Stranraer rowing championships rescheduled after gusty winds

CROWDS gathered in Stranraer on Sunday as the town held the opening ceremony ahead of the World Championship of St Ayles class of coastal rowing - SkiffieWorlds 2025.

Stranraer is hosting the largest gathering of St Ayles coastal rowing boats in history, with a record-breaking 79 clubs competing.

The coastal rowing event is taking place from July 6-12, with 2,000 rowers competing with teams travelling from as far as Australia, USA, Canada, and South Africa, alongside several teams from the Netherlands and a strong contingent from across the UK and Ireland. [caption id="attachment_61083" align="alignnone" width="680"]

OPENING CEREMONY . . . large crowds gathered at Loch Ryan on Sunday as the event kicked off. Pic: Colin Tennant[/caption]

Races rescheduled

GUSTY northerly wind has resulted in rowing at the SkiffieWorlds 2025 being cancelled today, Monday July 7, with all races rescheduled later in the week. The world championship coastal rowing event takes place on Loch Ryan, Stranraer. The eight mile long sea loch is famously sheltered from most wind directions, with the exception of northerly wind, which has affected rowing today. Northerly wind blows directly down the loch, making it difficult for the St Ayles coastal rowing boats to launch off the beach. Topher Dawson of Scottish Coastal Rowing, one of the chief umpires, said: “We are obviously very disappointed to miss today’s scheduled racing, but safety comes first and we are rescheduling all the categories of racing across the rest of the week when the weather forecast is excellent. “This is the biggest ever skiff event and, due to the size of it, rearranging the schedule is like a gigantic three dimensional jigsaw puzzle so that people don’t have to race too many times in one day. “Accepting that the weather is unpredictable is part of coastal rowing, and you just have to take it as it comes. “The atmosphere at SkiffieWorlds remains really positive, everyone is happy to enjoy the sunshine and to meet fellow rowers from different countries, it’s like being amongst 2000 friends.”