A great weekend on land and sea
Reawick and District Boating Club’s 78th Regatta got off to a good start last Thursday night with the eela competition. As the boats set off to fish the sun was still shining, and the fish seemed to be patchy and quite sparse with some very light baskets weighing in.
Calum Fraser had the heaviest basket for the men with 20lb, while Donna Fraser’s catch of 21.9lbs won her the heaviest women’s basket. Brothers Lewis and Kyle Scott had a joint effort for the heaviest boys’ basket with 30.3lbs and Catherine Robertson had 3.1lbs for the lasses. Patrick Nicolson managed to land seven different species and again Lewis and Kyle Scott had the heaviest fish – a 9.4lb olik. A tasty fry up was enjoyed by all afterwards.
Friday’s fine day turned into a fine night and attracted an impressive crowd to the Skeld marina for the night time entertainments, which included adult land sports. All the competitors were in high spirits and thoroughly enjoyed the races! GTL disco played in the beer tent. As always the atmosphere was brilliant and a fantastic night was had by all!
Saturday morning dawned bright and breezy. The ideal sailing conditions saw a fleet of six yachts set off to compete for the Malakoff & William Moore cup. Apologies to all sailors in the yacht races, but a miscalculation meant the results on Saturday were incorrect. The results are now as follows: 1st Shian (John David Henry); 2nd Selene (Ian Devonald); 3rd Rebellion.
Four dinghies turned up to compete for the Dinghy Cup: 1st Black Fantin (John Manson); 2nd Ondine (David Thomson); 3rd Harum Scarum (Graham Forrest); 4th Don’t Panic (Dave Hopwood).
The sailors came ashore and enjoyed a buffet lunch and dram.
This year’s theme day was the circus and by lunch time the beer tent had been renamed the “Jugglers Arms”. Vic Thomas’s street organ played to the crowds while local musicians entertained in the beer tent along with Grant Nicol and Paul Johnson who were in fine voice.
There was plenty of food on offer with the barbecue, the teas tent, Café Consulate, popcorn, ice creams and the ever popular candy floss. The bairns had great fun and games in the sideshow tent but still seemed to have enough energy to compete in the land sports. Every effort was put into the races and Rona Haswell from Walls won the cup.
Six boats set sail in the afternoon to contest the Speedwell Cup: 1st Shian (John David Henry); 2nd Rebellion (Peter Robertson); 3rd Selene (Ian Devonald).
The second dinghy race set off to compete for the Umphray Cup and results were the same as the morning race: 1st Black Fantin (John Manson); 2nd Ondine (David Thomson); 3rd Harum Scarum (Graham Forrest); 4th Don’t Panic (Dave Hopwood).
The Leonard Anderson Memorial trophy for the best overall performance went to Shian (John David Henry).
Special mention must be made of Robert Anderson as this was his 50th year of sailing at the Skeld Regatta.
As things started to wind down in the Jugglers Arms everbody started to make their way up to the Skeld hall where the Gordon Tulloch Experience put on an excellent night of entertainment.
The sun shone once again on Sunday and to round off the regatta a Sunday Songs of Praise was held in the marquee, lead by the Rev Tom Macintyre and Chris Jackson. A full house enjoyed singing but also had the pleasure of listening to Gillian Morrison on fiddle and a newly formed group of singers The Four Keys. Sunday teas were served following the service.
A spokesman from the club would to thank everyone who attended the regatta and helped in any way to make the weekend’s events run smoothly.
