By the banks of the silvery Tay
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William Topaz McGonagall, of Dundee has been widely hailed as the writer of the worst poetry in the English language. This sonnet may challenge this claim!
| By the banks of the Silvery Tay We had such a wonderful day For North Berwick a first trip to Dundee Made welcome with coffee and tea Bacon rolls to sustain through the day By the banks of the silvery Tay The wind from the west Was not for the best But didn’t spoil the day As guests of our friends in Broughty By the banks of the silvery Tay The open men were first to row They struck the very first blow A narrow win over hosts Broughty Got North Berwick on our way By the banks of the silvery Tay Ladies were next in the boat Over 60s I heard someone quote Another good win for the NB As the wind blew out to the see By the banks of the silvery Tay The 45 plus men followed on Fuelled with rolls filled with Dundee bacon Rowed the fastest time of the day Was North Berwick running away? By the banks of the slivery Tay |
The mixed crew look a little pale As they finished second to a good crew from Crail The crafty coxing brought joy As they squeezed around the buoy By the banks of the silvery Tay Crail continued their winning form Pushing hard in the heart of the storm Another win from the Fifers In the class of 45 wifers By the banks of the silvery Tay Wormit were the next to have cheer And likely celebrated with beer A first win for the neighbouring crew And a second for Newburgh too By the banks of the silvery Tay The final race of the day A win for our hosts from Broughty NB ran them close around the bend Broughty finished strong in the end By the banks of the silvery Tay With many thanks to our hosts Broughty Ferry We returned home all feeling merry The weather could not thwart A great day of sport By the banks of the silvery Tay |
With apologies to W.T. McGonagall (Ed: But thanks to Steve Thomson)
Portsoy June 2016
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NBRC headed to the North East, to Portsoy, on the Moray Coast. Skiff racing there is only a small part of a traditional boat festival (fewer beards and brown sails than you might imagine, but lots of music, food, and busy crowds of happy people). I never got to meet the person on the PA, but he sounded very posh, and that lent a veneer of respectability, bordering on aristocracy to the event. What I do remember is that this was the 23rd year (or maybe 25th, anyway more than 20) that the festival has run in succession - and we were suitably impressed.
NBRC brought a small crew of 10 people and we struck lucky this year, the weather was never worse than a little bit overcast but for the most part was sunshine and calm(ish) seas - perfect for coastal rowing.
There was a busy days racing on Saturday, starting with 2K races, before shifting to 750m sprints which were held in heats culminating in a final between the 3 fastest boats. So it was against the clock, NBRC won a few, came second in some, and were pipped in others by the smallest of margins (our ladies came second in a 2K race by 1 second!)
Saturday night was spent camping and discussing the Euro referendum and despairing at the prospects for Mister Cheasie Peasie and his travelling selection of delicious and very expensive French Cheeses (we will miss Cedric from NB - bon courage mon brave). Medium John held court, as he offered us solace with his vision of a new future whilst simultaneously propping up the local economy by buying all their fish and chips.
Sunday was aptly named, as the local boys called taps aff to show their skin and ink, and the skiffs enjoyed racing in the sunshine. We sent out our second string mixed open crew, but they did well in the opening 2K race and secured a strong win, we followed that up with a dead heat in the Men's 40+ and various other medals that I can't recall.
You may have seen the recent sad news that one of the great characters of Scottish Coastal Rowing, Andy Jarvis, recently passed away. In memory of him, the last race of the day was a 2K mixed race with scratch crews in every boat mixing rowers from all clubs in unfamiliar boats. Which was a lovely end to the racing.
What a great weekend, thanks to our hosts - Portsoy, and from our own club, special thanks to Claire Simpson for towing our boat.
Newhaven June 2016
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Just like last year, hardy souls from 9 Rowing clubs made the pilgrimage to Newhaven for the annual row/run/sail in the name of racing, powered by legs/wind/arms, and any other motive forces you may care to mention.
Newhaven were fantastic in their organisation of the event. All participants were made to feel very welcome; drinks and other refreshments (real ale) were available all day, and were greatly appreciated by all.
Although the day started off fairly cloudy, the yellow star did break through, and we ended up slapping on the factor 30 to keep the sun at bay!
However, this was no 'picnic row', but was as competitive a race as you can get (white knuckles and red mist were in plentiful supply). Claire Bear did us proud with her run x 2, and also did her best to keep her sailing skipper on track.
After Claire's first run, NB (Phil, Finlay, Elisa, Sheena; cox Jeannie) gained one place with the first 2km row.
Claire held her position for the second run, and NB were looking good. There was a wee glitch with the second sailing race, when we slipped down the field.
Quite a bit. Actually, the sailing dropped us down to 8th. Never mind; this was a challenge that out rowers could relish.
A sterling effort for the second 2km row (Jeannie, Sandy, Finlay, Elisa; cox Phil) took us from 8th to 4th place. It was gratifying to pass 4 other skiffs, but we just did not have enough time to make much on Port Seton who started well ahead of us along with Anstruther, the eventual winners. (Starting order for the second row was dictated by the finishing order of the preceding sailing race-out of our hands)
Mention must be made of Sandy who flew the NBRC flag proudly by selling at least 12 books of raffle tickets for the Skiffie Worlds.
A great way to spend a day in fine company; oh, and there were small waves, no haar, and little wind!
Rowing of the Marches
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Musselburgh’s Riding of the Marches is a local tradition which goes back over 300 years where, once every 21 years, a procession of locals many on horseback travel around the old town boundaries cutting turfs and declaring ‘ It’s a’ oor ain.’ This year’s event is on Friday 29 July.
Eskmuthe Rowing Club decided to replicate the event on the sea and invited other clubs to join them in a flotilla to visit the two boundary points at each end of the old town. Last Saturday evening we were part of a fleet of 13 skiffs, from as far away as Amble and St Andrews, in a 5 mile figure of eight shaped course from Fisherrow Harbour. As a warm up we all took part in a tug’o’war competition which we aquitted well in the first round then literally fell away when we didn’t get our timing and catches right.
The main event had the thirteen skiffs saluting the Town Champion with vertical oars before setting off west to the first buoy where we all shouted ‘It’s a’oor ain.’ We then turned eastwards past the Levenhall lagoons into the fierce northeasterly in a chop and rolling swell we’ve been accustomed to recently at NB. Another shout and the long stretch back was completed in a total time of about an hour and a half. This was not a race but we were back first. Pippa M, Ann H, Medium, Sandy and Red with St Baldred represented NB and were delighted to support the local club
Because of the miserable weather conditions and the slippage in the timetable, the planned sprint races were cancelled and we retired to the BBQ, bonfire, live music and socialising with old friends and new. We’re sure Eskmouthe will see this as a very successful event which will almost certainly be repeated and developed.
NBRC wins Ullapool Regatta!
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A sizeable squad of North Berwick rowers made the annual pilgrimage to the seemingly perennial sunshine of Ullapool this weekend and emerged victorious having won the overall club shield for the very first time!
As ever Ullapool Coastal Rowing Club ran a fantastically well organised and thoroughly enjoyable regatta with races taking place on the same form of 2km course that will be used at the World Championships in July. Both days of racing enjoyed beautiful weather (for those with no fear of jellyfish or hypothermia it was even hot enough to go swimming) and conditions for rowing were excellent, although the waters were more challenging past the headland and out to the turning buoys.
With nearly 40 rowers in 20 categories, this regatta was an ideal opportunity to show NB’s strength and depth, and the club did not disappoint. Every single crew pulled their hearts out in hotly contested races, each placing proved crucial with NBRC winning best club by just 2 points. A special mention goes to our unstoppable 60+ ladies (including Patsy from Eastern) who were presented with the commemorative Rose Bowl for their victory on Saturday. I should also congratulate our juniors who were unceremoniously bundled into last minute composite crews and did the club proud as well as securing much needed points. Several of our rowers, not content with winning medals for NBRC, generously helped out other clubs with empty seats and bagged yet more silverware, including Big John’s first 60+ gold…..shame it was for Crail!
The ceilidh in the village hall was a really excellent bash, although holding it on the Saturday night was obviously a flagrant attempt to nobble those of a dancing persuasion who had to row or cox the following day. Luckily the iron constitutions of NB rowers were unaffected by such a night of jollity. The young band were superb, Lisa from Ullapool taught us a Gaelic rowing song (which I’m sure we all remember) and, for reasons best known to himself, a kindly gent sang us something in Chinese [The national anthem, I believe – Ed.].
Once again much of the fun of the regatta was to be had in catching up with friends from other clubs and having spent time chatting with rowers from Coigach, Ulla, Anstruther, Crail and the newly formed Eastern, the general consensus was that the standard of rowing across the board had really improved which made the races exciting and competitive.
Huge thanks to all those who coxed their crews so superbly, the bosuns for getting Skiff John B repainted and the new lifting rudder attached in record time, Dave for getting the oars looking ship-shape, Hugh for towing, Clive and Issy for working on the safety boats (particularly on her birthday!) and everyone who came to support the club from the shore (I think Rachael eclipsed everyone in the shouting encouragement category). It was a really wonderful weekend and I can’t wait to go back again next year! Well done NB!
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