This article from our archives is of historic interest. Sadly, the races no longer happen. (The swans still nest at the loch, though!)
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- This was the first yacht home, but not the fastest time. You can see that waders are a sensible idea!
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- Donna waits for her boat to finish
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- Boats are started at 30 second intervals, so all the finishing times are needed before the winner can be calculated
The ten-rater race was won by Freddie Tulloch, the five rater by Douglas Drever, All Comers by Billy Drever and the junior winner was Thomas Newton. Douglas, who’s the same age as Thomas, was competing for the first time with his newly bought five rater and he must be pleased with himself!
St Colm’s Model Yacht Club is the only model yacht club in Orkney outside of Kirkwall. It was formed in 1922 and races have taken place every year since then, except during the War. Races takes place on Boxing Day and at Easter, though the Easter sailing is often delayed till May because farmers are too busy with calving and lambing.
At one time, there was also a North End yacht Club, racing on the North Loch on New Years Day while St Colm’s, at that time, raced on Christmas Day. The North End sailings didn’t start up again after the war.
They race across the Roos Loch, starting at the lee end, passing between flags on the opposite side and sailing down wind to pass between two flags that mark the finish, close to where they started from.
Boats are started at 30 second intervals, so the all the finishing times are needed before the winner can be calculated
The model yachts are certainly not toys. They are classified as five-raters or ten-raters, the former being around three feet in length, and the latter perhaps four feet or more. The sails can be set as in a real sailing boat, and owners wade out from the shore to make necessary adjustments as the wind varies. However, the rules restrict the number of times they can make these adjustment, and a boat that comes to shore more than three times is disqualified.
The Roos Loch is shallow along most of its shore line, and probably of no great depth even in the middle. It is separated from the sea only by a storm beach or “ayre” along its northern shore and it is slightly brackish. At its southern edge is an uncultivated patch of wetland that is well worth a visit in the summer. A pair of swans nest there each year.