From Sunday 6th to Saturday 12th July, Black Rocks Rowing Club were delighted to join more than 2,000 other rowers from 78 clubs to be part of the 2025 SkiffieWorlds in Stranraer. Held only once every 3 years, teams came from across Scotland, Ireland, England, the Netherlands, USA, Canada, South Africa and Australia to take part in this festival of rowing. It was our wee club’s first visit to the SkiffieWorlds – and the first time for many of our rowers too.
Sunday’s opening ceremony was curtailed a little by some rather windy weather but was still an impressive event. The winds were even stronger on Monday which unfortunately saw the first day’s racing postponed – and also took out a few tents at the event campsite! It did allow us all plenty of opportunity to take in everything that the onshore festival had to offer – from local food and drink to craft stalls and live music. The weather improved considerably on Tuesday when we awoke to glorious sunshine and lovely light winds which stayed with us for the rest of the week.
The races all followed the same course – 1 kilometer in one direction, a 180-degree buoy turn to starboard, and then 1 kilometer back. There were 22 different classes of racing for rowers of all ages ranging from U17 right through to 280+ (average age in the boat 70). Most classes had Women’s, Men’s and Mixed categories, with up to 15 boats per heat. We were delighted that from our newly formed club we managed to enter crews in 12 of these classes. With this being a brand new experience for most of us there were clearly a few nerves before the racing started – however, it became clear from results in our early heats that in fact Black Rocks were going to be able to be ‘in the mix’ with other clubs of a similar size.
Tuesday
With no racing on Monday, Tuesday became a very busy day that saw us competing in 4 events. The sea was still pretty rough after Monday’s stormy weather – especially earlier in the day – so it was a challenging day for all involved!
Our 40+ Women – Sheena, Karen, Jay and Rosie, coxed by Phil – finished 8th in their heat, 40th overall.
The 40+ Men’s crew comprised Gavin, Matt, Douglas and Phil, coxed by Finlay. They finished 6th in their heat, 36th overall.
Our 50+ Mixed crew – Karen, Gavin, Douglas and Sheena, Coxed by Phil, finished 8th in their heat and 43rd overall.
Wednesday
With most of the scheduled events having ‘caught up’ following Monday’s postponements, Wednesday was a slightly less jam-packed day and saw us competing in a further two events.
Our 60+ Men’s crew – Gavin, David, Scott and Finlay as cox – were joined by Andy from Wormit. They finished their heat in a close-fought 11th, 49th overall.
The 40+ Mixed crew – Douglas, Matt, Tacy and Jay, coxed by Finlay – finished 7th in their heat, 48th overall. Pictured with some of our next generation of rowers!
Thursday
Thursday was a day of ‘incidents’, proving that you need neither a tiller nor a full suite of oars to finish a race! The 50+ Men made such a high-speed buoy turn that the tiller came apart in the cox’s hands – fortunately we brought a spare, and Phil was able to affect a rapid repair. The 50+ Women suffered an even more lamentable mishap when one of the oarlocks lifted from the pin coming out of the turn. Since stopping to reseat it in the midst of a race wasn’t an option, the crew pressed on down the return leg with only three oars – and despite dropping a few places, they managed to retain a respectable position through an absolutely herculean effort!
Our 50+ Men – Phil and Scott, with Iain and Stuart from Wormit, and cox Finlay showing off the broken tiller. They finished their heat in 8th, 35th overall.
Our 50+ Women – Jeanette and Sheena, with Finlay coxing joined by Gail and Marion from Wormit. 13th in their heat and 61st overall, despite losing an oar at the buoy turn!
Friday
Friday saw us competing in two more events, and also taking advantage of the settled weather to take some of our younger supporters out for a leisurely potter in the water. But although the weather definitely improved towards the end of the week, that certainly didn’t make the racing any less fierce!
The 60+ Mixed crew – Jeanette, Scott, Phil and Sheena with Finlay coxing – finished 12th in their heat, 57th overall.
Our Mixed Open team – Tacy, Matt, Jay and Finlay, coxed by Phil. They spent their warm-up improvising a method to better secure the oarlocks, finishing 8th in their heat and 41st overall.
Saturday
Saturday was the final day of rowing, and saw us competing in two more events.
Our Men’s Open team – Cameron, Matt, Finlay and Douglas, with Phil coxing – finished 9th in their heat and 28th overall: our highest-placing event.
The Women’s Open crew – Jay, Sheena, Karen and Tacy with Finlay coxing – finished 7th in their heat and 37th overall.
Overall, we finished in 57th place out of a total of 78 participating teams. We should be very pleased with that result – particularly considering the fact that we only launched our skiff last year! Indeed, despite our best efforts, none of our crews actually managed to get a full practice together before race day. It’s been quite a shot in the arm to realise that we really are in the mix with longer-established clubs. We’re seeing a surge of enthusiasm for competitive rowing that will no doubt be reflected in our future calendar.
As evidenced by the number of rowers we ‘borrowed’ from other clubs to complete some of our crews, the camaraderie of our sport is something truly special. We get to rub shoulders with interesting people from all walks of life with a shared enthusiasm for coastal rowing. And whilst racing is open to everyone who cares to try it, we were also joined by a number of members who chose to simply enjoy the festival atmosphere and cheer us on from the shore.
How many people can you fit in a skiff? Turns out the answer is ten, as long as they’re small enough!
An evening social hosted by Matt and Jay at the campsite on Saturday – winding down with excellent food, a drink or two, and perhaps a sing-song.
As a club we want to say a huge thanks to Finlay and Phil who between them coxed all our races and got the very best out of each crew. We also want to say a huge thanks to Elisa for all the organising that she did both prior to and during the event – and to Phil and Sheena for getting Irene, our lovely skiff, down to Stranraer and then back home. We are indebted to you all.
This event was a steep learning curve for all involved but was, at the same time, hugely enjoyable. There’s a wonderful sense of community within coastal rowing and it was lovely to experience that and to be a small part of it. Stranraer is an ideal venue and the organisers, and their army of willing volunteers, deserve huge praise. Together they ensured the whole event was just a spectacular success. We are already looking forward to SkiffieWorlds 2028!
Report by Douglas and Karen Young
A sample of some of the race videos that were streamed live. Click through to the YouTube account to find coverage of all the races.
