On the Sunday of the May Bank Holiday, Llanwrtyd Wells hosts the Welsh Open Stone Skimming Championships on the lake at the Abernant Lake Hotel, by kind permission of Manor Adventure Ltd.
Everyone’s skimmed a stone on water at some point in their lives, so this is an opportunity to see how your skills measure up against some of the worlds’ top exponents of the sport.
The British version of the championships is concerned with total distance travelled by the stone rather than the number of bounces, with the current Welsh record standing at over 100 metres. The American discipline is termed “stone-skipping” and has the object of achieving the maximum number of bounces, whereas the British and European version “stoneskimming” is concerned with the distance achieved. Both have their “World Championships”. In the States it’s been held for many years on Mackinac Island, Michigan whilst here in Europe, now in its fifteenth year, on the island of Easdale in Scotland.
Anyone can have a go and it’s a great family day out with children’s categories included as well.
Up until recently the sport has been limited to just a few venues that had locally available “ammunition”, the problem being the illegality of removing natural stones in bulk from water-courses and beaches for competitive use elsewhere. This problem has now been overcome.
After much research and development by leading exponents of the sport, a range of artificial skimming stones have been produced. They bring a consistency of performance that’s difficult to achieve with natural stones, however carefully selected and bring a long overdue “level playing field”. They are set to become the new “clay pigeons” of the skimming game.
Formed from re-constituted stone in a variety of shapes and sizes to suit all ages and capabilities, they are available for use at the Welsh Open. Given the capabilities of the top competitors who have signified their attendance, there are high expectations, given calm conditions, that the former World Competition Record will be broken at this event.
Competitors in the adult male category should indicate if they are “stoned” or “stoneless” at the time of registration.
Welsh Open Stoneskimming Championships, Llanwrtyd Wells, Sun 28 May. Info: www.green-events.co.uk
words GARETH ELLIS