Summer long race brings sailing boost to West Highlands

A huge boost to the west coast ports is on the horizon from a new summer long series of yacht races. A group of sailing clubs have pooled resourses to organise this bunite for a big event. The West Highland Offshore Series is Scotland’s only season-long passage race sailing championship. The new event for Scottish keelboat racing sailors gets underway in June and spans across the summer into September. It will call in at some of the most idyllic west coast ports including Oban, Gairloch, Kyle of Lochalsh, Plockton and Portree. The series will collect results from nine races and use the five best results for each boat to derive a winning yacht for the season. The event, in its first year, has been planned for a number of years and is being administered by Skye Sailing Club with support from Oban Sailing Club, Glencoe Boat Club, Plockton Small Boat Club and Gairloch Boat Club. The top three boats will receive prizes sponsored by the award-winning Duisdale House Hotel in Sleat, Isle of Skye. These include a weekend break with dinner and meals for runners-up. Series co-ordinator Ian McKay said: “We are fortunate that the owners of the Duisdale are keen sailors themselves, and when they heard about the concept of the West Highland Offshore Series they instantly jumped onboard to help. “When you remember that there is no fee to enter this championship, it’s a fantastic return to competitors for just taking part.” The first race in the series is the Oban to Glencoe passage race on June 5. The event will be an annual feeder race to the Glencoe Regatta which is held on Saturday June 6. On June 19 the race is titled Midsummer in the Minch, an overnight race from Portree to Gairloch via the Shiant Isles. Gairloch Boat Club Big Boat Race takes place on June 27 and will involve racing around buoys and islands from Gairloch. The Round Mull Race from Oban takes place on July 3, 4, and 5. It will be Over the Sea to Skye on July 11 with boats racing from Kyle of Lochalsh to Portree. The following day the fleet will race from Portree to Kyleakin. On July 25 the Round Raasay Pursuit starts and finishes in Portree. The Frithard Trophy will be competed for on August 1. The event is Plockton’s keelboat race and part of the village’s regatta fortnight. The final event will take place at a date to be confirmed in September. The last Gasp Trophy will involve a day of round the cans racing in Churchton Bay, Raasay, in front of Raasay House.