Stone skimming dates are just champion
Easdale is the place to be on Saturday September 7.
Tennis has Wimbledon, golf has St Andrews and stone skimming has Easdale, says its organisers.
Last year, the championships returned with a bang after a three-year enforced gap which only increased people’s appetite for it, resulting in the most successful event to date, raising more than £9,000 for community charities.
Tickets for the event sold out in 40 minutes, while on the day, national and international media and more than 1,000 spectators watched 350 competitors from across the world battle it out to be winners.
Cheers and gasps could be heard on neighbouring islands as 16-year-old Finn Dower caused a shock upset, defeating nine times world champion Dougie Isaacs in an intense “toss off” final. Finn, a former competitor in both the under-16 and under-10 categories, was crowned the skimming event’s youngest ever world champion.
A family championship, the tournament also saw stiff competition in all age categories from the under-10s to the “old tossers” in the over-60s.
Home to the championships since it began in 1983, the tournament is held in a flooded 19th-century slate quarry where the rock amphitheatre provides a unique space for skimmers to try their hand.
The back wall target towers more than 70 metres out of the water, 64 metres from the skimmers’ stance.
The reward for those talents who hold their nerve and do it guarantees passage to the “toss off”, the grand finale of the championship, and a chance at lifting the coveted Donald Melville Cup.
Organisers are excited to talk to any individual or company wanting to get involved in the championships and offer sponsorship.
Interested? You can contact organisers on contact@stoneskimming.com or other stone world stone skimming social media platforms.