Sorry it has taken so long to get this onto the website. It is very difficult to do justice to such a wonderful week. The following contains the little anecdotes I know of, but I would really appreciate some other stories to add to other articles we hope to get published in the sailing and local press
What a fantastic week. It turns out that bringing a huge number of extremely lovely and friendly people together with a common interest makes an awesome week’s holiday.
We had 146 individuals entered with a huge number opting to stay on site, and there were 55 boats entered which were split into three fleets after the Sunday race.
Slow Handicap – Optimists, Europes, Streakers, Toppers, Laser radials, Picos, Solos, Bytes and Mirrors
Medium Handicap – RS200s – millions of them! Lasers, Stratos, Wayfarers, Kestrels and Yeoman
Fast Handicap – Flying Fifteens, 29ers, Dart 18, RS400, 100 and 800s
The Sunday ended with the famous ‘Sword’s Steak Pie supper’ for which the feedback was brilliant with everyone looking for seconds.
Once again we were very lucky to have sunshine and great, all be it ‘Tummel’ winds all week. Every race was sailed more or less on schedule and all activities were completed. The quiz was put back a couple of days to allow team 29ers to study a little longer and secure their victory, or it may have been because the weather was so great on the Tuesday we were all happier being outside. The genius quiz masters having witnessed this on Tuesday ran it outdoors on Thursday. Thank you Colin and Nicky for a great quiz and for not presenting a wooden spoon to my team!
The first race on Monday was postponed a little as there was no wind….. and then there was…..lots!! Many boats retired as it was ballistic, especially at the top mark. The rescue teams did a fantastic job getting everyone and all the boats ashore quickly.
Between races on the Tuesday we had ‘Total Wipeout’ which involves a course beginning with a swim from the jetty, followed by running around the sandpit, then up the hill jumping over barrels being rolled down towards you. Run 10 times around a pole then down the slip and slide, over the ladders whilst water is being poured on you and into the sandpit until all the team are finished. Now whilst that all sounds pretty challenging, the most challenging part of all is scoring it! As there are teams of all ages, should the under 10s get more time, should the over 50s get time to nip to the loo and have a cup of tea???
A scoring system was introduced – penalty time added for the number of capsizes, and that took ‘Team 29er’ off the top of the leader board. Did everyone in the team run 10 times around the pole? This removed ‘Old Enough to know Better’ from the top. I should point that the team are all adamant that they did the required number of turns and are looking for a good lawyer to help them put together an appeal! The winners were Ferry Fairies- a great team and very fast.
Tuesday afternoon brought the Island race with good winds promising a great run to the Island. Oh no…. about 2/3 of the way down we all ran out of wind and every puff that arrived came from a different direction. The Yeoman, full of youngsters in their early 20’s, even turned their music off to help us all concentrate but it didn’t seem to help them much!
After the racing we had the ‘Board Walk’ or ‘corridor of doom’ as I have more recently heard it appropriately called. The participants have to walk along a row of windsurfers tied together. Many of the youngsters made it to the end, but let’s just say the so called grownups didn’t make it past the first board. The 29er sailors kindly made Haribo medals which were presented to all the participants at prize giving as no clear winner could be established.
The BBQ on Tuesday night was fantastic, and a big thank you to the ‘Old Piggery’ for providing the excellent meat.
The morning race on the Wednesday was relatively uneventful, perhaps because everyone was racing around planning their afternoon. There was an organised walk, a cycle and many went to Aberfeldy for the afternoon.
Not that I am one to complain but a few of us did cycle to Kinloch Rannoch for coffee and cake – just to arrive as the café closed. Disaster was averted as it turns out the hotel has a lovely courtyard which sells latte’s. They also have an extensive gin menu! No cake, no problem! Icecream at Tummel Bridge was purchased.
Thursday between races brought the Paddle Board Team Relay, I must mention all the teams as their team names were fantastic – The Monkeys, The Crocs, 29ers, Paddle Steamer, Ol’s Superstars, The Girls, Team Swordfish and the Sunnies. The Paddle Steamers took the win with a great effort.
I can only comment on the racing in the Fast Handicap class but it was fantastic, especially the Flying Fifteens. There were constant battles and everyone was racing for the win right down to the last race. Thankfully no one was awarded ‘numpty of the week’, as I suspect running the boat aground on the first race may have qualified! Crew’s fault apparently although we were getting an amazing lift up the shore!!
There was another contender for this award however. I am not going to mention any names but a 29er decided to hoist their kite and as the pole launched it pushed a nearby Europe sailor out of their boat. No one was hurt other than their sides were sore from laughing.
We once again ended on the Friday with the prize giving for both the activities and racing, followed by a delicious dinner. This year the winners of each class were awarded hampers of local produce along with their Tummel Week thermal mug. A huge thank you to Glen Lyon Coffee, the Highland Chocolatier, Moulin Brewery for their generous donations and Martin Blewitt for making the Team Tummel Tablet.
There was a great range of boats on the water from ‘Fat Lady’ the club Wayfarer to the 49er, and from Optimist to Moth. It was great to see so many boats out during the week not to mention the other activities such as open water swimming, kayaking, canoeing and SUPing that were going on along with unicorn riding!!
I cannot finish this story without mentioning some blatant advertising. After taking the 49er out for a joy ride and showing off in front of the club where the majority of the 29er fleet were gathered drooling, the owner (we all know who you are!) came ashore and put a 'FOR SALE' sign on it. Never, at any sailing event that I have attended have I witnessed so many frustrated parents chanting ‘no no No……’
It was fabulous to see such a great age range taking part in Tummel Week including many families with three generations joining in and lots of 20-30 year olds we normally lose from the sport. It was a great asset to the week to have the 29er class come along, what a lovely helpful bunch of teenagers.
Major events like this don’t just happen, there are months of planning and preparation so I would like to thank all the club members involved. Without all the visitors and all the help and fun they bring this would not be the amazing week it always is.
Please spread the word about Tummel Week. Next year it is Sunday 26 July until Friday 31 July 2020
Angie x