SCRA World Skiff Championships on Loch Broom,

Ullapool is the place for this event

Ullapool has a sheltered natural harbour with stunning scenery, many alternative race courses and well established visitor accommodation and catering. The village and surrounding area are world renowned tourist favourites and would form an attractive destination for international crews. UCRC, Loch Broom Sailing Club and Ullapool Harbour Trust have, between them, a lot of experience of hosting waterborne events. The facilities, the race courses and the spectator vantage points are all close together and ideally suited for world class racing. We know that in collaboration with SCRA we will host a memorable and enjoyable World Championships and very much relish the opportunity to do so.

Ullapool’s skiffs are part of its long seafaring history

Ullapool founded in 1788 by The British Fisheries Society has many links to seafaring, from herring drifters in the early years, yacht crews in Edwardian times to the community built plywood skiffs of the 21st century. What started as an ambitious hobby by a few enthusiastic boat builders has grown to 4 Skiffs so far in Ullapool and Coigach.

Skiff rowing is firmly part of Ullapool and beyond
The Ullapool Coastal Rowing Club (UCRC) has a membership of 35 enthusiastic individuals and can call on the backing of 70 plus rowers of other local skiffs. UCRC has organised a successful regatta in 2011 and is planning for another in 2012.

Ullapool already runs large cultural and sporting events

As a community, Ullapool has an extensive range of expertise in organising major events of a cultural and sporting nature. The annual music festival Loopallu attracts 3000 revellers, the internationally renowned book festival attracts a worldwide audience and in 2011 the Tall Ships weekend had combined figures of 12,000 visitors to the village. Our vision is to use this expertise to create a world-class weeklong rowing event in the sheltered waters of Loch Broom.

We envisage around 30 boats and 300 participants
Currently (March 2012) there are 27 boats built and 23 on the way in Scotland. 10 more are in preliminary planning. There are 4 built in the USA and 13 on the way, and 4 boats in the Netherlands. Australia is just starting and there is even an English boat at Gosforth on the Tyne.

Ullapool is very well connected
Ullapool is in the Northwest Highlands some 55 miles from Inverness, situated in some of the most spectacular scenery to be found in Scotland. Excellent road links connect Ullapool to the rest of Scotland, and as the ferry port for Lewis and Harris it has frequent buses. The nearest practicable railhead is Inverness served by frequent trains to Aberdeen and the South. Inverness Airport is just to the east of Inverness about 1hr 15 min from Ullapool.

Ullapool has great facilities for visitors
With a long established reputation as a high quality tourist hub, Ullapool has a wide range of accommodation from luxury self-catering properties through friendly B&B’s to a centrally located campsite on the shores of Loch Broom. Numerous catering establishments, from highly reputed restaurants to award winning take-aways, ensure that nobody need go hungry. During the summer there is a vibrant live music scene to suit all tastes with free concerts going on most evenings. A wide range of cultural activities will be made available to entertain the masses in addition to the end of festival Ceilidh that is such a feature of UCRC Regattas.

The Ullapool Harbour Trust is strongly in support
Ullapool Harbour Trustees (UHT) controls the Loch Broom sea area. UHT strongly supports coastal rowing and donated funds for the purchase, construction and maintenance of the Ullapool High School skiff ‘Cul Mor’. The board of trustees are fully committed to community benefit, a further example of this was the 2011 Tall Ship Festival organised and funded by UHT. UHT will provide a coded 6 passenger harbour workboat for umpiring duties and UCRC and Loch Broom Sailing Club will provide the necessary level of safety boat cover as prescribed by SCRA. UHT will provide a large meeting room within the harbour building as a first aid centre and refuge, manned by trained first aiders.

We want to create a truly memorable event
We feel it is important that a ‘Skiffie Worlds’ should offer more than just a series of races, especially for our overseas visitors - this should be a truly memorable event.The UCRC plan(see sample programme below) is for an event taking place over the best part of a week incorporating a variety of rowing activities, long course and sprint racing. With the serious stuff over, evening cruising in company is anticipated including visiting one of the beautiful Summer Isles. For those who have never sampled the scenic delights of the NW Highlands we intend to offer land based excursions to some of the highlights.

We are confident of local & national funding
UCRC intend to seek funding from public bodies such as EventScotland, Postcode Lottery , LEADER, HIE as well as our local supporters (informal enquiries are well underway to identify local funding streams). UCRC has an established track record in fund raising - usually significantly in excess of our subscription income which has helped us keep coastal rowing affordable to the local community. UCRC is well respected in Ullapool, reflected by the growing number of local and business supporters who appreciate the additional income generated in the village through events such as the annual regatta.

Easy logistics including ‘borrowed’ boats
We envisage that Scottish clubs would be limited to one boat each, and since there are many clubs with two and three boats, it should be possible to supply each overseas crew with a good quality loaned boat. Links between overseas crews and the host club lending them the boat would be established early, so that amicable relations can be set up and possible exchange visits arranged.

The Worlds to run in mid July
The event will take place from 8th - 14th July 2013; we are hoping this avoids a clash with the major American Regatta which is likely to take place during the Wooden Boat festival at the beginning of July at Mystic Seaport. By staging the event before the English school holidays we can avoid some of the pressure on Ullapool accommodation.

Draft format – subject to SCRA approval

Monday: First crews arrive and get their boats ready.
Tuesday to Wednesday: Cruises in company, boat orienteering, triathlon, picnics, perhaps overnight camping.
Thursday to Saturday: Races either in heats or with mass starts as decided. There is plenty room to have a long first leg to space the fleet out and at least one long distance endurance race will feature. Culminating in Finals on Saturday followed by a Ceilidh dance and prize-giving with unique medals being presented to ALL participants as a personal memento of this inaugural event.
Sunday: A farewell barbecue and departure of crews.

For Scottish boats whose crews may not be able to attend for the whole week, having the serious racing towards the end of the week will allow most clubs to take part.

Facilities for many skiffs afloat and ashore

All events will be tailored to the weather; there are a large variety of possible courses, sheltered from different directions of wind. Base for race control, boats and crews will be the beach below West Shore St. which is 320m long. This is long enough for a 20/30 boats start. Afloat there is ample space for many more than this to form a mass start. The beach is small rounded pebbles which are boat friendly and even at low tide it is clear of rocks. If this beach is subject to a strong onshore wind, there is a shorter beach below East Shore St that is sheltered by the main pier, which will allow calm water for launching and recovery.

Inner Loch Broom is very sheltered

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency merchant shipping notice 1776 (Categorisation of Waters) classifies the inshore waters of Loch Broom within a line from Ullapool Point Light to Altnaharrie as Category C. Tidal rivers and estuaries and large, deep lakes and lochs where the significant wave height could not be expected to exceed 1.2 metres at any time. There are no guarantees when dealing with the unpredictable nature of Scottish weather, however the MCA Cat C classification suggests that in relative terms inner Loch Broom is considered to be a sheltered seaway.

Skiff rowing in Loch Broom is a year-round activity for all standards of crew.