Dumfries and Galloway kayakers take part in Holy Isle Challenge

The beautiful Isle of Arran played host to an exciting paddling event on Saturday.

And six seasoned sea kayakers from Dumfries and Galloway, four of them members of Kirkcudbright Canoe Club, did the region proud when they were among the 66 paddlers who took part in the 11km Holy isle Challenge, organised every year by Arran-based Otter’s Tail Adventures.

The popular event is open to a variety of paddle craft, capable of different speeds, thus was split in to a number of craft and age classifications.

The local paddlers, most aged in their 60s, competed in the masters classification for over 49s.

Ken Scott from Kirkcudbright described being on the ferry to Brodick in the warm sunshine a day earlier as boding well for a weekend of fine weather, with the views over to Arran and Holy Isle providing an excited air of anticipation during the smooth crossing and a distant glimpse of the following day’s objective.

There was a warm atmosphere at Lamlash on the day of the challenge, with paddlers and many colourful and varied craft assembling on the beach for safety and equipment checks.

Amongst the chat and friendly banter, glimpsing out over the moored yachts provided a stunning view to Holy Isle.

A record number of paddlers took part this year and the calm weather conditions saw records tumble across all classifications. The staggered race starts set off from Lamlash just after midday, circumnavigating Holy Isle in a clockwise direction, before finishing back at Lamlash pier.

First local paddler – and the only one in the ski and performance sea kayak class – was Leslie Kirkpatrick, who took first in the male masters class – and second overall male – with a fantastic time of one hour and 36 seconds.

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