The dawn of Sat 30th July, Regatta Day, was a stunner. Cloudless, sunny with a brisk S.SE wind. The forecast for the day was to cloud over, and the wind to drop. At 2 o’clock, on the start line, the sun still shone, the brisk S.SE had eased, and a glorious day unfolded.
The start line was impressive, with 16 boats jostling for position. The boats included 7 classic Tiree dipping lugs, a number which Tiree Regatta has not seen for many a year, and possibly a Scottish Record for the class. Even more impressive was the actual start, with most of the boats making a perfect start into what was to develop into a very competitive race.
After 2 hard fought rounds of the course, Angus MacKinnon’s “Mary Ann” swept the field winning both the lug class and the overall handicap. Being the Centenary regatta, the Centenary Cup, the original Skipinish Cup, was awarded to the ‘Mary Anne’ winner of the lug class. With this award went a presentation scroll of the earliest record of a Tiree Regatta found in the Oban Times April 1911, in a profound Gaelic poem “Oran do Reis a’Chuain bha an Eilean Thiriodh”.
