Ullapool Regatta, 13/14 July 2024

Ullapool 2025 was an amazing experience for Eskmuthe, with our best-ever regatta performance.

We’d been to Ullapool's regatta 3 times before and never won a medal, but came away this year with 5 bronzes and a silver in a strong field, including Eastern, North Berwick, Golspie and Strathpeffer, as well as the home team - all of whom were high up the medal table at Skiffieworlds 2022. There was some great and friendly rivalry with Eastern especially, with many close finishes as we rowed in neighbouring lanes all weekend. Just one second separated us in the Open Women's race, with the Eskmuthe crew missing out on a medal by a whisker.

The silver medal (in a race of 16 crews) went to the 50+ mix crew of Wendy, David, Andy & Carol, coxed by Gaynor, who beat Eastern by 5 seconds with Golspie well ahead in the gold spot.

Both the mixed open and 40+ mix crews also came close to silvers.

The mixed open crew - Diane, Rebecca, Simon & Andy, coxed by David - were squeezed out of the silver spot by a fast-finishing Golspie crew, but 3rd from 16 was a great result.

The 40+ open had an epic battle with Eastern in worsening conditions on Sunday afternoon. The crew of Kari-Ann, Rebecca, Simon & Niall, coxed by David, remained calm and controlled in a swirling Loch Broom and pushed a strong Eastern crew right to the line in a brilliant performance - finishing 16 seconds ahead of the 4th-placed boat.

The women’s 50+ crew (Fox, Carol, Wendy & Yasmin, coxed by David) rowed a terrific race to take 3rd place (out of 17) behind North Berwick and Orkney, with a superb turn pulling them clear of Eastern and a strong finish helping them hold on.

The men’s open team (Andy, David, Simon & Niall, coxes by George) snatched a brilliant bronze (out of 14 crews), pipping Ullapool narrowly to the final medal spot.

The final bronze went to the men’s under-40 (Josh, Niall, Sean & Adam, coxed by Gaynor).

All the crews, irrespective of where they finished, did brilliantly, and respect to all the coxes for getting everyone round what is a very challenging course - especially in the stronger winds later on Sunday.

The weekend ended with the remaining rowers watching the Euros final in the Argyle Hotel, with a few drinks taken with Row Porty which made the journey back the following day much more interesting.

Thanks to everyone who played a part in any way in what was an epic weekend.