THE return of the Musselburgh Festival Saturday Rideout was welcomed by Fisherrow Yacht Club (FYC), which provided refreshments for about 50 guests.

Councillor John McMillan, Provost of East Lothian, attended the event, which had been cancelled for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

For FYC hospitality hosts it was a busy one-hour turnaround, receiving guests in through the front door and saying farewell to them as they left via the back door straight onto the beach to watch the traditional gallop at 12.30pm.

Craig Hunter, rear commodore of FYC, said: “We got a lot of positive feedback from the day, which was nice to hear.”

The club also welcomed the muster of Leisure yacht owners from South East Scotland, with boats from as far east as Elie and as far west as Blackness.

Steve Blaney, commodore of the Leisure Owners Association, is Elie-based and invited owners and crews to meet at Fisherrow to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the association’s formation.

East Lothian Courier: Steve Blaney, Commodore of the Leisure Owners Association, presents Inez Visser and Alaric Desmarchelier with the association's 40th anniversary pennant. Looking on are David Callendar of the Cherzo guest boat and Gordon Forth of Nautilass, which is

Steve Blaney, Commodore of the Leisure Owners Association, presents Inez Visser and Alaric Desmarchelier with the association's 40th anniversary pennant. Looking on are David Callendar of the Cherzo guest boat and Gordon Forth of Nautilass, which is berthed at Fisherrow

There are already Leisure class yachts permanently moored in Fisherrow – Nautilass (pronounced naughty lass), Gypsy Gem, Willow and Abril, which was recently purchased by a syndicate of four members of Fisherrow Yacht Club.

Inez Visser, one of the four owners, who is also on the club committee, invited the muster guests to use the premises for their social gathering.

Steve was delighted that the 40th anniversary celebration had the colourful backdrop of Musselburgh Festival, and for the guest boats that made it to harbour on the Friday afternoon high tide, there was the chance to watch the gallop from a ring-side seat on the harbour wall on the Saturday morning.

On the Saturday evening, the Leisure crews had an indoor supper served in the FYC bar, where Inez was presented with the special Leisure 40th anniversary pennant.

She said: “This pennant belongs to everyone at FYC.

“The members are so friendly and community-minded.

“Their energy and commitment is amazing.

“Since October, we have refurbished a donated Kinsman yacht and the rear porch has been rebuilt.

“The training team have put many hours into getting members qualified and keeping our safety rib boats repaired.

“Many club members do not have their own dinghies and, as well as a small fleet of dinghies, we now have two club Kinsman yachts.

“Shared use of dinghies and, more so, yachts requires responsibility but also brings a special camaraderie when people who do not know one another come together to sail.

“An added bonus of being a club member has been the possibility for four of us to form a syndicate to buy a Leisure 20.

“The 40th anniversary muster of other Leisure yacht owners at Musselburgh during the 2022 festival was an unexpected bonus.”