Blairgowrie stone skimmer breaks his own world record

Competition: Dougie stuns onlookers with his achievement in Wales

A Perthshire man has broken his own world record by skimming a stone 400 feet across a lake – the equivalent of sixand-a-half double decker buses.

Dougie Isaacs from Blairgowrie achieved the feat during a skimming competition in Wales, two years after setting the record of 351 feet, or one less bus.

During the Welsh stone skimming championships on Monday, Dougie, 43, stunned onlookers with his effort, which is now thought to be close to impossible to beat.

It is the eighth time Dougie has beaten the Guinness World Record for stone skimming and his latest achievement at Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys, has already been endorsed by the body.

A dozen other skimmers were also battling for the honour, including Kurt “Mountain Man” Steiner, from the US, proud owner of the other coveted record, the highest number of skips, at 88.

“

It was huge – we were in danger of running out of lake. The achievement will stand for many years, I can’t see anyone getting anywhere near it. EVENT ORGANISER PAUL CRABTREE

Participants travelled from as far afield as Japan and Samoa to take part and were stunned by Dougie’s efforts.

Event organiser Paul Crabtree said: “It was huge – we were in danger of running out of lake. “The achievement will stand for many years, I can’t see anyone getting anywhere near it.

“I was wandering along the bank checking people were doing their jobs and saw this solitary stone quietly skittering past the pole that marked the existing record.

“I thought it was someone messing around and then heard clapping and saw Dougie out on the throwing jetty with the chief steward signalling.”

To qualify for a record-breaking attempt, skims must be made with a natural unmodified stone, chosen by the participants, and it must skip in the water at least three times.

Measurements were checked by an independent surveyor using laser technology.

Another success on the day came from Nina Luginbuhl from Switzerland, who set a new women’s record of 172 feet.

As well as his record-breaking achievements, Dougie has been successful in the annual world stone skimming championships, held in Easdale, Argyll. Despite only making it to second place last year, he has won seven times since 1997, including four successive years from 2013 to 2016, until his crown was taken by Keisuke Hashimoto from Japan.

ecrichton@thecourier.co.uk

Champion stone skimmer Dougie Isaacs demonstrates his record-breaking technique.