Scottish Traditional Boat Festival
Following its decline as a cargo and fishing port Portsoy has in recent years capitalised on its biggest asset – its connection with the sea. This weekend the town hosted the 25 th annual Scottish Traditional Boat Festival and, in sweltering sunshine, visitors were treated to a maritime spectacular as 21 st century maritime heritage mingled with the likes of the 128-year-old Wick registered Isabella Fortuna. Arbroath built, the Isabella was launched in 1890 and is a regular festival visitor. In far off 1994 the inaugural event firmly placed Portsoy on the tourist map and visitor numbers regularly swell the resident population of 1,800 to a giddy 18,000 on festival weekend. 1994 also saw a world first: the landing of a radio-controlled model helicopter onto the deck of the world’s largest model aircraft carrier, Duncan Cameron’s 31ft radio controlled Invincible , within the shelter of the 17 th century harbour. Nowadays an annual fixture and undoubted leader of ...