Royal West of Scotland Amateur Boat Club
We were invited to take part in the Royal West of Scotland Amateur Boat Club regatta in Greenock on Saturday 29th July. Given the quality of the other participants – very strong and well established clubs such as St Ayles Anstruther, North Berwick, Firth of Clyde Coastal Rowing Club (Largs) and the hosts – we knew it was going to be a challenging competition.
Charlie sprinting to waiting skiff
Over the course of the day there were 10 races in a variety of categories – open, 40+ and 50+ for women, men and mixed crews as well as one for juniors. The time trial format of the races was also new for us. Each crew started the races at 2 min intervals with a crew member collecting a batton at the starter’s cabin at the top of the beach, sprinting down the slipway and jumping into the skiff waiting at the beach. The skiff then had to be pushed off the beach by team members and turned by the crew to head for the first turning buoy of a triangular course of approx. 1500m. At the end of the race one crew member had to jump out of the skiff, sprint up the beach and return the batton to the starter’s cabin which stopped the clock. All very exciting for both rowers and spectators.
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As always there was plenty of opportunity between the races to socialise with rowers from the other clubs, make new friends and catch up with old ones, exchange tips and tricks and enjoy the warm hospitality of the host club. We were delighted to welcome four relatively new rowers – Corinna, Sarah, Matt and Robin – to their first regatta, all of whom did extremely well and enjoyed the day.
Despite being a bit chilly and drizzly the 13 ACRC rowers – 5 ladies (Cil, Corinna, Emma, Fritzi and Sarah) and 8 men (Charlie, Colin, Dave, Matt, Robin, Rory, Stuart and Uel) – and their supporting shoremaster Geoff were very pleased at the end of the day. Overall our ACRC team came in 3rd equal with Largs, only beaten by Anstruther and North Berwick, who are among the top east coast clubs. Our 40+ men’s crew (Dave, Matt, Stuart, Uel with Cox Rory) was only beaten by one second and the 50+ women’s crew (Cil, Emma, Fritzi and cox Uel) made up with Louise, a North Berwick rower, won their race and secured some well deserved medals for the club. All in all an excellent result for our club, especially given the fact that we were unable to take part in the first race of the day due to the ferry limiting our arrival time.
The next regatta for ACRC is coming up soon, which is the Cumbrae Folk’n’Row Regatta on the weekend of the 12th/13th August.
And of course plenty of photos – taken by Dave, Emma, Geoff and Corinna. If you want to have a look just click on this link:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Wxsta4zHOKLd7iv43
Please click on the photo to enlarge them
Here’s the spreadsheet with all results Royal West Regatta 2017 – RACE RESULTS
And if you’d like to read North Berwick’s witty and well written report about the day (which I enjoyed reading very much!), just follow this link
And last but not least some super videos by Mhairi Noble from Kirkwall (Orkneys) which show the start and finishing procedure – thank you Mhairi!
Charlie sprinting to his waiting crew (50+ Mixed: Charlie, Emma, Fritzi, Rory and cox Stuart) with the start baton and returning it to the starter tent in the second video.
