Royals pull together to entertain the Royals

The Royal Navy entered two teams into the Inter-Service tug-of-war competition at the Royal Braemar Gathering.

Competing in front of the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, teams from Commando Helicopter Force based at RNAS Yeovilton and Commando Training Centre from Lympstone in Devon, were asked to take part in the invitation-only event by the Royal Braemar Highland Society.

The invitation followed the appearance of a CTCRM side at last year’s games in Aberdeenshire, the first time the Royal Navy had taken part in more than ten years.

Each team consists of eight on the rope and one coach and the sport has strict weight categories; At Braemar the team must not exceed 640kg, which averages out to 80kg per participant.

Held at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park, the Games take place on the first Saturday of every September and attract visitors from around the world to watch a variety of traditional events including piping, Highland dancing and tossing the caber.

Both Royal Navy tug-of-war teams lost in the knockout stages of the plate competition.

Tug of War, which is fully funded as a category B athletics sport, is growing in popularity across the Armed Forces.

The sport includes an indoor form, which would be ideal for the crews of large ships as they could train in the hangar or vehicle deck.

If you are interested in building a team to represent your ship or unit contact Major Steven Sutherland RM at Navy Command Headquarters.