Tummel Week 2025 at Loch Tummel Sailing Club

Tummel Week 2025 © Andrew Ferguson

Tummel Week 2025 © Andrew Ferguson

Tummel Week is one of the best-established family sailing weeks in Scotland, this year being 49 years old. Many return year after year to enjoy not only the sailing but also the chance to catch up with old friends and enjoy the spectacular Perthshire surroundings. The racing is relaxed, generations get the chance to sail together with competitors ranging from 8 to 80 and a full activity and social programme means there is something for everyone!

This year, the week started off with moderate to fresh westerlies straight down the Loch giving way to increasingly light and fickle Northerly winds coming off the hills. This meant some classic Tummel conditions with shifts aplenty to keep everyone on their toes.

In the fast handicap fleet, Pete Taylor opened up with two wins on day one in his RS Aero 7. He followed this up with a very consistent set of results, never out of the top three, before clinching the series in style by leading most of the fleet round the wrong course in the final race!

In the slow handicap fleet, Jodie Ferguson started off slowly in her optimist but soon found her stride counting a very impressive five straight bullets in the variable conditions to wrap up the series with a day to spare ahead of the toppers of Lissie Barron and Rosie Beskaby.

As is tradition, the week featured a long-distance race of seven nautical miles round An Dun Island at the far end of the Loch. Conditions for the race mirrored those of the week itself. A moderate westerly carried everyone down to the island in good time. This was followed by a brief squall catching some out on their way round the island and giving the fast boats a chance to stretch their legs on the beat home which became increasingly light and fickle towards the club. Line honours went to Robert and Sue Signer in their Flying Fifteen in just under one and a half hours with less than two minutes separating the top seven boats on corrected time and won by Iain and Maisie Macintyre in their National 12 by just seven seconds.

Asides from the sailing, Tummel Week has always been about family fun. Perennial favourites including the Boardwalk (a walk or a run out over a line of windsurfers into the Loch) and Tummel Wipeout (our classic water themed assault course) were joined this year by the Tummel Pentathlon - a true test of all round sporting ability featuring oppie bailing, oppie hiking, swimming, skip ball and throwing!

For the less energetic, the large gap between races offers the opportunity to try out other boats, go for a cruise or simply relax.

In the evenings the hungry sailors were well fed with an opening night pasta party, tapas Tuesday and a fantastic closing barbecue. Cheese and wine helped to soothe the mental challenge of the annual quiz on Thursday requiring a diverse collective who not only knew their PY ratings but also their Gen Z slang!

Tummel Week 2025 - photo © Lorne Brockbank

Thanks to all the volunteers who make this event happen, both through the planning beforehand and during the week. Next year Tummel Week will be 50, and we hope to see lots of familiar faces to make it a special one.

Overall Results:

Island Race Results: