came a gallant 7th in a top class final and the men’s 280+ were just pushed out of the medals finishing in 5th. The mixed 50+ were very unfortunate to be placed 4th as the crew, cox and watching hordes had celebrated what was thought to be a bronze medal. A formal discussion followed, however the umpires stayed with their original decision.
 
An eventful first day to say the least but all the crews did NB proud and set us up for the rest of the week!
 
 
Day 2 - Medals Medals Medals
 
The sun was out and shining as once again all 3 crews battled their way to their respective final in convincing fashion. 
 
The ladies 50+ then produced a gutsy row in the final battling it out with 4 other crews to secure a brilliant bronze medal!
 
The 50+ men cruised through their heat as winners however despite a fantastic burst to the line in the last 300m of the final they couldn’t close the gap and ended up with a very creditable 5th place.
  
Last up were the 280 mixed crew who boasted representation from Ullapool and Lake Champlain and a brilliant result saw a bronze medal secured.
 
A great day and no pressure for the reinforcements arriving that night!
 
 
Day 3 - Broken Blade!
 
The third day competing in Holland was another amazing and eventful day of racing. It was a very hot day so conditions were hard in the heat with minimal wind but the water was gorgeous and flat.
 
Mixed 40+ had a very eventful row as 500m into their heat, Robbie's blade snapped in half. Unbelievably they managed to come 3rd in their heat despite rowing with a broken blade. Unfortunately despite their incredible performance they didn't qualify for the finals.
 
 
Mens 60+ stormed their heat coming second and had a very exciting final, where they battled it out for fifth place, over taking three boats for the final push to the finish line!
 
Lizzie stroked for Broughty Ferry in the 40+ mixed which they stormed and won their heat and placed 7th in the final.
 
Millie rowed for USA team Lake Champlain Maritime Museum for the under 40 women where they placed 9th in the heat.

Day 4 - Gold Medal! 
 
All North Berwick crews reached the finals today placed us in the top 10! First up we had the mixed 60+ who won their heat and then placed 5th in the final. An outstanding performance in a very tough and close category.
 
Then we had the women's 40+ who stormed their heat leading the pack by over 10 seconds. For their final the rain held back but the wind picked up. The crew were 5th or 6th round the buoy but managed to reign it back with an unbelievable performance and brought home our first Gold medal of the championships! The most exciting race of the championship so far and a very well deserved gold for our ladies 40 +!
 
Finally we had our men's 40+ who did fantastic and came third in their heat. They qualified for the final which was tough with lots of strong crews. The heavens opened and poured down on them, they placed 10th in the final, an outstanding performance!
 
Our very own Norma was on the commentary today doing a sterling job rallying the crowd on the grand stand!
 
 
 
Day 5 - Another day, another gold!
 
Our juniors entered the arena and what an impact they made! The under 17 mixed crew (average age 14) rowed the race of their lives and only missed out on a medal by 1sec. The under 19 crew also battled away into increasingly strong headwinds to secure another 4th place. What an effort. Both of these results helped us gain a strong position overall.  
  
  
The men were very unlucky in their open race as a huge squall hit their heat just as they were turning for home so despite coming in a close 2nd to Eastern the weather meant that their time was not enough to make the final. Eastern went on to win silver in the final which puts the NB men’s effort into perspective.
  
There was NB presence in the Eastern boat in the mixed under 26 race finishing a creditable 7th in their final.
  
However the outstanding performance of the day was undoubtedly the ladies open crew who demolished the field to storm to gold in front of their adoring fans. They were just phenomenal and we are all so proud of them.
 
  
 
The Final Day - Another day and more medals!🏅
  
Our under 17 junior lads put in a big shift and came 5th in their final. Fantastic strength and resilience from our young junior boys!
Under 19 boys had a helping hand from Eastern to make up a crew and broke an oar during their warm up! Thankfully they were able to get a replacement for the race and came 6th. 
 
The under 26 ladies was a composite team with 2 of our NB girls with 2 Eastern girls racing for Eastern and they absolutely smashed their final and brought home a silver medal!
 
 
  
Finally we had our Mixed Open Crew who won their heat whilst being chased down by Golspie. They then had one of the closest finals of the championships, an absolute dog fight to the end racing the two boats either side of them to get a podium finish. They pulled it out the bag and won a bronze medal, being 1 second faster than the fourth boat and only 4 seconds between them and the first boat over the line, it was a tough, tough final. What a result.
 
Overall North Berwick Rowing Club came 4th out of all the clubs that competed ! We are chuffed to bits with the performances our crews put on during the week and all the hard work that's gone into these championships. We were in every single final of each category this week except one, which one of our crew broke an oar in!
 
Thanks too to all the supporters who cheered on the crews every day. 
 
  
 The Dutch put on an incredible week, so big thank you to the wonderful Dutch hosts!
 

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What a wonderful weekend, the hardy-and you had to be in thoroughly inclement conditions- dozen North Berwick skiffies did their team, town, county and country incredibly proud, securing podium places in several categories. It wouldn’t be a regatta without plenty of drama on and off the water, near clashes of oars at turning bouys and interesting conversations were overheard from the umpire boats. “Can we meet on the beach for a private chat” was one such comment, leaving those who had crossed the finishing line biting their nails, in anticipation of a DQ! This was Ullapool however and the hosts were generous and kind and as delighted to be hosting a regatta, as we were to attend. North Berwick came 2nd equal overall, inextricably linked with Eastern (Easter Berwick?)however an extra point or two might have been gained, had two of the 60+ ladies not been “poached” to make up a composite crew- They know who they are and will remain nameless.

                   

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The racing was challenging, on Saturday there was a strong wind and lively loch, on Sunday flat calm, but with constant rain and visibility coming and going. Buoy turns, it would be fair to say, are still a work in progress and there were one or two incidents, when manoeuvring out of fairly tight spaces, but the rowing was terrific fun, highly successful and the team pulled together with excellent camaraderie. Sadly our gazebo was found in an intimate embrace with a give way sign, after a night of strong winds. Our hosts, who happened to be passing early in the morning were able to scaffold it, well done them! Plan B a requirement for the Netherlands! Wind, rain, babies (Luka is simply adorable- a teeny rower in the making), puppies, cake-lots of cake, climbing over walls whilst over-refreshed and unable to walk the extra 100m or so back to the tents, soggy feet and bottoms and a delightful Sunday morning row across a flat Loch Broom before the rain are all happy happy memories of a delightful weekend in the best of company, with the best of hosts. Bring on July 2023.

More pictures of the day can be found here

Norma Loudon

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What a great day - mild, dry and lots of sunny smiles even before the sun came out and added to the lovely friendly ambience. Lots of good cheer around, old friends meeting up, all helped by the copious supply of wonderful food and drinks supplied, (the cakes get a particular thumbs up from me). The unofficial Club dog Maisie added a fluffy dynamic to the day. 

What initially looked like a straightforward anti clockwise rectangular course around 4 buoys on the River Tay, showed an interesting element as time went on, as the preferred positions and routes changed during the day for each set of crews when the tide changed from incoming, to slack, to outgoing. In the last race of the day, the NB crew and one other felt the pain of being in the lane furthest from the shoreline where the tidal flow against them was the strongest.

                                                           

Broughty Ferry 2022 Cowan pics
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Broughty Ferry 2022 Cowan pics
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This regatta was also an opportunity for some of the Worlds’ crews to compete together against stiff opposition. As a newbie to racing myself the sight of this was quite awesome. The Juniors were fantastic (well done) and the newbies did hold their heads up coming a respectable fifth (with one male in their crew whereas all others had two males). Many congratulations to all.

Our overall place at the end of a good day was second out of 12 Clubs. Brilliant - Well done all North Berwick crews. Broughty Ferry were overall first - Well done.

Great day. Looking forward to the next one now.

More pictures from the day can be found here

Claire Cadoux

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Our 2022 regatta season got off to a great start with a return to Port Seton, after a break of two years. 
A day of short, intense races involved navigating round a tight course of two bhoys at the opposite ends of the harbour, with the fastest two crews in each category qualifying for the finals.
Congratulations to all the North Berwick crews, and especially those taking part for the first time! We successfully crewed skiff John B to first place in the Open Women and Mixed 40+ categories. The Open Men's crew were runner up to locals Boatie by one second! 
The bright skies turned into a wetter afternoon, but our hosts, Port Seton's Boatie Blest crew, kept everyone's spirits up between races with plenty of chat,  home baking and lots of hot drinks. 
A fantastic start to the racing year.
More pictures from the day can be found here
Robert Eckhart 

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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.

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Taychreggan half way
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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.

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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.

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5 during race
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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!).

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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.

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Skiff John B
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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