Whitby rowers break Loch Ness marathon rowing race record

They were taking part in a 22.7-mile marathon rowing race from Fort Augustus to the other end of Loch Ness, at the village of Dores, just six miles from Inverness.

The crew of Marc Wilson, Ryan Lowther, Andy Morley, Jason Jeffrey and Max Dossor, racing in the Fisherlads’ boat Henryella, with the wooden Macon oars from the Friendship, completed the marathon in 3 hours 2 minutes 21 seconds, with the previously record of 3 hours 28 minutes.

Marc said: “It was absolutely fantastic, the conditions were really good on the day.

“Before we set off their was a minutes silence on the water, with a lot of the traditional boats raising their oars in the air as a mark of respect.

“Seeing the sheer amount of boats setting off while the bagpipes echoed down the Loch was awesome

“We got off to a good start, staying with the more modern fibreglass sliding seaters which was a surprise to us.

“After losing a bit of ground due to a problem with one of the stretchers, we got to the half way mark in around 1 hour 30, which we were honestly not expecting, so we knew we were making good tracks and on for the record.

“The conditions got a little worse in the second half of the race which actually favoured our type of boat and after racing neck and neck with a 12-man Irish gig we just got ahead at the end, beating them by around 10 boat lengths.

"The trip was fantastic as were the campsites and facilities and both rowing clubs are hoping to take many more boats next year.”

Team-mate Jason Jeffrey added he was “chuffed to bits with the result and we aim to be back there next year to try to knock some more off it.”

If anyone is interested in the trip, rowing or spectating, they can get in touch with either Whitby Friendship or Whitby Fishermen’s Rowing Clubs for more details.