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On the weekend of 16th May three club members accepted the invitation from Coigach CRC to attend their Sail and Oar event. This was a rowing and sailing voyage around the isle of Tanera Mor, followed by a BBQ on the island.

Welcomed at the event were the tall ships “Spirit of Falmouth”and “Pellew” as they stopped for respite on their Full Circle journey around the UK, crewed by veterans. This was part of the Invictus flag raising for the next games.

The ten Skiffs rowed from Badentarbat, then around TaneraMor, accompanied by the sailing boats a distance of some 9 miles.

Richard Jones, Sheena and I were privileged to be invited to row in Coigach’s Lily Rose. The scenery was stunning, the weather beautiful, the BBQ the best ever, everyone there was so friendly.

Thanks go to the organisers for a brilliant weekend.

More photos on Flickr below

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At the coxes’ briefing we were warned of the variable conditions with a gusting westerly wind resulting in choppy conditions, but reassured with the presence of a safety boat. The 2km OW and OM races were shortened to the shorter course, same as the rest of the races of 800m, after the recently deployed turning buoy was last seen heading towards Fife!!

The novices bravely kicked off the racing and quickly proved there would be no issues coping with the challenging waves – even if they did return absolutely soaked, but still smiling! But that’s what coastal rowing is all about…isn’t ?

As the adventurous racing continued, our strong support team waited on the shoreline for returning crews to steady the boat, while others huddled in their new boathouse enjoying Eskmuthe’s fantastic hospitality – hot soup, home baking, sandwiches and a welcome bit of shelter from the wind.

The highlight race of the day had to be the Open Mixed, with a running twist. Our runner Jess, selected thanks to her speedy Strava stats (which she may regret sharing in future!), had to ‘sprint’ 1km before leaping into bow seat to start rowing. Meanwhile 2 non-rowers on shore, spun the boat around and launched them back into the race. Jess admitted it took until the buoy to recover, but somehow the crew still stormed across the line in a brilliant first place. 

Unfortunately, worsening conditions near the shore meant the relay race at the end of the day had to be cancelled, as getting crews safely in and out of boats would be difficult. And we’re sorry for those rowers that ultimately didn’t get to race.

Our NB crews came away with gold medals in the 240 mxd, 40+ mxd, 60+ W and the Open mxd categories. Silver medals followed in the OW and 50+ mxd, alongside a bronze in the OM.

Despite the uncertain start, the day finished on a high, and we thank Eskmuthe for reigniting the racing bug in NB once again!!!

Amanda

Lots of photos on flickr below

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She has been sanded, sanded, sanded, painted, varnished, new stroke footrest fitted, and is looking good.

Many thanks to the various club members who took time to provide the necessary effort in producing such good work. Our boats cannot survive unless they are given regular maintenance, and it is part of being a member of NBRC that everyone contributes in some way. No boats = no rowing.

St. Baldred is at Kingston farm drying out in preparation for her dose of TLC.

Now is the time for a new team to volunteer, those who helped out on Blackadder should not be expected to do the same again: lets have some fresh blood for the bosun

More photos at https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCNHrL

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Our journey to Alnmouth started on the Friday evening with boat packing at the dinghy park in the dark, an interesting experience and nothing was forgotten. Thanks to Dave and Mary-Ann Wishart who kindly towed the boat for us the next morning.

18 rowers made their way to Alnmouth on Saturday morning ready for an interesting afternoon of rowing.

I think a few of us wondered if we would ever get on the river as there was plenty water out at sea but nothing but sandbanks in front of us.

After a very detailed coxes briefing where, “avoid the sandbanks” and “avoid collisions” were the clear messages we were all set to start racing. We knew we were in for an interesting day with the Collaboration, Mystery, and Beer Races all on the programme.

The first races were fast and furious 500m sprints, heart rates were definitely high after them! These were followed by the Collaboration race. 2 boats going off together having swapped 2 crew members. The challenge was crossing the finish line together! This was followed by a 1200m race involving 2 turns and boats heading in opposite directions. Again speed was of the essence to get over that line first.

Next we were into the longer distance racing with the open women and open men racing over a 2km dogleg course passing 2 buoys and navigating the arches of a bridge, returning by the same course. Conditions were absolutely perfect and fast times were recorded.

Then we had the 3km pursuit, involving the 2 km course plus 2 additional buoy turns, phew! 

It was now getting dark so the Mystery race remained a mystery and we moved on to the Beer Sprint. This was a 500m sprint with the cox holding a pint of beer. The challenge was to come over the line without spilling any on the way. The challenge for the cox was also seeing where she was going!

The day finished with Alnmouth’s fantastic hospitality. Hot soup, rolls, cakes a plenty and a wee nip to warm you up and make a toast to next year.

Looking forward to next year already!!!

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It all started with an offer to Claire from Kees van Vugt in the Netherlands. And before we knew it, 5 unsuspecting members of NBRC ( Ann, Claire, Sandy, Amanda and Duncan) found themselves signed up for something called The Flanders Tideway Race. Race distance?  No one knew, 28km? or 40km?

The WhatsApp translations from Dutch to English offered more mystery than clarity. “Strong wind might have meant tidal apocalypse”. No one was sure. The weekend turned out to be a masterclass in philosophy – “If you don’t know you don’t know, you don’t know”.

Chapter 1:

To simplify matters, those travelling via Newcastle became SCAA (Sandy, Claire, Ann and Amanda) – Somehow Competent Against All Odds.

So SCAA boarded the DFDS infamous overnight party boat from Newcastle to Amsterdam, where some of us arrived in Amsterdam the following morning a bit sleep deprived and caffeine deficient.  Ann however, proudly announced she’d had a full night’s sleep and was feeling fresh as a daisy – information she shared too often. 

So, with our Google maps open, our next mission was to get to Wetteren in Belgium, using train timetables and signage in Dutch. So with no PhD between us, this became a group IQ test.

Meanwhile, Duncan, who had chosen to fly (clever man) began his own “race across the world”. Despite this not being a competition, SCAA arrived in Wetteren 10 mins ahead, thus winning the unofficial pre-race race.

Chapter 2: Welcome to Wetteren.

Dragging our bags through quiet streets, we eventually found our hotel, Bloemenlust and our hostess Annika. A hotel full of interesting character with only 3 bedrooms but all very comfortable. Also a popular local’s bar, even for a retired Mayor, until the early hours of the morning.

Chapter 3: The “Race” ( or something like it)

Saturday dawned and Annika kindly drove us to the meeting point – probably relieved we hadn’t attempted to find it ourselves. There we met fellow Skiffies from Scotland (2 from Lossie, 2 from Wormit and 1 from Ulla). 10 skiffs and 1 dragon boat – because nothing says “level playing field” like mixing in a vessel with a dozen rowers and a drum!

After all the meets and greets and pressies given to our hosts, we boarded a bright red London bus (obviously, because this was Belgium?) to the start in Moerzeke, where our skiff awaited: the Flying Dutchman. It was kindly lent to us by Woudrichchem Rowing Club in the Netherlands for which we are very grateful- a beautiful boat with a setup completely different from our NB Skiffs. Then cue around 20 mins of fairly polite faffing, time for only a few adjustments, minor arguments, with the hooter already sounded, we set off with catches and finishes Lyndsay would sadly not be proud of!!

Still unsure of distance, we decided on sticking to the original plan of changeovers every 5.5km, ensuring everyone took a turn as cox and was able to top up energy levels with Babybels, energy bars and question their life choices.

With the tide thankfully in our favour, we rowed down the Scheldt River, finishing the 28km ( not 40km thank goodness) in 2hrs 44mins.

Chapter 4: Fame at last

Post-race, all hands helped get the skiffs out the water – the true test of endurance. Then out of nowhere, Claire and Amanda were cornered by a local journalist who wanted to know more about coastal rowing back in Scotland and how we found the racing on the river etc.

Little did we know, Flanders Tideway would appear on regional TV news the following evening, so thanks to Annika for setting up the TV in the bar of the hotel for us to watch our 10 seconds of fame – rowing on TV!  

Chapter 5: Beer and Glory

We were squeezed into cars and whisked away to Reuben’s, where food and beer flowed freely. This was followed by a moment of unexplained generosity, the Scots contingent were awarded a huge trophy for just showing up – proof that enthusiasm really does count!

Chapter 6: The Morning After

Sunday morning arrived with the dull throb of too many beers. Duncan flew home, and the rest of us ventured into Ghent – which turned out to be so beautiful that even our hangovers paused to admire it. Naturally we ended up on a mini-cruise too on the Leie, because apparently we can’t stop getting into things that float. But would highly recommend, as it was stunning. Afterwards we found waffles with chocolate sauce, and all was right with the world again.

Chapter 7: The Odyssey home

Monday came too soon and it’s not until we started our journey that we found out Antwerp station was closed. Of course it was!  So after rethinking, our return journey involved 4 trains, coffees and a group breakdown somewhere between Rotterdam and sanity.

Eventually we stumbled back onto the DFDS ferry to Newcastle, collapsed on deck 11 and then headed to the bar for more laughs and memories from the weekend and celebrated our survival.

Epilogue

And so ended the SCAA and Duncan expedition to Belgium – the tale of confusion, endurance and trains.

We came, we rowed, we possibly raced and we all definitely drank beer.

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Our only criteria regarding crew to ask, was that they should be club members who had not had an adventure like this before.  So the group was completed by Mary-Ann Wishart, Richard Jones, Carmen Mayo and David Wishart. 

Planning was minimal : we each offered to prepare a hot meal, we borrowed charts of the area and we checked the weather forecast.

The weekend was fun, relaxing, and full of rowing!!

We made good shared decisions about how to spend our time and which rowing routes to undertake. The weather was reasonable but damp. As a result we did a short row on our first afternoon to find our bearings, followed by a longer day out on our full day to explore the islands of Inchlonaig, Inchmoan and others I really can’t pronounce.

We took the opportunity to do the Five Miles from Home on our last day and found that Loch Lomond can be much choppier than we had anticipated. As the evenings were mostly rainy we enjoyed good food, word games and plenty of chat.   Whilst there were opportunities to swim, cycle, run or hike, only a couple of swims were achieved.

All in all it was a great weekend with new experiences to build on. We all hope to try somewhere new next year.

Best wishes

Saartje Drijver, NBRC

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St Ayles Skiff Adventure at the Great River Race 2025

If rowing around Craigleith in a headwind feels daft, then towing a St Ayles skiff 400 miles all the way to London for 21 miles on the Thames surely deserves its own category of lunacy. But on the 20th of September, that’s exactly what two North Berwick crews did: two skiffs, each skiff having four rowers, one cox and, in a nod to the London river taxis, one passenger.

Pre-Launch – “Flying Boats galore”

Boats were craned in or launched down a slipway at Richmond on the Friday and towed downstream overnight to the start. Our own convenor looked on nervously wondering if the club’s insurance covered damage from being dropped from a large height. Packing those carbs via a BBQ and an early night ready for a 6am coach ride across the city to the start beckoned for all crews.

The Launch – “Not the Bass Rock”

The starting line in Docklands looked less like a rowing race and more like an aquatic carnival, albeit with a bit of mudlarking and wrestling as crews negotiated launching before the rising tide meant they had to swim to the boats. A flotilla including Gigs, Whalers, Skerries, Yoals and Celtic Longboats, and even something that looked like a floating sofa, waited for the start lashed together midstream to avoid going over the start line too soon. Our starting coxes Ann and Clive assured us it would be “just like a normal club row, only with landmarks instead of gannets.” True enough, except the gannets don’t usually wave at you from Tower Bridge.

Mid-Race – “The Thames is Long. Very Long.”

Once past Westminster, conversation in the boats dried up. Even our resident font of all Thames facts and figures (some of it very suspect) Dave H in bow seat was reduced to grunts somewhere around Battersea. We fuelled ourselves on jelly babies, wine gums, and the occasional reminder that “at least it’s flatter than going round the North Dog of the Lamb.”

• 28 bridges were navigated with the occasional carnage and industrial language from crews trying to squeeze through the designated arches
• Cox and passenger changes were as slick as a John Sergeant strictly dance (!!!)
• At Hammersmith we overtook a number of other boats (some of them to a purr of sweet satisfaction of cox Amanda).
• At Kew we discovered what lactic acid really means.
• At Richmond we began to wonder if a skiff could be legally converted into a floating pub.

The Finish – “Ham, Sweet Ham”

The last stretch into Ham was… emotional. Our sprint finish looked less like a sprint and more like a group of people trying not to cry in unison, but somehow both skiffs surged over the line. The cheering crowds must have mistaken us for elite athletes — or perhaps they just enjoyed the sight of Scots looking slightly sunburnt and confused. Blisters, backache, and mild mutiny all subsided when the St Baldred crew realised they were the first St Ayles skiff over the line.

Lessons Learned

• Blisters heal faster than pride when a Spanish boat with a cox stood in full naval uniform overtakes you.
• The Thames is dirtier than the harbour and full of more debris, but the seals and puffins don’t stare quite as judgmentally.
• “Just one more stroke” and “I can see the finish line” are the cox’s biggest lies, whether in North Berwick or London.

We didn’t bring home a trophy, but we did bring home a story, some very tired arms, and the right to say that North Berwick has conquered the Thames — and still prefers the Forth.

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We watched the weather all week to see if the revised date for Eskmuthe would happen. Skiff Blackadder was lovingly packed up on Friday. Could anyone remember what else we needed? The wonderful Wisharts collected a trailer from Port Seton, thank you. 

Saturday dawned brighter than expected. We were all positive, but how many layers to wear? We donned our red and black kit for the last but one regatta of the year, a few brave souls still in shorts.

The coxes briefing informed us that all races would be shortened to 800m with a quick change over. This was to fit in as many races as possible before weather conditions were expected to change.

The novices were first up. They had never rowed together, or been coxed by me. I was thrilled as I love sharing our passion. The greatest comment: “I must bring my drink in case I need a drink in the middle of race” (no names mentioned). Eight skiffs on the start line, a super start and great to see smiling faces and the fire in their eyes. Superb turn and fighting for 3rd place all the way back, trying to ride the incoming tide and following wind.  Back on the shore I was asked:  “Did you realise you had gone round the buoy to port rather than starboard?” I’ve never done that before. First time for everything….we had fun!

The next crew were the 240 mix. With building conditions and strong competition they came back in 6th place. 

The open mens crew were aiming for gold but received a time penalty due to some clashing of oars at the turn. This meant a shared silver place.

By the time the open ladies race was due to start, the conditions really had changed for the worse, with steep waves and troughs and a strong North Westerly wind while they waited on the water for instructions. This was the right time to call it a day. 

Despite the short day, we enjoyed Eskmuthe hospitality, team cheeriness and cakes to take home. 

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(photos courtesy of Andy Grant here on Flickr)

More than 300 rowers and enthusiasts gathered at the West Beach for North Berwick Rowing Club’s 15th annual regatta at the end of last month.

The popular event in the coastal rowing calendar invited 15 clubs from across Scotland, including Dunbar, Boatie Blest from Port Seton, and Musselburgh’s Eskmuthe.

The course extended from the old pier, circumnavigating Craigleith Island and back to the start line, covering a distance of about three kilometres.

The day’s racing opened with the women’s over-45 category, with North Berwick emerging victorious, followed by Eskmuthe and Eastern ACRC.

Eastern Amateur Coastal Rowing Club from Portobello secured wins in both races within the under-16 and under-18 mixed category that followed. The hosts managed second and third places in these events.

One of the regatta’s distinctive categories, featuring four rowers from different age decades in each crew, was won by Wormit from the Tay estuary. They were trailed by the hosts and Eastern.

The wind picked up before the lunch break, making the sea conditions for the open mixed race ‘challenging’.

St Ayles from Anstruther clinched the win in this event, with a time of 19 minutes and 53 seconds, one of the fastest of the day.

The novice race, open to rowers who have never won a medal before, saw Eskmuthe claim first place, with Wormit and Ellie&Earlsferry securing second and third respectively.

The 240 mixed category, the biggest race of the day, featured 17 skiffs. This category is based on the cumulative age of all crew members and includes two men and two women over 60 years of age. St Ayles led this race, followed by Alnmouth from Northumberland and Eastern.

Another race for over-45s in mixed crews followed, with Wormit securing their second win and North Berwick just edging out Eastern ACRC for second place.

The men’s and women’s open events, traditionally considered the highlight of the regatta, saw Eastern ACRC and the host club North Berwick victorious respectively.

The last race of the day saw the host club come home first to the cheers of the local crowd. Eskmuthe and St Ayles followed, with 10 other clubs taking the minor positions.

Regatta officer Claire Simpson said: “Once again, we have put on a day of races that visiting clubs and spectators have thoroughly enjoyed.

“It is good to see medals distributed around all the different clubs, which encourages people who are new to the sport.”

She extended her gratitude to all participants, organisers, supporters and sponsors.

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