Viking longboat race set to return to Isle of Man’s Peel Harbour

This distance rowed by the teams is dictated by the weather conditions and tide on the day, Lee explained.

“If we have real calm weather, you can put a buoy out a little bit further and it will take the same amount of time as what it will do if we have a slight wind and it’s brought in slightly shorter,” he said.

“What we’ve got to do is gauge the tides and how many teams we can get out on that one tide.”

And the wind can also have an impact on whether the races can go ahead at all or have to be moved to the following day.

“If a weaker team can’t make it out through the harbour mouth, it’s not safe for them to do, it’s not safe for anybody to do,” Lee said.

However, he said all the teams did have experienced coxswains to guide them, and a decision on any postponement was always made early on the day of the races.