Thousands turn out for Commonwealth Flotilla
by Claire Caffrey, RYA Scotland 27 Jul 2014 14:31 BST
26 July 2014
The Commonwealth Flotilla © RYA Scotland
People across Glasgow and west Scotland turned out in their thousands to welcome the Commonwealth Flotilla, which took place today on Saturday 26th July 2014. The Royal Yachting Association Scotland, which organised the 19 nautical mile journey from Greenock to Glasgow, estimated around ten thousand spectators attended both of its official spectator sites at the Beacon Arts Centre and the Riverside Museum. Many more lined the route of the flotilla to catch a glimpse of the 250-strong fleet.
In addition, RYA Scotland confirmed that over 1,900 sailors took part in the Commonwealth Flotilla, the largest assembly of boats in the history of the Clyde. The flotilla was headed by the CalMac ferry, Lochinvar, a diesel electric hybrid. Other boats taking part ranged from small family cruising yachts to more traditional working boats including the VIC32 "Clyde puffer".
James Stuart, CEO of RYA Scotland said: "We are amazed and absolutely thrilled at the success of the Commonwealth Flotilla. We wanted to inject some colour into the Clyde for one weekend in what is probably the most important fortnight in Glasgow's recent history. We got the sense in the last couple of days that this was going to be a big event but the response that we got from spectators throughout the day has been incredible, and totally beyond our expectations.
"Speaking to people just after we arrived at Pacific Quay in Glasgow, we really got a sense of the interest and excitement people had in watching this historic event and we want to thank the people of Glasgow and Inverclyde and beyond who turned out to make this such a perfect day."
To accommodate the number of boats and participants RYA Scotland built a pop-up marina in Glasgow city centre, utilising over 1km of pontoons and around 100 volunteers.
Stories and photographs will be shared as the Flotilla unfolds on the Facebook (Commonwealth Flotilla and Twitter (@Flotilla2014) accounts for the event.