Coastal rowing races find their 'ideal location' in Stranraer
The St Ayles skiff is a 22-foot (6.7m) fixed-seat rowing boat and is usually built by the community that rows it.The championships take place every three years and were last held in Stranraer in 2019."As a blueprint for SkiffieWorlds I'd say Stranraer is the ideal location," said Mr Berends."It runs very smoothly, the volunteers and the community are tremendous, and it all comes together to create an event that is ideal."Even with the challenging weather at the start of the event, we were able to reschedule easily because of the scale of the water."
Teams travelled from Australia, USA, Canada, South Africa and the Netherlands to compete with teams from across the UK and Ireland.Wendi Cuffe, trustee of organisers Stranraer Water Sports Association (SWSA) said: "It's been amazing. I'm in absolute awe that these people have come from so far to fill our beach and to race on Loch Ryan."It's been absolutely fantastic."
The SkiffieWorlds is part of wider efforts to promote the area as a water sports destination.Work has started on a £6.7m hub in Stranraer, which it is hoped can open next summer.The next major event to be hosted by the SWSA will be the Scottish Fin and Foil Championships from 8 to 10 August.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
Burke feels force of destiny in Scotland debut
New Zealand-born Fergus Burke feels like "it was meant to be" after making his Scotland debut in the southern 25-year-old Saracens fly-half was in Gregor Townsend's squad for this year's Six Nations, but it was not until Friday's 29-14 summer tour defeat by Fiji that he earned his first could be quickly followed by a second against Samoa at Eden Park in the land of his birth on Friday and, not surprisingly, he has "a fair few people" chasing him for tickets."I've had a few messages from people I haven't heard from for a while, but I'll hopefully get a good contingent of support there and it'll be cool," Burke said."It is a weird one. Obviously I was in for the Six Nations but didn't get a crack, so it is almost like this was the way it was meant to be when I get my first opportunity so my family could actually be here."Darcy Graham was sent off after a second yellow card while Ewan Ashman was also sin-binned in Suva and Burke thinks the Scots can perform better against Samoa if they improve their discipline."I think in parts of that Fiji game we showed how good we are as a team when we get it right, but we got our discipline wrong and ended up making a lot more tackles than we needed to," he expects "a similar challenge to Fiji" but hopes to spend less time on defence against Samoa."I think they are going to be a little more structured than Fiji was - Fiji was quite loose and the looser the game got, the better they got," he suggested."I've got a feeling Samoa are going to kick a little bit more. We know how important this game is and we are pretty focused on getting it right."Burke ended the game playing at full-back after Adam Hastings' introduction."I wasn't expecting that, but I played a little bit of full-back when I was still in New Zealand at Crusaders, so I felt reasonably comfortable there and I enjoyed playing with Adam as well," he added."I thought it was good when he came on and we probably got our most attacking in that last 10 minutes with ball in hand."
BBC News
6 hours ago
- BBC News
Motherwell leave it late as East Kilbride stun Raith Rovers
Heart of Midlothian made it two wins from two in the Premier Sports Cup with a comfortable 4-0 success away to Hamilton Findlay and Elton Kabangu scored first-half goals for the Edinburgh side, with James Wilson and Claudio Braga on target after the interval. Motherwell needed a late goal from Lukas Fadinger to earn a 2-1 win over Peterhead at Fir Park, while St Mirren beat Forfar Athletic by the same Two newcomers East Kilbride stunned Raith Rovers 4-2 at Stark's Park, with John Robertson grabbing an incredible five-minute hat-trick - two of those goals coming in stoppage-time. Group A Queen's Park bounced back from a sore weekend defeat at Spartans to beat Brechin City McDonnell and Josh Fowler each scored twice, with Michael Ruth also on target for the Glasgow early goal from Declan Glass was enough for Cove Rangers to squeeze past Spartans, leaving four teams on three points. Group B Partick Thistle sit top of the table on maximum points after a 2-0 victory over Stranraer at Watt got his first goal for the Jags, coming off the bench to make the points safe with an emphatic finish after captain Lee Ashcroft's header in first-half stoppage-timeQueen of the South enjoyed their first outing in the tournament, crashing in four goals at home to Edinburgh Lyon hit a double, either side of efforts from Kurtis Guthrie and Michael Hewitt. Group C Airdrieonians and Alloa Athletic lead the way on six points after seeing off Bonnyrigg Rose and Montrose Armstrong got the ball rolling for the Diamonds and Euan Henderson added a penalty, which had resulted in a red card for Joseph McGrattan made it 3-0 to Airdrie before the interval, with no more scoring against the 10 winner came from Kurtis Roberts, just a few minutes after Kerr Waddell had levelled. Cameron O'Donnell had given the Wasps a half-time lead at home. Group D Jayden Richardson opened his St Mirren account with a tremendous angled strike and Mikael Mandron added a second goal with 15 minutes remaining at Station replied through a fantastic long-range strike from Kieran Inglis but the Premiership side held on for a precious victory after an opening weekend draw with Arbroath. Ayr United were the evening's highest scorers, hitting six past Annan Athletic at Oakley was a hat-trick hero for Scott Brown's side, with Ethan Walker, Dom Thomas and Lucas McRoberts adding to the hosts' misery. Group E Stuart Findlay and Claudio Braga scored their first Hearts goals as Derek McInnes's men hit four for the second successive nodded in from a corner after just six minutes and Elton Kabangu touched home a low cross from Christian Borchgrevink before forward Braga made a good impression in his 25-minute cameo, teeing up James Wilson before a big deflection helped his shot deceive goalkeeper Jamie opened their tournament with a 1-0 win over Stirling Albion thanks to a Kyle Banner own goal, which came soon after a red card for the visitors' Ross Cunningham. Group F On a night packed with goals, John Robertson struck three times in the closing minutes to give East Kilbride a famous win against Raith Healy had given last season's Lowland League champions the lead in Fife but it looked like the Championship side had recovered through efforts from Jai Rowe and Lewis Robertson had other ideas, levelling the game on 89 minutes before banging in a penalty and completing his hat-trick on 94 striker Billy Mckay and Luis Longstaff got the goals as Inverness Caley Thistle beat Elgin City 2-0 to make this another section with four teams on three points. Group G Motherwell left it late to complete a comeback at home to Peterhead as Lukas Fadinger glanced in a neat header on 91 Brown had caught the Fir Park defence napping to strike for the League One visitors, while Emmanuel Longelo smashed an equaliser into the top struggled for long periods against a stuffy defence but a fine cross from Callum Slattery got Fadinger off the mark for his new top the section on six points after a 3-0 home win over a few hours after the Greenock team announced a new contract for Tomi Adeloye, the striker scored twice, with Owen Moffat grabbing the other goal for Dougie Imrie's side. Group H Kelty Hearts got their campaign off to a winning start, sweeping aside Highland League champions Brora visitors led 3-0 at the interval, with Craig Johnston firing in after just three minutes and Robbie Cole grabbing a Ferguson completed the scoring for the and Livingston meet at Rugby Park on Wednesday.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
State of the Nation - The Insider: 'We don't have the strength in depth we'd like in golf but there are positives'
In June, Mail Sport published exclusive stories highlighting concerns over the future of two of the most popular sports in Scotland: tennis and rugby. And with the likes of Judy Murray raising the alarm, such warnings are impossible to ignore. In our new series, State of the Nation, our reporters turn the spotlight on some of the biggest sports in this country for a health check. We're not just looking for what's going wrong — it's important to highlight what's going right, as well. Here, we take a look at golf... When two young Scottish amateurs tee it up in the Open Championship at Royal Portrush this week, it will undoubtedly be the proudest moment of their fledgling careers thus far. All the more so given the manner in which Cameron Adam and Connor Graham had to fight and earn their spots. Both have been part of the college circuit in America, with left-hander Adam, 22, graduating from Northwestern in Chicago and Graham, 18, recently completing his first year at Texas Tech. But the pair retain strong links to their roots in Scotland. For a start, Adam is an ambassador for the Stephen Gallacher Foundation, with Graham fulfilling the same role for the Paul Lawrie Foundation. Adam, a member at Royal Burgess, secured his place at Portrush after winning the prestigious Open Amateur Series, the latest triumph on a stunning run of form over the past couple of years. Graham, meanwhile, came through a gruelling day of final qualifying at Dundonald, eventually prevailing over fellow Scot Paul O'Hara in a play-off in Ayrshire. It's going to be a huge week for the pair but both have already shown they have the talent and composure to take it all in their stride. For everyone connected with Scottish Golf, it will be a massive boost to see Adam and Graham flying the Saltire on the leaderboard at Portrush. There is also a very good crop of players coming through in the women's game, with Lorna McClymont and Hannah Darling helping Team GB&I win the Curtis Cup last year. The key is to ensure the pipeline is healthy enough for plenty more to follow in future, as Scotland looks to keep pace with other similar-sized countries around Europe. 'The standard is so high around other European countries,' said Clare Queen, a former player on the Ladies European Tour and now head of performance and pathway at Scottish Golf. 'The bar is being raised all the time, so it's important we continue to improve what we do so our young players understand the level required. 'In terms of numbers, we probably don't have the strength in depth we would like right now, albeit there are still loads of positive things happening. 'We do still have some really strong individuals coming through, especially over the last three or four years. But we want more kids coming through the pathway and pushing for a place in the national teams. 'We all love to see a Saltire up there on the leaderboard. With Cammy and Connor both going to The Open at Portrush, there's going to be loads of attention on them, but what an unbelievable experience it'll be for them. 'I think it's a Scottish thing where we always love to see our own people doing well. I am sure they will have aspirations of doing what Calum Scott did last year at Troon by winning the Silver Medal. 'We are the home of golf, but we are also still a relatively small country in terms of population. It's so important to have these guys coming through as role models. 'We do have some really talented players coming through at the moment, and we've seen a really good group establish themselves on tour over the past 10 years or so. 'Bob MacIntyre, Connor Syme, Ewen Ferguson, Grant Forrest — they all push each other and raise the bar among themselves. 'But, as an organisation, we always want to push on and try and achieve more. Success for us would be really increasing the volume of players — both male and female — who establish themselves on tour.' One of the key challenges facing Scottish Golf is helping players make that initial transition from amateur to professional and making sure they are ready. It's an issue which will face Adam and Graham in due course given the trajectory of their careers, but they have solid backing from the Gallacher and Lawrie foundations respectively. Queen added: 'Giving young boys and girls the opportunity to develop and progress in the game is something I'm passionate about. 'Over the past year or so, we have been doing a big review just to really try and assess where we're at. The pathway system is something we have been really keen to focus on. 'Ultimately, the aim is to strengthen and improve the pipeline of young players coming through. If we can find a more consistent approach, and a way of delivering more consistent opportunities, that will help.' Although they would like to retain their top talent and develop them at home, Scottish Golf would never discourage any young player from playing on the US college circuit if given the opportunity. On the path taken by Adam and Graham, as well as a few others, Queen added: 'We would never necessarily discourage anyone from playing college golf in the States. It's very much an individual thing — it's great for some players, not so great for others. With Cameron Adam and Connor Graham, they have both really thrived in the time they have been over there. 'They have both done exceptionally well in that environment, but it's not necessarily for everyone. We've seen other players in the past struggle to adapt, so it's about doing what's right for you. 'There's a human side to all of this. When you're 16 or 17, and you've got a chance to move to America, it's not the easiest thing to decide in terms of what's the right or wrong thing to do. It's a big call.'
