Budding sailors from across Aberdeenshire took to the sea yesterday to compete for the Blue Toon Trophy.
Peterhead Sailing Club launched the competition three years ago as a way to encourage children to consider the sport of sailing as a way to keep fit and have fun.
And although windy weather forced all but the most experienced seafarers back to the shoreline, event organiser Freda Marshall said everyone who took part left smiling.
Even the locals losing out to Cults Academy for the second year running failed to dampen spirits.
Mrs Marshall, the commodore of Peterhead Sailing Club, added: “This was an event aimed at the Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire schools – all the kids asked for a day off to represent their school, and they all sailed as individuals.
“They all get prizes for winning their classes, and the Blue Toon Trophy is awarded to the best school.
“They’ve all gone away happy, but the weather conditions were a bit strong for the less experienced sailors – typical of the summer we’ve been having – so they came ashore and did other activities on the beach.”
The club now hope to build on the success of the competition and attract even more people to their next event, a Peterhead youth regatta later this year.
“Boat building in itself is becoming more popular, so now we just getting them involved in sailing as well,” Mrs Marshall added.
“We’re doing quite a lot of in-house training to get people trained up to ensure that there’s safety on the water, so there will be less events this year because of that. But later in the summer, we will be scheduling a youth regatta for under 18s which is open to everyone.”
Provost Hamish Vernal, who attended this year’s Blue Toon Trophy, praised the children involved, describing them as “hardy”.
“It is a lovely, enthusiastic club,” he said. “It was absolutely wonderful, but my overriding impression of the whole day was what hardy bunch they were.
“There was choppy weather, a few capsizes, and I have to say that I tipped my hat to them all for participating. Everyone deserved a medal for going out on those conditions.”