argyll and the islandsEVENTS
The Clyde Yacht Clubs Association also now
includes details of events organised by other
west coast sailing clubs and associations
that were previously contained on the West
Highlands and Islands Sailing Club Association.
At present they list more than 30 events, but
this increases as the season starts. Whilst
many events are for club sailors, there are
some which are also suitable for visiting
yachtsmen. The first of these is the Owen
Sails/Ardfern Yacht Centre Round Mull
race. The race consists of three passages,
Oban-Tobermory, Tobermory-Bunessan
and Bunessan-Oban, and has both white
sail and spinnaker classes. The 2010 event
is to take place between the 9th and 11th
July, and full details are available from www.
obansailingclub.org.
The largest of the west coast regatta events is
the West Highland Yachting Week, which
takes place between Craobh Haven, Oban
and Tobermory. It is one of those rare regattas social programme. In 2010 the event takes The Crinan Classic Boat Festival can be
that moves from centre to centre during place between the 30th July and the 6th August. surprisingly competitive at times © John G Moore.
the event, offering competitors an ever- Details available from www.whyw.co.uk.
changing scene on 80 miles of coastline along 24thth May 2010. The race starts in Oban by
Scotland’s beautiful west coast. An attractive Whilst the majority of racing events are runners from each boat completing a short
combination of round-the-buoys and passage of the traditional regatta type, there are run around the town; this is then followed
racing is supported by the regatta’s excellent other notable events which are worthy by a sail over to Mull where the runners
of special mention. The first of these is have to scale and descend Ben More before
View from Clachan on the Kintyre peninsula the Scottish Islands Peak Race (www. rejoining the boats. Crews then sail down
over West Loch Tarbert towards the Sound of scottishislandspeakrace.com), a three day to Craighouse where the runners scale the
Jura, Argyll © Dennis Hardley. event which takes place between the 21st and three Paps; an overnight sail round the Mull of
Kintyre to Arran then follows, where runners
scale Goat Fell before a final dash across to
the finish at Troon. 37
A similar event is the Three Peaks Yacht
Race between Barmouth in north Wales and
Fort William in Scotland, and which passes
through the Argyll cruising waters en route.
Competitors have to sail over 389 miles, cycle
18 miles, run 72 miles and climb over 14,000
feet. The event starts on the 19th June 2010,
and entry details are available from www.
threepeaksyachtrace.co.uk.
For the less competitive there is an enormous
range of ‘cruising in company’ type events,
the most famous of which is the Classic
Malts Cruise (www.worldcruising.com/
classicmaltscruise). The event starts in Oban
with a tour of the distillery before then
moving on to Talisker on the Isle of Skye and
finally Lagavulin on Islay. Unfortunately the
event has been postponed for 2010 in order
to avoid a potential clash with the Clyde
Cruising Club centenary cruise.
The final event is one which only started in
2008 but which has increased enormously
in popularity and scale in that short time.
The Crinan Classic Boat Festival (www.
crinanclassic.com) event is for both sail and
power boats, and is centred around the
picturesque basin at Crinan. The event
is of an informal nature, with the primary
focus being on having a good time - not that
different from most Scottish events! In 2010
the event is scheduled to take place between
the 1st and 3rd July.
www.sailscotland.co.uk
Argyll & Islands.indd 9 11/12/09 12:44:53
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