Editor's Notebook

That was back in the Eighties, when the event was known as the McEwan’s Scottish Series. McEwan’s was a beer brand produced by the regatta sponsor, Scottish Brewers, and all entries were given two huge 24-can slabs when they registered their boats. Also handed out were several packets of another sponsor’s product — Tunnock’s Teacakes. For the uninitiated, these delights feature a sweet, soft marshmallow centre, a crisp shortbread biscuit base, and a coating of creamy milk chocolate. Just typing this has given me cravings.

The event mostly took place in the small fishing village of Tarbert on the eastern shore of the Mull of Kintyre (yes, the one Paul McCartney sang about). Although Tarbert is only 45 miles from Glasgow as the crow flies, the drive is over 100 miles and takes up to three hours. That gave the village a wonderfully remote feel that set it apart from other major regattas of the time.

Despite the location, the unique nature of the Scottish Series consistently attracted fleets of 250 boats or more. They came from the nearby River Clyde, Northern Ireland, North Wales, and even the south coast of England and, on occasion, France.

Typically, the visiting fleet would rendezvous at Gourock on the Clyde — more specifically at Kip Marina — for the start of an overnight offshore race. This took the big boats out of the Clyde and south across the Irish Sea to round the remote rocky outcrop of Ailsa Craig. There are three things to know about Ailsa Craig: it is the source of the stones used in Olympic curling; when you are racing towards it, it never seems to get any bigger (and likewise, it doesn’t seem to get any smaller when you sail away from it); and, thirdly, it is a massive bird toilet, and consequently its cliffs are decorated with centuries or more of guano. From there, it was a long trek north, passing the Isle of Arran to starboard before crossing Loch Fyne to the finish line off Tarbert. Smaller boats would take a shorter route around the bottom of Arran, arriving at about the same time. The Northern Ireland contingent, meanwhile, would race across from Belfast Lough.

Those Scottish Series feeder races were my introduction to offshore sailing — an aspect of the sport I immediately fell in love with as I learned about navigation, tidal strategy, and the art of kedging to stop yourself being swept backwards by the current when the wind died overnight. We typically arrived in Tarbert in the early hours. Once docked and the boat packed away, the next stop was the Islay Frigate pub for a reviving Guinness. Sounds strange now — drinking beer while the BBC Breakfast News played on the TV — but back then it made perfect sense.

I competed for several years in the Sigma 33 fleet — a great true cruiser-racer that we slept on during the regatta — which attracted as many as 35 boats at times. With the passage racing done, the rest of the regatta focused on short-course racing around Loch Fyne. After a day of windward/leeward or round-the-cans races, the fleet would pack back into Tarbert’s tiny harbour, rafting up six or seven deep.

Crews sat in the cockpits enjoying the afternoon sun and a few adult beverages as they debriefed the day’s action (not really, we didn't do 'debriefs' back then). The details are now a little fuzzy, but I seem to remember water balloon battles breaking out — with crews stringing strong elastic between the shrouds to fire balloons at boats across the harbour. Near misses were booed, direct hits loudly cheered. Later, the few pubs around the harbour were rammed to capacity. Rumour had it that prices tripled during regatta week, but we didn’t care. We were having the time of our lives.

The regatta has changed its name several times over the years as new title sponsors — such as Rover Cars, Bell Lawrie, Brewin Dolphin, and now Jura — took up the mantle. As Ed explains in his column, the event has struggled in recent years with falling numbers. But it sounds like a highly motivated group is working hard to help the Clyde Cruising Club reverse that trend.

If you are looking for a truly unique regatta experience, you could do worse than take a look at the 2025 edition. Better hurry, though, as this year's Jura Scottish Series is scheduled to take place from May 23-26. I don’t know for certain, but I’m pretty sure competitors still get a packet or two of Tunnock’s Teacakes – worth turning up for on their own.