The Arran regatta was held on the 22nd of June this year and ten intrepid rowers from QRC along with partners, friends and family made the journey to ‘Scotland in Miniature’.
This year we were made especially welcome by the Arran Club as they very kindly lent us the use of their boat ‘Iolare’ – we had had problems getting a tower so Ferry Maid stayed at home!
The day dawned bright, calm and warm and, although a light breeze sprang up about 09:00, the weather remained perfect for racing, with sunshine, a very gently south westerly and lovely warm air – quite a contrast to the weather for the 2018 regatta!
Racing began with the Women’s 220+ race in 2 heats. Sadly QRC came 8th out of 8 in that race, with a time of 13:21.
We fared little better in the Open Mixed race, coming in 10th out of 10 with a time of 13:23 – the race was won by North Berwick.
Things improved in the next race, the Novices race, where QRC came 3rd in our heat with a time of 11:33 – unfortunately that wasn’t enough to give us 3rd place overall and we ended up with 6th place, That race was won by Renegade on 11:08 – overall a very tightly contested race!
We found it difficult to improve upon our performance in the Novices race, coming 10th in the Mixed Decades race , 8th in the Men’s 220+ , 10th in the Open Women’s race and 8th in the Mixed 240+ .
So, a disappointing Regatta in terms of race prizes, but a most enjoyable day was had by all and we weren’t a million miles away from the various winners! The day concluded with a superb barbeque and disco (names of those who partied till the wee sma’ hours can be obtained upon application and for a small fee….),.
Mike B