SCRA World Skiff Championships on Loch Broom,

Kathy Mansfield, renowned maritime photo journalist, has done a drop dead gorgeous report on SkiffieWorlds in the current edition of Water Craft Magazine – on the bookstalls now.  Kathy’s report paints a vivid picture of those glorious days in July, accompanied as always by mouth-watering images. A preview of the first couple of pages can be seen here.  A very pleasant reminder of a fantastic event which should be on every Skiffies coffee table – rush out and get a copy now.

This issue is also notable for the first appearance of a St Ayles as the cover shot – in this case a superb capture by local master lensman, Steven Gourlay, of the Mens Open contingent of the Skiff World Champions, Coigach, storming home to a well deserved victory.

More of Kathy Mansfield’s super shots can be seen and enjoyed on  her site

Undoubtedly the best account of SkiffieWorlds to date. A ‘Must Read’ for anybody who was here and even more so for those unfortunates who couldn’t make it.

Go read about it on Will’s own site, but make sure you have plenty of time, once you have sampled the Worlds story you will want to explore more of his writing and photography. It’s very moreish.

Just a note to remind anybody thinking of getting in on the last orders for these that we close for orders at lunchtime tomorrow, 11th August.

While the ordering system seems to have worked pretty well regrettably we are aware of a few instances where the email post hasn’t delivered orders or, in reverse,  the PayPal invoices - so if you tried to order and haven’t had an acknowledgement or Invoice then please let us know by getting in touch through the order form comment box on the merchandise page. If you want to redo your order please do so but make sure you put a note that this is a repeat order in the comment box otherwise we will think it is a fresh one.

Thanks to the very many people who have continued to support our endeavors, your enthusiasm has been amazing.

The Tee shirts are from top of pile on right :
Navy
Pale pink
Orange
Green
Light blue
Purple
Azure blue
Red
Burgundy
Royal Blue – flat

A final order will be placed for Hoodies and T Shirts on 12th August – to make sure of yours go to the updated Merchandise page and place your order by lunchtime on 11th August.

Beautifully captures the spirit of SkiffieWorlds

Thanks North Berwick!

 The Worlds Came to Ullapool, and how the sun shone.

The best week of the summer so far, and the West Shore Street beach was an overseas paradise.  Rowers from Australia, USA, Holland, Blakeny in Norfolk, and many parts of Scotland from Wick to Islay, Dunbar to Achiltibuie, all laughed, smiled, shouted, raced and basked in glorious sunshine.  The official opening by HRH the Princess Royal was the start of a fantastic week, that even we could not have predicted.  Only one race, the long distance Womans, was postponed as the wind whipped up on Tuesday, the men having set off from Ullapool to Ardmair in some pretty challenging conditions.  For the rest of the week, the 2km races all took place, on time and in wonderful conditions.

The welcome all the skiffie visitors received in Ullapool was first class, and every single person who came to row or cheer on their rowing friends and family, has appreciated the Highland hospitality.   The races were challenging but fun and many of the rowers were finding their ‘oars’ as newcomers to the sport.  Ulla rowed by the Ullapool Coastal Rowing Club met the challenge of entering every single race, and finished in 3^rd place overall in the Championships.  The 2^nd place was taken by North Berwick, their distinctive red club shirts seen everywhere around the village.  But it was Achiltibuie that dominated and Coigach Community Rowing won the overall Championship Trophy, commissioned by the Scottish Fisheries Museum, and made by Steve Husband in Achiltibuie.

The visiting boats also had many successes, with RowPorty from Portobello taking 4^th overall place, and St Ayles (Anstruther) close behind.  6^th Place was taken by Port Seton& Cockenzie, and newcomers Crail achieved a fantastic 7^th place.  Our own ‘Loki’ of Loch Broom Sailing Club came in closely behind Bunillidh (Helmsdale) who are another club newly onto the skiff racing scene.  The Islay crews were delighted with 10^th, and won the sprint races.  WSV Woudrichem, from the Netherlands achieved the best overseas club placing, and a special award for Endeavour and Effort was presented to Michael and Lynne Brolly who brought their musical skiff ‘Sephira’ over from Amercia, and delighted us all.  For anyone who is interested, all the results can be found on the skiffieworlds website.

And finally, the car raffle.  We have become quite accustomed to seeing the little red car (and Peugeot 107) outside the Seaforth, waiting to be claimed.  It was won by the North Queensferry Rowing Club who had bought some tickets with club funds.  They were absolutely delighted, and Harry Macrae of the Seaforth, who had organised the prize with Kens Garage in Kildary, handed over the keys.

The effort to create the first World Championships in Ullapool was immense, and it could not have been done with such success without the multitude of people involved.  A big thank you to everyone.”

Cheers, Topher.

This VHF radio was left on the umpire tent table and nobody has claimed it.

If you are missing one and this looks like it please contact Topher by email - topher@dawsonullapool.com