Scottish Islands Peaks Race

The 2012 Scottish Islands Peaks Race was going to have more wee twists than an Alabama tornado from the outset ...

Christine put out an email asking if anyone was interested in forming a team with her partner Davie to race the SIPR in way of celebrating his 60^th birthday. First to take up the offer was Paula and JD. As most folks will know, Paula tragically broke herself ski touring this winter. Hanging about like a bad smell, I asked her if I could take up her SIPR race place – very kindly both her and Christine (and I assume JD) agreed. About a month later, JD dropped out in support of Paula and I asked John Hamer if he was interested ...thankfully for the rest of the team, he agreed.

Thursday evening saw the entire crew of Stargate (oor boat which for the sailing types is a Contessa 27) meet up in Oban for a surprise dinner with Davie’s sons (one of which was crewing) and his rather cool 92 year old Mum ! Dinner over, the boys retired to the boat whilst John and myself retired to the comfy B&B ...via the yacht club to meet up with the other Westies racing Manny and Brian (Bonnyman as opposed to Brennan) to ehhhh ....discuss “tactics”. Shortly after closing time, John and myself did get back to the B&B.

Next morning started with the full bhoona Scottish breakfast (veggie option for me) and we headed down to the race briefing and to sign a tidy wee disclaimer saying we were responsible for our own actions (nice to see the concept alive in this crazy H&S dominated world).

The first run was a short loop around the back of Oban and given what was ahead in the islands, John and myself conserved some energy by not setting out too quickly. Run completed in about 40 minutes we nipped down the slipway carefully, put on the life jackets and jumped into the dingy for the short transfer to the waiting yacht. Thankfully we made it safely onto the boat dry which denied the watching crowd the spectacle of watching runners swim ! We dove below and let the sailors sort out the yacht until we got the all clear to come back up. Leaving Oban harbour was impressive with the other race yachts of all shapes and sizes taking different lines towards Mull. During the passage, Davie gave us our first teach in on the significance of wind strength, direction and the influence of line and timing of tides ...getting confused, I was glad I was only running.

A good sail and another good transfer onto dry land saw us arrive at the kit check just in front of Manny and Brian. With a 5 minute time out for kit check it was great to grab a quick chat to Peter and Elspeth Baxter who were manning the control. As we departed Salen, Manny shouted some encouragement or was it possibly abuse ...it was hard to tell but John and myself decided to start strong and see if we could put a wee bit of distance in before the inevitable overtaking by our clubmates. The road section was ok but we were mindful that we needed to repeat the tarmac after the Ben More hill section . Along the side of Loch Ba, we got the first control before heading onto the hill. From Creag Mhic Fionnlaidh there were a couple of route choices onto the bealach below the summit control. We stayed high taking a traverse line whilst a fair number of runners took the lower route over / under the screes which gave a steep ascent to rejoin at the bealach. As we looked down the hill we could see a small group of runners not moving around much ...from the summit ridge it looked like one was in a blizzard pack – sadly it was later confirmed that the runner had fallen bursting some ribs and got airlifted off. Pretty sure John will agree that it was a tasty wee scramble up onto the summit which was just in the clag. Having some good route information from Chris, we continued quickly towards the next control which sat off the main ridge line at the top of a re-entrant. We managed to overtake three teams here and open up a nice wee gap on the long traverse over to the last hill control on the bealach between  A’Choich and Beinn Fhada. The return to Salen was a reverse of the outward route and John certainly dug deep to maintain pace to the jetty. Another slick transfer and we were on our way to Jura just as the last of the daylight disappeared ...

Desperate to get as much recovery in as possible, I tucked into some pasta salad but paused to check John was okay since he was cleaning up stomach contents he had decided he no longer required (told you he had dug deep on the run). I managed some sleep but woke to hear the sound of some debate up top regarding available water depth with the increase in voice volume being the inverse of sea bed / rock clearance – we were informed that we only just made it through and “fortune favours the brave”. Dawn confirmed that our route choice had been cunning indeed and a fair number of boats which had left Mull before us were now well behind. The last section into Craighouse was slow due to a lack of wind and the crew had to row the final mile or so.

Back on dry land feeling good and with the Jura map in hand, John and myself went through kit check and started along the road. We nipped up the wee track to the graveyard which gave the shortest line up onto the moor leading towards the first of the Paps of Jura which in turn, formed the three main controls (another was at the lochan between the first and second pap). Unfortunately, I chose a line which was higher than ideal and forced some extra climbing and descending - sorry John. Heading back on the correct line, we were surprised to meet up with Manny and Brian who despite being about an hour quicker on the Mull run had started behind us ! We swapped pleasantries and they disappeared into the distance ...again. The paps were pretty much straightforward ...climb up ...jump off down vertical scree ...repeat. Back on the road, it was a repeat of the last section on Mull – dig deep and get it over with.

Back on the boat we were congratulated on a fair run by Davie and crew then it was decision time. Davie informed us that the boats we could see just to the south of the Small Isles had left 3-4 hours before us. The reason being there was almost no wind in the south of Jura. We decided to go and join them. Bobbing about aimlessly it was decision time again. 

The choices were not ideal mainly being stay there or head back to Craighouse and assess the situation again later. With the forecast not looking like much of a change until around 5am the next morning, we headed back to Jura. Around 11pm that evening, we saw the Swiss team leave Jura but opted for our wait till morning and decide tact. We departed a little later than was planned only to find the fleet who had stayed in the sound ...gone (as was the Swiss boat) – turned out the wind had arrived a little earlier than forecast. We made the best of the conditions and headed south but increasingly aware we were likely to miss the tide at the Mull of Kintyre.  Somewhere just after passing Gigha, the wind switched off again leading to much frustration and another team decision. All the factors considered the team jointly agreed we really had no other sensible option than to retire from the race and continue on the race route unranked with personal satisfaction being the main objective. The sound of the motor kinda made the heart sink none the less.

Given the tide was now flowing the wrong way (trying to push us either to Ireland or Jura depending on it’s mood) we stayed close to the short but kept an eye out for buoys indicating lobster pots. Out of nowhere and with no warning came a loud thud from under the hull. Davie killed the engine and we rushed to the back of the boat to clearly see a rope under the surface ...and then the half submerged buoy which we had hit. Davie worked some sailor magic to keep us off the rocks whilst we got enough slack to cut the rope and free the yacht. Thankfully it was only round the keel and not entangled round the propeller ...we continued towards Arran. In an attempt to avoid further hassles, we went well out to sea and after an hour of motoring against the tide, we were almost exactly where we had been in the first place.

Finally with the tide starting to turn, the engine made a noise that you did not need to be a marine mechanic to know was not good. Engine shut down again, Davie started stripping bits shouting the odd instruction until the problem was diagnosed to be contaminated diesel. Water drained out the filter and fresh fuel in the engine, we all grinned as to what could happen next! We shared a dram in a mix of celebration and relief at all being well.

Darkness fell and we slowly approached Lamlash just about midnight. On shore it was especially good to get a hug from Christine who had joined the marshalling team. We were informed of what we already knew – we were disqualified from the race but we could still complete the run if we wanted ...what else could we do but take the control tags, smile and head off into the darkness. Over the headland, we dropped down into Brodick only to get encouragement from two rather drunk and also very pretty blonde girls (which suddenly made the climb up Goatfell seem less than attractive for some reason). The ascent was brilliant ... John and myself were the only two teams on the mountain and it was one of those perfectly clear and still nights that are only too rare. We stopped for a couple of summit photographs before starting the descent in the first light of day. Once again, John put in a great effort to keep going at good pace till the last transfer onto the boat. 

With the running over, we shook hands and got the kettle on. Relaxing and reflecting on the whole experience as we headed towards Troon we were treated to one last engine issue with a repeat of the water in the diesel incident. Another filter clean and another grin soon had us heading east towards the marina.

The finish line is actually in the marina office and in keeping with the team attitude, we made one last run which counted for nothing much ...but meant everything.

Maybe sounds a bit soft for coming from me but I would like to thank Christine, Davie and James who made it possible for myself and John to join the Stargate – it was a real privilege and adventure.  The company on board was great and I learned loads. Running with John was a pleasure and his efforts when gubbed were simply  impressive. 

Given a fair wind, I hope to be able to join the start of the Scottish Islands Peaks Race again next year.

Summit of Goatfell at 03:17 in the morning