Viking longboat race to return to western harbour

More than 500 people are set to take to the water in the west of the Isle of Man for an event that pays homage to the island's Norse heritage.

Saturday's Peel Viking Longboat Races will see 58 teams take turns rowing the three clinker-style replica boats from 12:30 BST.

First run in 1963, the annual event sees teams of 10 compete in a time trial around a buoy in the bay.

Jimmy Lee of the organising committee said the enduring attraction of the event was that it was a fun event with a good community spirit.

This distance rowed by the teams is dictated by the weather conditions and tide on the day, Lee explained.

"If we have real calm weather, you can put a buoy out a little bit further and it will take the same amount of time as what it will do if we have a slight wind and it's brought in slightly shorter," he said.

"What we've got to do is gauge the tides and how many teams we can get out on that one tide."

And the wind can also have an impact on whether the races can go ahead at all or have to be moved to the following day.

"If a weaker team can't make it out through the harbour mouth, it's not safe for them to do, it's not safe for anybody to do," Lee said.

However, he said all the teams did have experienced coxswains to guide them, and a decision on any postponement was always made early on the day of the races.

Sections of Peel promenade and East Quay, in the area of Weatherglass Corner – known locally as Spit Corner – will be closed to traffic between 12:00 BST and 18:30.

The closures affect parts of Victoria Road, Castle Street and Shore Road, with parking restrictions also in place on Crown Street.

The action in the boats can be seen from various vantage point around the harbour including both the east and west quaysides themselves, the promenade, and the breakwater.

Lee said, while some of the teams had been competing for many years and would be looking to set fast times, many others were taking part of the first time just for the fun of it.

But he said the whole event came together because of a huge community effort including the town's commissioners, event sponsors, the harbour master as well as the organising committee itself.

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