RACE REPORT
The Cardigan Bay Challenge gave a new and exciting race to the WSR calendar on June 22nd 2024
The Cardigan Bay Challenge, now affectionately known as the CBC, was brought to the fixture list by Welsh Sea Rowing and took place for the first time on Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd June 2024.
The new big challenge race was 58 nautical miles long from Fishguard to Pwllheli across Cardigan Bay through the night.
Ten crews took to the start line, accompanied by three Control Boats, with 8 crews leaving shortly after 18:00 and two mens crews leaving one hour later. The teams consisted of 9 rowers, one Celtic longboat, one support vessel and one RIB. The rowers rotated in shifts throughout the night using the RIB to transfer from the longboat to the support vessel.
Conditions were fair for the start at Fishguard where the sun shone as competitors made their final adjustments. A slight southern, tailwind meant that the crews made good progress in the first few hours of rowing. Many crews saw a large pod of dolphins that seemed to be enjoying the race and did an awful lot of bow riding with a number of vessels throughout the evening.
The early leaders of the race were the mixed crew from Porthmadog in the strikingly beautiful purple Blodwen. As the evening progressed, the mixed crew from Neyland in the lovely turquoise Sea Siren took the lead as daylight disappeared.
As darkness fell the cloud came with it spoiling the full moon above. All that could be seen from the Control Boats were the lights from the vessels. It was then that the swell started to increase, making this race the big challenge that had been anticipated. As the lights from the masts of support boats started to roll the seasickness was inevitable with many crews suffering. The swell made the changeovers more challenging but crews worked well to combat this.
Dawn broke eventually as daylight appeared through the cloud and Neyland were still at the front of the fleet with the Aberdyfi Men making good progress into second place in the distinctive Aberdyfi blue & yellow Afon Dyfi, one of the oldest Celtic Longboats being number 4, having overtaken the rest of the fleet through the night. Aberdyfi Ladies in Clychau, had maintained a good position behind Neyland throughout only to be overtaken by their mens crew on the final stretch to home.
Neyland kept up their relentless effort to be the first boat over the line at Pwllheli at 5:24 in the morning taking 11 hours, 16 minutes to complete the passage followed by Aberdyfi Men at 5:49 being the fastest crew home in 10 hours, 41 minutes and 36 seconds.
Aberdyfi Ladies were the third boat home at 6:11am with a time of 12 hours 3 minutes. The first Veteran boat home was Aberystwyth Men in the dear old trusty Ceridwen at 7:22 am. This completed the winners of all four categories.
All crews completed the course in a very respectable time and although they were tired they mostly had smiles on their faces as they reached the finish. This was a tremendous effort by everyone involved and we at Welsh Sea Rowing hope that everyone took something away from this event and will want to come back for more.
The feedback that we have received has been overwhelmingly positive and we thank each and everyone of you who took part in whatever capacity you were involved.
We will now look to bring you a second Cardigan Bay Challenge in the future.
The full results can be found here: https://www.searowing.wales/cardigan-bay-challenge-2024-sialens-bae-aberteifi/
This event could not take part without the volunteers that made it happen. From making tea to crewing support boats and feeding the crews, thank you to you all.
We would also like to give our heartfelt thanks to Pembrokeshire County Council, Fishguard Sea Cadets, Plas Heli, the Control Boat crews and the on board Paramedics. Your support throughout was invaluable.
Massive congratulations to everyone who took part, it was not for the faint hearted!
A Tribute to Mike Rogers
One of the most important trophies presented after the arduous adventure was the ‘Mike Rogers Memorial Trophy’. This was given to the oldest rower to complete the challenge and was in memory of Mike who sadly died earlier this year and will be greatly missed by the whole rowing community, particularly his team mates at Aberdyfi.
An extract from one of his crew mates shows exactly the man that Mike was and will be remembered for. He was born Tywyn near Aberdyfi and was a natural sportsman, mainly playing football and golf. His first contact with rowing was when he supported Aberdyfi Rowing club on the 2014 Celtic Challenge by towing the longboats by road and ferry to Arklow. He very soon joined the club and took to rowing making it look easy. He was a great servant for the Club by becoming a very active Chairman. In that role he got to know many rowers in many clubs particularly in the North and respect for him and our club grew accordingly. At the age of 74 he competed in and won the 2019 Celtic Challenge as part of an Aberdyfi mixed team. He will always be remembered as someone with incredible kindness and energy who loved rowing and the rougher the sea conditions the bigger his smile!
The winner of the trophy was Janine Williams of Neyland Rowing Club who was in the first crew over the line on the Sunday morning with the Neyland Mixed boat, massive congratulations to this amazing woman.
1st March 2024 – Entries Update!
Will you be joining us for the inaugural Cardigan Bay Challenge?
Closing date has now been extended.
Registration for the 2024 event is still open!
We are aware that there are still some clubs that would like to enter the Cardigan Bay Challenge but aren’t quite ready to submit their entries.
The planning of the event is at a more advanced stage than we anticipated it to be at this time. Therefore, we are in a position to extend the closing date until 23:59 on Friday 15th March 2024.
Please keep talking to us to let us know what stage you are at and if we can help you in any way.
Contact: raceofficer@searowing.wales
Taking place between Friday 21st June – Sunday 23rd June 2024 to allow for the best weather window.
ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED
THE RESULTS ARE IN!
CBC24 Photo Gallery – Highlights
CBC24 Photo Gallery – Medal Presentation
Click the link or the image below to go to our official photo gallery for the Cardigan Bay Challenge 2024. WSR extend huge thanks to Christian Taylor from C J Taylor Photos for the amazing video and images he has captured for the event!
Welsh Sea Rowing: Cardigan Bay Challenge 2024 by C J Taylor Photos (pixieset.com)
CBC24 SURVEY
We would appreciate a few minutes of your time to gain your thoughts on the recent Cardigan Bay Challenge. Please answer constructively in order to help us with future planning.
Cardigan Bay Challenge 2024 SURVEY
THE RACE
The passage is approximately 54NM from Fishguard to Pwllheli.
The Challenge is open to the following categories of boats:
- Celtic Longboat
- Pembrokeshire Longboat
- Irish Skiffs
- St Ayles Skiffs
ALL BOATS MUST HAVE FIXED SEATS
The teams will consist of 9 people with only 5 people in the boat at any one time.
Team Categories:
- Mens – 9 Men
- Ladies – 9 Ladies
- Mixed – At least 4 Ladies & at least 4 Men
- (At least 2 ladies should be rowing at all times)
- Veteran – All crew must be 40 years or over
Any other mix is considered to be out of the scope of accepted race categories but may still take part on that understanding and they will be classed as miscellaneous..
All team members must be age 18 years & over on June 21st 2024.
The cost of entry is £600 per team. This will include mooring / anchor space / ground space for all vessels at Fishguard & Pwllheli – details to follow. Food on arrival at Plas Heli. Medals for all participants completing the challenge. Trophies for the winning teams of each of the three categories.
Maximum number of boat entries is 25. Should entries exceed this amount and clubs have multiple entries, then those clubs will be asked to select a crew to be moved to the reserve list to enable as many clubs to take part as possible.
Apart from the aforementioned, entries will be on a first come, first served basis, any entries after number 25 will be placed on the reserve list..
The form of propulsion is by 4 single oars only.
Each team is to provide a support vessel and one powered RIB. Both vessels should be of a sufficient size to take on board the whole team and of sufficient power, capable to keep up with the rowing boat. The support boat should have a toilet and means of basic catering and be able to provide hot drinks. Full details of both, including photographs are to be submitted to the committee as soon as they are available and not least by the 10th May 2024.
All support vessels should be RYA SafeTrx registered or Irish Dept. Of Marine equivalent.
Crews should be ready & prepared to race from 17:00 on Friday 21st June should the conditions be deemed to be more suitable than 18:00 on Saturday 23rd. Updates will be provided in the weeks and days leading up to the event.
All rowing boats will carry a race tracker (provided) and a VHF radio and / or a fully charged mobile phone.
All rowing boats must be supported by a boat/s suitable to hold the whole crew in the case of adverse events. The rowing boat MUST stay with the support boat for the whole passage.
All boats must have a suitable RIB for the transfer of crews.
All competitors must be at least 18 years of age on the day of the event.
Race officials reserve the right to withdraw teams that are deemed not to be progressing at a sufficient pace, the crews will be requested to retire on safety grounds.
All teams must have open water insurance.
All crews must have trained at transferring at sea.
The committee reserve the right to nominate a scrutineers who could be allocated to a team before or during the race.
Each team is responsible for its own navigation.
Each support vessel / RIB / rowing boat must ensure that all safety equipment is aboard, in date and functional. Each team may be subject to inspection by a nominee of the Race Committee to ensure that they comply with the list of safety equipment below. Each team is required to have a named person with responsibility for the safety equipment who should report to the Race Safety Coordinators. Failure to comply with the list of safety equipment and the rules of the race will result in disqualification.
SAFETY EQUIPMENT
EACH ROWING BOAT MUST CARRY:
- A working bilge pump and at least one bailer.
- Adequate buoyancy to keep boat and all personnel afloat
- Personal Lifejackets, fitted with light and whistle, for all rowers and coxes to be worn at all times during the race.
- A minimum of three hand held ,red, pinpoint in date flares.
- Hand held VHF radio with 2 or 3 kilometre range and good battery life.
- Hand held GPS.
- One all round white navigation light not less than two metres in height.
- A powerful Hand held torch and reserve.
- A compass
- A small radar reflector – commercial standard to be visible at all times.
- Additional buoyancy is recommended.
EACH SUPPORT VESSEL IS TO CARRY:
- Life rafts onboard
- Lifejackets for all persons. Lifejackets are to be of full support type to DTI standards NOT buoyancy aids.
- Flares. Minimum of 4 hand held red, 2 red parachute and 1 orange smoke flare in date.
- Working VHF radio
- Handheld VHF
- Adequate charts and navigational publications to cover the crossing
- A working GPS navigation system
- Adequate fuel supply for both RIB and Support vessel to cover the Race.
- Safe boarding facility for Doctor or for the evacuation of casualty in an emergency with competent crew support and also for scruitineer.
- At Least one Powerful spotlight or Hand lamp.
It is strongly recommended that the support boat has an AIS Transponder on board
EACH INFLATABLE VESSEL IS TO CARRY:
- Hand held VHF radio with adequate battery life
- Flares. Minimum 3 hand held red pinpoint flares in date.
- Powerful hand torch
- Lifejackets must be worn at all times
- Sufficient fuel
- GPS
- Throwing rescue line.
All Support vessels must be in Fishguard by Noon on Friday 21st June 2024 and must report to the Race Control so that any necessary inspections can take place before the race briefing.
INSURANCE. Each team and Support boat is to have its own personal insurance
No alcohol is to be consumed prior to and during the race window.
It is the responsibility for the Skipper of the Support Vessel to give an accurate position (Lat & Long) of the Rowing boat when asked to do so by the Committee Race Control boat.
If any Support Vessel breaks down the Rowing boat must stay with its Support Vessel and should not carry on rowing alone and unsupported. The Support Vessel should contact the Committee boat immediately.
It is essential that all support vessels and RIBs should not assist the progress of their own Rowing boat or hinder the progress of any other boat. Any team that is guilty of hindering the progress of another Team could face disqualification. Collision regulations apply to all vessels.
If the decision is taken to cancel the race, for whatever reason, Welsh Sea Rowing will accept no responsibility for any boat / club that then attempts the passage. This action will disqualify that club from all future Welsh Sea Rowing Challenges.
Any Team that retires from the Race must inform the Race control and the retiring vessel and team should head to Plas Heli, Pwllheli. If the team heads for another home port then this information must be transmitted to the Race control team and cannot rely on the safety umbrella of the race.
At least one member of each Team should attend the Safety Briefings.
Each team must accept a YB tracker and place it in a safe position on the rowing boat for the duration of the race. Trackers will be allocated from Race Control and must be handed in to the designated person at Plas Heli at the finish of the race. Failure to do this will incur a money penalty equivalent to that charged by YB tracking (Approximately £500)
The Challenge Committee reserve the right to insist crews retire if they are not making reasonable headway during the race window. In this instance, the crew should board the safety boat and the rowing boat should be towed to Plas Heli.
Should the event need to be cancelled, clubs will be refunded up to half of their entry fee if sufficient funds remain. Members will recognise that this is a new event and that there are costs to cover before the event can safely take place.
Should a team choose to withdraw then they shall not receive a refund.
The place in the race will be offered to the first Team on the reserve list and so on.
The organising committee’s ruling on any dispute will be treated as absolute.
Please contact the Race Officer with any queries raceofficer@searowing.wales
CBC FAQs
All equipment insured through WSR fleet insurance is covered for this event at no extra cost.
Any clubs not insured with WSR must obtain their own insurance.
Any additional equipment I.e RIB, must have their own insurance and show proof prior Wednesday 19th June 2024.
Yes, personal insurance is covered by the WSR membership.
The RIB can be towed when not being used for transfers.
RIB doesn’t need to hold the whole team.
Correct, the scheduled start time is 18:00 subject to conditions.
That would be a dynamic decision based on so many contributing factors. Such as the conditions, where on the passage the boat was, time of day etc.
We want everyone to complete it safely so we would only pull a boat out if it was obviously struggling and would be the best option all round for everyone involved.
There is just one veterans category.
We have relaxed the specifications on the support vessels. This should help teams to source a suitable boat. We haven’t been able to compile a list of spare boats but we do keep putting the word out.
We envisage that things like the Pirate Rowers Facebook page will be utilised for crew’s wishing to make up numbers. Obviously if we hear of any ‘spares’ required or available then we can assist in advertising this.
No, you must have a team of 9 rowers to take part.
No, you must have a team of 9 rowers to take part.
No, only the types of boats on the list can take part in the Cardigan Bay Challenge 2024.
The rotation of crews is up to the individual team as long as this is done under the rules of the race as described on the WSR website.
No, It’s not possible for the support boat to have a life raft big enough for all the members of the team. So a 4 or 6 man life raft would be acceptable as the Rib can act as a life raft in emergency situations.
Flares are for rowing boat, support boat and rib. Each vessel should carry it’s own flares.
For safety reasons, we advise paper charts AND a chart plotter at the least.
Yes we have a comprehensive Risk Assessment for this challenge. You can download it below:
