Last updated: 07/02/2010

Introduction

The Celtic Challenge is the World's Longest true rowing race where teams race from Arklow in County Wicklow, Ireland to Aberystwyth on the Welsh coast, a distance of about 90 nautical miles. Celtic and Pembrokeshire longboats take part (and occasionally other similar boats also join in) – each boat is about 24 feet (8m) long and has 4 fixed seats and one cox. Each team doing the Celtic Challenge consists of 12 people who take it in turns to row, spending the time in between on a support boat. A small inflatable is generally used to transfer people between the support boat and the rowing boat. How often teams swap rowers and how people are utilised is all part of the tactics of the race.

The race is an extreme test of endurance and generally takes between 15 and 24 hours, depending on the weather. The race usually starts in the afternoon with all the teams rowing throughout the night and sometimes arriving in Aberystwyth very early in the morning! The race happens every 2 years and will next take place on the weekend of 30th April-3rd May, with the exact race window depending on weather.

Downloads

Invitation to clubs
Registration form 2010
Entry form 2010
Support boat details form
RIB details form
Rules of the race 2010

Entry deadline extended

It's not too late to enter the 2010 Celtic Challenge. To secure your entry, please return your completed entry form and entry fee to us by Friday 19th February.

Next steps

Once you have entered and sent your fee, the next thing you need to do is to get your support boat details to us by the end of February. The RIB details should be provided by the end of March. We will be arranging briefing sessions in Wales and Ireland during March and will circulate dates for these shortly.

As with previous challenges, we have secured a preferential rate for ferry crossings via Stena. We won't post the specifics here, as it's probably not the done thing, but please contact us for further details.

If your team would like to purchase accident/recovery insurance, Paul Brant from Llangwm is collecting names for a group booking with costs in the region of £25-£28 per person. Please contact Paul directly for further details by e-mail (pabrant@btinternet.com) or phone: 07931 721176 / 01437 891224.

We are aware that securing support boats is proving challenging for a number of teams. If any of you know of any spare support boats that are interested in taking part in the challenge, please let us know.

We are hoping to arrange the Welsh-side briefing for Saturday 27th March. We are still discussing dates for the Irish event. More details to follow soon.

Contact Us

Tel: 01970 615308
Mob: 07900 953226
E-mail: celtic-challenge10@tiscali.co.uk

Postal address:
Celtic Challenge 2010
20 Rhoshendre
Waunfawr
Aberystwyth
SY23 3PT

Updates

This site will be updated regularly. Details are currently being prepared of past results and image galleries.