Carnlough set for all-Ireland event

Thirty-six clubs from all over Ireland and a throng of spectators are expected to descend on the village to take part in the three-day regatta, which kicks off on Friday with the Opening Ceremony at 7pm. The heats begin on the same day and carry on through Saturday, before the finals on Sunday.

Races are held on a multi-lane course laid at sea and organisers Carnlough Rowing Club will be hoping to perform well in front of a home crowd.

But the local interest doesn’t stop there: teams from Glenarm and Cairndhu will be giving it their all to make sure they are in with a shout of a medal come the final day.

Event co-ordinator Arnold Stewart said: “It’s the finale of the coastal rowing season, it really is the premier event and it’s a great boost for Carnlough Rowing Club.”

He added: “It’s not only just the fact that we are organising the event, it’s the financial benefits and what staging it means to the borough and the wider region.

“We look at it as a rowing event, primarily, but we also think of it as a festival of entertainment. That’s why we have a wider programme so that people, if they are about, can take in the rowing but certainly have more things to do in the village while they are there.”

More coverage in this week’s Larne Times