The Stone Must Be Easdale Slate, Under Three Inches, and Bounce Twice, and Saturday Is Sold Out

The World Stone Skimming Championships are held on Easdale Island, off the west coast of Scotland near Oban, on Saturday 5 September. Competitor places are sold out. Spectators get in free.

The rules are tighter than the event's reputation suggests. The stone must be naturally formed Easdale slate and must not exceed three inches at its widest point. Each competitor gets three attempts in a single session and may enter only one session. A skim counts only if the stone bounces at least twice. Distance is measured to the point where the stone sinks, and the longest valid skim wins the category. Competitors may not take a running start, and both feet must stay on the platform.

The venue is the reason the rules can be that specific. Easdale's slate quarries were worked until the industry collapsed and are now flooded, which gives the championship a walled arena of still water with a fixed back wall. Wind and swell do not vary the way they would on open water, so distances are comparable from year to year in a way almost no other outdoor throwing event manages.

There are seven categories, from nine and under to sixty and over, with separate Open and Female subcategories and divisions for teams and island residents. Ties for Open Champion are settled by a three-skim toss-off decided on cumulative distance.

The event began in 1983, lapsed, and was revived in 1997. It now draws more than 400 competitors from over 25 countries and around 1,500 spectators to an island whose permanent population is a small fraction of that. It is the community's main annual fundraiser.

Friday evening has a pre-skim party with live music. Registration closes at eleven on Saturday morning with the first toss, prizes are at half past four, and there is a ceilidh afterwards.