The 2024 sailing season was celebrated at Fisherrow Yacht Club with an informal dinner followed by
an equally informal award ceremony on Saturday 26 th October. Trophies were awarded for three
different levels of sailing and overall winners:
- Greenhorn, Dinghy Beginners, Ross McDonald
- Silverhorn, Dinghy Intermediate, Trevor McKay
- Longhorn, Dinghy Experienced, Elliot Hurst
Yachts, Mark McClelland
There are a few additional special trophies awarded and Stuart McDonald won the Maud Trophy for
the vessel furthest travelled in the season from the Scottish West Coast around Cape Wrath to
Fisherrow. Amazingly this trip was actually one hundred miles longer than the voyage by Colin and
Steph Robertson who sailed all the way to the North of France from the West Coast. On receiving
his prize Stuart commented:
"After an excellent summer on the West Coast with my boat, Spero, I thought it was time to return to
Fisherrow; in my wisdom I also thought it would be a good idea to sail round the top of Scotland
which is well over 500 nautical miles instead of travelling back the more direct route.
I started the passage on my own and for the first five days I enjoyed relatively easy sailing, then I
picked up crew members Gordon Firth and Freya Liddle in Portree and a few days later John
MacDonald joined us in Ullapool.
Rounding Cape Wrath and shooting the current in the Pentland Firth is not for the faint hearted, but
with these three very special people, all with a zest for adventure and comradery, we completed the
return trip, finally finishing with a rather spectacular 202 mile passage from Scrabster (Thurso)
where we had been storm bound for three days.
It was a real privilege for me to be part of a team who brought their A game to the venture. What’s
more, I have so many endearing memories from visits of the dolphins and a whale also the kind and
interesting people I met on the way plus the fabulous crew, who kept me warm with extra sleeping
bags and served heartening meals, at the expense of preparing them in the most awful conditions
while feeling extremely nauseous."
Spero is now safely back at Fisherrow and along with most of the club members’ boats was craned in
on Saturday 19 th October. Meanwhile the two club two rib boats were kept afloat to offer an end of
season powerboat course on the full tide immediately afterwards.
Over the winter, maintenance will be carried out on the club owned dinghies and two powerboats
and Kinsman yachts, as well as the boat yard and the club premises. Everyone is looking forward to
the start of season 2025 in March. With this in mind the club is keen to welcome new members who
may not be interested in on the water activities but would be keen to offer assistance with
maintenance. For more information check out www.fisherrwoy yachtclub.com
Fisherrow Yacht Club 97 New Street Musselburgh, EH21 621 6DG
Media Release 28.10.24
Photos attached.
Stuart McDonald: on board Spero rounding Cape Wrath, in testing weather
Photographer, Freya Liddle
Group Photo
Prize Winners: Ross McDonald, Greenhorn overall,
Simon Talbot 2 nd Overall Dinghy Championship
David Banks, 2 nd Prize Yacht Championship
Stuart McDonald, Maud Trophy for furthest travelled
Elliot Hurst, Dinghies Overall Winner
Mark McClelland, Overall Yacht Championship Winner
Photographer, Inez Visser