‘If you’ve been following us on our Facebook page, you will see that on Saturday 25th April 2026, our amazing crew completed the double marathon, open water crossing from the Isle of Whithorn to the Isle of Man and back, rowing a total of 54 miles in 15 hours.
Accompanied by a safety crew of Richard Lucas, Karen Lucas and Chris Harrison in a Newton Stewart Sub Aqua Club rib; Barry Slater, Jani Slater and Gibby Kelly in Barry’s rib; and Phil and Sheena Robertson carrying crew 2 to the Isle of Man and crew 1 back on John McGuire’s yacht.
Shaun McGuire was land contact for the coastguard, supported by Allison Scott as additional shore crew.
Rowing crew 1; Jacqueline Crowther, Becki Castle, replaced by Simon McClure, Tracy Cessford and Simon Messinger. Crew 2; Sue Thomas, Elaine Graham, replaced by Simon McClure, Phil Cunliffe and Ann McClure. Cox John McGuire.
Our skiff, Ninian, was launched at 6am on the calmest of waters with a stunning sunrise. Bob Rowley sang the crew off, with a cheering crowd. The first leg took longer than anticipated at 7.5 hours of constant rowing. We had to steer further into the tide than planned so that we didn’t end up down the wrong side of the island!
We received an amazing welcome at the Isle of Man with Ramsey Sailing Club, Northern Dippers and the Isle of Man Biosphere all there to cheer us in and a very emotional oar salute to the sound of Flower of Scotland from the two skiffs at Laxey Rowing Club.
After a very short pit stop of 30 minutes, our second crew jumped in and began their epic row back to the Isle, which took over 8 hours with them arriving back at approximately 1030pm in complete darkness. The harbourside was crowded with well wishers bringing Ninian and the safety boats back in despite the late hour.’
Check out updates on our Facebook page, thoughts and feelings of the team reflecting on the challenge, now that they have recovered. The support from everyone has been incredibly touching, throughout. The organisation behind the event has been driven from the front by John McGuire and Becki Castle, with support in particular from trustees Shaun McGuire and Simon McClure, and club members Ann McClure, Phil Robertson and Gibby Kelly. Not only planning the entire event, but making all the training sessions happen, looking after and towing Ninian and creating a highly effective marketing strategy, which has resulted in excellent communication and raised the profile of our charity and essential funds for us too.
