Our regatta this year will be held on Saturday 23rd August 2014. We will have our usual races around Craigleith, approx 1.8miles, which takes anything from 18-30 mins depending on conditions of water and crew! On Saturday night we will have a social event in North Berwick. On Sunday we won't formally schedule anything but expect that we will have some form of social rowing perhaps to one of the nearby rocks or beaches as conditions allow.

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

Our regatta this year will be held on Saturday 23rd August. We will have races around Craigleith, approx 1.8miles, which takes anything from 18-30 mins depending on conditions of water and crew! On Saturday night we will have prizegiving and  a social event in North Berwick - please come! Plans for Sunday are fluid, we'll gauge interest in a social row and plan something accordingly.

Schedule ....

09:00
Coxes
Briefing

10:00
Mens
40+
10:45
Ladies
40+
11:30
Mens
50+
12:15
Ladies
50+
13:45
Mixed
Open
14:30
Mixed
Novice*
15:15
Mixed
60+**
15:15
Mixed
U19**
16:00
Mens
Open
16:45
Ladies
Open
Crail 1 1 1   1 1 1   1 1
Eskmuthe     1 1 1 1     1 1
Portobello 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 1 2 2
St Ayles 1 1 1 1 1 1 1   1 1
Islay 1 1 1   1 1   1 1 1
Coigach 1 1 1 1 1 1   1 2 1
Newburgh 1 1 1 1 1 1   1 1 1
Queensferry 1 1 1 1 1 1 1   1 1
St Andrews 1 1 1 1 1 1 1   1 1
North Berwick 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2
C&PS 1 1 1 1 1 1   1 1 1
Dunbar 1 1     1 1     1 1
Total 12 13 12 11 14 14 6 6 15 14

*The Mixed Novice / Fresher event is a single race open to crews of Novice (never won a race) or Fresher (first year of rowing) rowers. 

**Mixed 60+ AND Mixed U19 are two separate races that will go off at the same time (or maybe separated by 5 minutes, depending on how many entries we get). If you have a 60+ crew and an U19 crew you'll need two boats, or borrow a boat, otherwise enter one category or the other.

Crews racing in “mixed” category events must have at least one male rower in the crew. Not less than half the rowers at any time in the race must be female.

 

Please help us with our planning by getting your entries in ASAP, closing date for entries is 9th August.

 

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

North Berwick Rowing Club hosted the "Trades Cup" on Tuesday 17 March.  The Cup is a community rowing competition, where a team of four with no rowing experience represent their organisation or trade. Crews entered this year included a new crew from last year's winners "North Berwick Rugby Club", along with "Homeworkers", "Firefighters" and "Team Genghis Khanny Row" representing SPACE,  a local social enterprise of "Uprising East Lothian".  The crews were using the two matched St Ayles skiffs "St Baldred" and "Skiff John B" both of which were built by North Berwick community boat builders at Wamphrey in 2010.  The rowing club are committed to organising this competition party as a thank you to the community who have given them so much support both to build the boats and now to represent the town at various regattas around Scotland's coast.

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Crews were each given a handicap time to reflect age and gender, so that all crews could compete fairly against each other. In the first race the two all male "scratch" crews scrapped it out to determine who would contest the final. The course was a 750m out and back course, parallel to the harbour pier and platcock rocks, giving excellent and entertaining viewing for the crews' supporters. The young and canny Genghis crew went off hard but were down by a length at the turn. The Rugby Crew had managed to get out for an extra practice session in advance of the night, and their practiced technique and matched timing was obvious  allowing them to pull away further after the turn finishing the course in 2 minutes 59 seconds, against the 3.24 of Ghenghis Khanny.

The second heat saw the Firefighters take on the Homeworkers.  The Homeworkers handicap gave them a six second start.  They were quick out of the blocks, and led the Blue Lichties into the turn.  Spinning round 180 degrees, they were still up by a length as they pulled away from the turning buoy, and held the hard working Firefighters off all the way to the line, pulling away to two lengths clear by the finish which they crossed in 3 minutes 11 seconds, against the Firefighters 3.21.  The final therefore looked tasty, with the 12 second handicap which the homeworkers were due to enjoy reflecting exactly the difference between the  times the two crews had posted in their heats.

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Before the final however there was the matter of the third/ fourth race off to be determined. Both the crews in this tussle improved their times from their heats, but the Firefighters' more polished technique allowed them to pull smoothly away from the determined Space men, finishing in 3:11.

The crews for the final looked slightly nervous as they returned to the two matched St Ayles Skiffs.  Each had a short practice along the course, parading like race horses for the anticipating crowd, before getting lined up for the start.  The Homeworkers enjoyed their 12 second start. Despite a bit of a wobble on the outward leg, the led the Rugby Crew into the turn.  However the oval ball players, resplendent in their viking hats and red and black striped shirts, excecuted a fantastic turn, approaching the buoy wide and hauling the boat round the starboard turn.  Having been down by a length going into the turn, they managed to come away from the buoy half a length up.  The Homeworkers would not give up and kept fighting all the way back up the course, but the viking raiders pulled away winning by 20 seconds on the line to retain the Trades Cup, having completed the course in a corrected time of 2 minutes 52 seconds.

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The crews with supporters and Rowing Club members retired to the presentation at the Auld Hoose, who had presented NBRC with the Cup used for the competition.  Ghengis Khanny Row are now set to use the lessons in teamwork to help them through their next challenge, an epic 10,000 mile journey in a Skoda Fabia from London to Mongolia as part of the Mongol Rally taking place in July.  North Berwick Rowing Club always welcomes new members from their community. Information on other coastal rowing clubs can be found at www.scottishcoastalrowing.org .

FW:
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Finishing positions:

4th Genghis Khanny Row
3rd Firefighters
2nd Homeworkers
1st North Berwick Rugby Club


Winners*
Race 1
*Rugby 2.59
Genghis 3.24

Race 2 (handicap 6 secs to Homeworkers)
*Homeworkers 3.11
Firefighters 3.21 (3.15)


Race 3 (handicap 6 secs to Firefighters)
Genghis 3.24 (3.18)
*Firefighters 3.11


Race 4 (handicap 12 secs to Homeworkers)
Homeworkers 3.24
*Rugby 3.04 (2.52)

North Berwick regatta will take place on Saturday 27 August.  There will be a social event that night, and on the Sunday there will be informal rowing in company, and the first ever edition of the North Berwick Fishing and Barbeque Race.

The Races on Saturday will be in the following categories:

 

Time

Event

Sponsored by

09:30 Coxes Briefing - At harbour wall (next to Lobster Shack)
10:30 Men 35+

Gilsland Caravan Park

11:15 Women Open

Alice Stephenson Optometrist

12:00 Men 50+
12:45 Women 50+

Tyninghame Coffee Shop

BREAK
14:00 Men Open
14:45 Women 35+
15:30 Convenor's Cup

16:15 Mixed Open
18:00

Prize Giving St Andrew / Blackadder. Church hall

There is an online entry form here, closing date for entries is Monday August 22nd


The course will be from an East/ West start line off North Berwick harbour, out to the West Side of Craigleith Island, round the Island, leaving it to Starboard, and back to the line.  The course is around two and a half nautical miles, and will take crews between 20 minutes and 30 minutes, depending on conditions.  We are endevouring not to limit entries, but will have to limit the crews per race, probably to eight.  Therefore successful crews can expect to have a heat and a final in the popular categories. Heats will be in the morning, and finals in the afternoon.

Races will be held in accordance with SCRA rules.  The course is a long and potentially exposed one, and crews are responsible for ensuring that they carry all the safety equipment provided for in those rules. 

All crews should also carry a VHF radio.  The measurement rules for the St Ayles skiff class will be applied.  All crews entering the event should be members of an organisation with full membership of SCRA.

We would be grateful if all rowers could support our sponsors and our bar in the evening, in order that we can keep costs to a minimum.


The owners of Gilsland Campsite have been very supportive of our skiffs, so we recommend accomodation there.

Downloads

Regatta Program

Regatta Welcome Notes