ACR Regatta Highlights – Dec 25
The morning started overcast and wet, and the forecast for the rest of the day was not much better. Luckily the gazebos went up quickly giving some respite from the rain. However as the morning progressed it got drier and brighter, particularly when our guests started to arrive. Eskmuthe, Newhaven and Queensferry have graced us with their presence before on regatta day but it was the first time for North Berwick. We heard them comment “Where’s the water” as a huge sandbank still took up much of the river. Our response was “it will come”.
Racing started about 1:30 with the 240+ womens 500m sprint. Alnmouth came 1st. A great start for the home crews. This was followed by the 260+ mens 500m sprint where Alnmouth again came 1st. We were on a roll!! Next was the collaborative sprint. This was the first time this race had been run with 2 teams collaborating to cross the line within a boat length of each other. All pairs managed this successfully. The event was well received and may well become a regular race in the future.
Then came the longer (more serious?) races. The 1200m mixed, 2km womens and 2kms mens races followed by 3km mixed. Apart from 1200m these involved racing though the arches of the bridge. An unnerving experience for some of the coxes who had never attempted this before.
The racing day finished with the beer race sprint. The coxes had to avoid spilling a drop of beer from a wobbly glass while the rest of the crew rowed the 500m course. By this point the light had failed, the boats were just a silhouette on the skyline so getting a winning order was impossible – without the skiffie honesty of getting the crews to call out their positions. Despite a close finish Alnmouth just beat Eskmuthe to the title.
The boats were speedily recovered as the attraction of soup, cake and a shot of whisky at the boathouse was too tempting. Everyone huddled round the firepits and admired the beautiful moon while recounting events of the day. North Berwick managed to get their rudder stuck in the sandbank and xxxx caught their oar on the bridge were 2 of the more significant events. A little local knowledge and practice helped us avoid such perils. The medal ceremony rounded off a great day finally leaving a small group with a couple of bottles of whisky round the dying embers of the fire.
