The Scottish National Scout Regatta at The Lochgoilhead Centre

Explorer Single Handed Final at the Scottish National Scout Regatta © Neil McLaren

The 1st and 2nd October saw Scouts, Explorer Scouts, Network and Leaders from across Scotland arrive at The Lochgoilhead Centre, on the west coast of Scotland, to compete in the annual Scottish National Scout Regatta. The event sees individuals, crews and whole scout groups competing in a number of different water sports and it was brilliant to see a number of new groups attending this year.

The regatta encapsulates 3 main water sports: Sailing, both single handed and crewed events; Paddle sports, team canoeing as well as individual kayaking. Running alongside these events was a powerboat challenge course run by RYA Scotland, where individuals were against the clock to get the fastest time.

The previous 2 year's event were very light wind affairs and the week before saw the organiser keeping is fingers crossed for some breeze for this year's event.

On Saturday morning the competitors woke up to a blanket of mist hanging over the loch. Perfect for the paddle sports and powerboating events, but not so good for the sailing, leading to the postponement of the sail racing in the morning. This year the format for the paddle races was changed from a knock out format to a regatta style. This meant that all competitors paddled in 3 heats to score points. The top paddlers then moved onto a final to decide the winners. A very light breeze eventually arrived mid-afternoon leading to the hurried rigging of the boats and moving of sailing marks. Only for it to disappear just as the race officer was finishing the briefing.

Scout Kayaking start at the Scottish National Scout Regatta - photo © Neil McLaren

Sunday provided to be a rerun of the previous days weather, calm; clear and not a breath of wind. The morning saw the paddle races concluded as well as the continuation of the power boating. Just before noon ripples started to appear on the loch which built to a force 1. The race team quickly set up 2 courses and racing began. Due to the short amount of time left the races where short which often lead to some close racing. The team successfully managed to get 15 races done in 4 hours meaning all but the Leaders single handed race was completed.

The overall group results for the weekend were well contested with 82nd Craigalmond retaining the trophy they won last year. Throughout all the events there was some good racing especially from the large proportion of competitors competing in their first Regatta. This year's event was lucky to boast a number of sponsors including Palm Equipment, Tunnocks, and the Glasgow scout shop, who very kindly provide prizes for all the individual winners. All of which we are very grateful to and hope we can continue our affiliation for future events.

Scottish National Scout Regatta winners - photo © Neil McLaren

Finally we would like to say a massive thank you to all who were involved in making such a fantastic event happen. You have all been key in introducing young people across Scotland to a wide range of water sports We look forward to seeing you all and others to next year's Regatta.

For more results and more photos please visit the Lochgoilhead Centre's website and Facebook page, www.lochgoilhead.org.uk and www.facebook.com/lochgoilhead.

Overall Results: