Home > Uniquely Unspoilt Magazine > Issue 19 > West Highland Yachting Week
~~ Tennents West Highland Yachting Week - by Alison Chadwick ~~
Tennents West Highland Yachting Week provides a spectacle of sail on the west coast of Scotland based around Craobh Marina, Oban and Tobermory between Friday July 29th and August 5th.
A unique event mixing passage racing with Olympic coursers, the regatta has its origins as far back as 1882. Now run by three local yacht clubs ? The Royal Highland Yacht Club, Oban Sailing Club and the Western Isles Yacht Club, West Highland Week is one of the biggest yachting events in the UK.
Feeder races from the Clyde, Oban and Gigha bring boats to Craobh marina in Argyll for the start of the week that can attract in excess of 200 yachts.
The racing can be as serious as you make it with ten classes giving racing for a range of handicap classes as well as those choosing to go with a ?white sail? fleet and not use spinnakers. This gives the opportunity for all the family to take part and many of those who have sailed as children at West Highland Week return in their own right as skippers in future years. The camaraderie and the ?craic? are what make the event really special and people return year in, year out ? some competitors have been competing for nearly 40 years.
As well as this racing takes place in arguably the most scenic waters in the world. After mustering at Craobh Marina the fleet head to Oban on the first race capturing the tide through the Sound of Fladda. Competitive although the racing is, there can be few who do not take time to appreciate the spectacular backdrop of the islands of the Firth of Lorne ? Seil, Insh, Mull, the Black Isles and the Isles of the Sea with a beauty all their own.
The fleet muster in Oban and the following day?s race is round marks in the Firth of Lorne. On Wednesday boats race to Tobermory up the Sound of Mull passing the cliffs and castles of Morvern to starboard and the ever changing landscape of Mull to port. The colourful fishing port welcomes yachts to a veritable west coast haven and Thursday?s racing takes place in the Sound of Mull before the return passage to Oban on Friday for the prize-giving ceilidh.
For the last 26 years West Highland Week has been sponsored by Tennent Caledonian Breweries, possibly the longest running sponsorship in sporting history.
Tennents organise the onshore entertainment to complement the racing afloat with a mixed programme of music and events. Tennents certainly know how to throw a party and from the opening night event at Craobh Marina to dancing the night away at a Pirates of the Caribbean Cuban night at Dunstaffnage through to the final Ceilidh there is something for everyone.
Mixed with Inter-Yacht Tag Rugby hosted by Oban Lorne Rugby Football Club, five-a-side football, family swimming and an evening at the cinema in Oban as well as many other events in venues in and around Oban and Tobermory and it?s no wonder people love the tried and trusted recipe.
Those with less yachting experience who want to join in should log onto our website where you can post up your requirements with levels/non levels of sailing ability, for example willing to learn, wants first time experience on a boat etc, and someone may take you up. However, the onshore entertainment should be easier to join in, available in pubs and other venues throughout the area, and is normally open to the general public, with the exceptions likely to include the prize-giving ceilidhs. The social programme is included on the website should you wish to double check.
Designed for everyone who loves boats and the sea, Tennents West Highland Yachting Week provides a chance for everyone to take part.
Alison Chadwick
Tennents West Highland Yachting Week
The following holiday cottages are relevant to this article:
| 
