Sitting at the end of the wooden jetty, I watch the line of longboats ease out of the harbour towards the start of the race. Even close to the water, the heat is intense, and I don’t envy the crews – each with four rowers and a cox – who will tackle this triangular open-sea course of about three miles in the baking August sun. They are an amiable bunch who have travelled with their longboats, all built to the same basic design, from coastal settlements across west Wales to compete in the Aberystwyth leg of the summer series of races.
The support for the exhausted crews at the finish line, the mouth of the harbour, is enthusiastically vocal. Many of the folk here know each other well and the sport seems more collaborative than competitive – often loaning gear, boats or even crew members to other teams. Needing shade, I head back towards town, pausing to chat with a friend who asks if I had seen the otter that was spotted weaving between the moored fishing boats. I had missed it, of course, but resolved to return on a day when there is less activity in the river.
