About Easdale: World Stone Skimming Championships
Easdale Island was once the centre of a thriving Scottish slate mining industry, so it is only fitting that one of the disused quarries forms a perfect arena for the World Stone Skimming Championships.
The Championships were started in 1983 by former Easdale resident Albert Baker, and then lay fallow until they were resurrected in 1997 by Eilean Eisdeal as a fundraising event.
The championships are held at the end of September every year and now attract over 300 contestants from around the world and many spectators. Anyone of any age and any level of skill can enter the championships.
Japanese TV personality Daisuke Miyagawa
Each competitor is allowed 3 skims using specially selected Easdale slate skimming stones. For a skim to qualify the stone must bounce at least twice - it is then judged on the distance achieved before it sinks.
The World Stone Skimming Cup is presented to the over-all winner, and the Seafari Salver for the best women's skim. There are also slate medals going to the best junior skim and 2nd and 3rd runner-up in each category.
2002 saw the launch of a new award, 'the Bertie', named after Bert Baker, the event's founder. This is presented to the Easdale Islander who skims the furthest. In 2008 the Old Tosser category was introduced for those entrants who have reached the experienced and veteran heights of no longer being in their 50s.
The competition is accompanied by children's entertainment; a barbeque; craft stalls with music throughout the day. On the preceding evening the Community Hall hosts a pre-skim bash with live music.
For the full Official Rules of the World Stone Skimming Championships, please visit www.stoneskimming.com
2018 and 2019 Men's champion Peter Szep
(photo: Jordan Young – LoveLiveRun)
Press interest in the the World Stone Skimming Championships is increasing every year, and the event has been covered by the following: Rough Guides; Lonely Planet; Oban Times; The Independent; The Herald; The Press and Journal; The Scotsman; The Times; The Sunday Times; The Daily Record; The Daily Mail; The Sun and The Drogheda Independent. Articles have also appeared in Coast Magazine as well as Scottish Islands Explorer.
Features have also appeared on BBC News; BBC TV’s Blue Peter, Coast, The One Show and Grand Tours of the Scottish Islands; STV’s The Hour; BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio Scotland, Radio 5 Live; Gaelic Television news; BBC Scotland; CBBC Newsround, Channel 4 Big Breakfast and Peanut Gallery radio show on the Australian Triple M Network.
Islander Alan MacFadyen shows Blue Peter's Radzi how it's done