Tamar and Tavy Gig Club were visited by BBC News who came to film us in our final preparations for the 2012 Diamond Jubilee Flotilla.
Saturday 7th September saw three teams from Tamar & Tavy Gig Club in their Cornish Pilot Gigs, Belinda O’Flynn, Tamar & Ginette at the annual Great London River Race. A junior team of under 14’s; a ladies super vets squad and a men’s crew, aged 17 to 75! Having trained hard over preceding months, coping with last minute injuries, drafting in of a replacement coxswain for the ladies, not to mention the logistics of just getting there, all were up, out of their tents for the 0630 start to a very long and exciting day. For over 20 miles the 319 boats entered, race from Milwall to Richmond, navigating the numerous number of bridges across the river. The weather, much improved from last year with a mixture of sun & cloud and ambient temperature, saw a strong head wind and tide providing for a demanding race.
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Rock Regatta
LONDON RIVER RACE REPORT
Saturday 7th September saw three teams from Tamar & Tavy Gig Club in their Cornish Pilot Gigs, Belinda O’Flynn, Tamar & Ginette at the annual Great London River Race. A junior team of under 14’s; a ladies super vets squad and a men’s crew, aged 17 to 75! Having trained hard over preceding months, coping with last minute injuries, drafting in of a replacement coxswain for the ladies, not to mention the logistics of just getting there, all were up, out of their tents for the 0630 start to a very long and exciting day. For over 20 miles the 319 boats entered, race from Milwall to Richmond, navigating the numerous number of bridges across the river. The weather, much improved from last year with a mixture of sun & cloud and ambient temperature, saw a strong head wind and tide providing for a demanding race.
Getting on the water was the primary challenge and the help rendered to others, by the Tamar men’s crew, made them last on the water and a 6 minute adjustment to their final time. At the start some support boats hindered the participants among them our ladies in Ginette who also had a collision with a dragon boat – that craft suffered a broken oar as a result of their actions. Despite this Ginette got a flying start but later on in the race she was undercut by a large whaler at one of the bridges and gigs they had been in front of overtook them and they never quite regained their placing. Tamar had an ongoing battle with 2 other gigs, ‘Water Witch’ and ‘Cream of Cornwall’ throughout the race. Belinda O’Flynn with our indomitable juniors, made steady progress through the myriad of boats; blisters and periods of heat proved to be their immediate rivals.
Tamar & Tavy Juniors crew
Tamar crossed the line at the 3 hour mark; Ginette was a few minutes later and the juniors came in at the 4 hour point. Notwithstanding the bumps, blisters, sore backs and tiredness, all achieved something incredible and no doubt had much to talk about in The Swan, where a well earned feed and a cleansing ale/lemonade was had. A brilliant effort by everyone involved; rowers, towers, supporters and parents.
Tamar and Tavy Gig Club won the Ladies Super Vets Championships at Saltash adding another trophy to the clubs cabinet.
The ladies gave their all and rowed a brilliant race. Their total commitment showed when, after a shaky start, they pulled through the whole pack and held lead position for most of the race. Defending champions, Dart who have won this championship for the last two years, were on their tail all the way but T & T Cox, Carolyn Dawe, asked for more and the team responded, pulling away from Dart when it mattered most and were able to raise their oars aloft in victory on the finishing line.
The crew were Jo Cameron, Ruth Walker, Julie Eastaugh, Lyn Renton, Viv Barnes and Julie Rendle and they should all feel really proud of this incredible achievement.
The club also sent three other crews to the regatta: A Men’s Super vets team which included 3 rowers who had rowed to the Eddystone Lighthouse only last week; the Ladies Vets who got through the first heat to finish a close 2nd in the Plate Semi final and an Under 16s team who got through to the final where they achieved overall position of 6th and importantly beat a team from Caradon who always put out top crews. The under 16’s were Megan Haynes-Parry rowing stroke, Caitlin Haynes-Parry, Amber Friendship, Charlie Fethney, George Masters and Rosie Lloyd who all worked really well together pushing the boat in front all the way with coxes Bill Stacey-Norris and Paula Haynes-Parry keeping them out of trouble. The youngster’s oarsman ship was commented on favourably by the hosts, Caradon, and as always they were a real credit.
Tamar and Tavy Gig Club took 8 crews to Rock Regatta on Sunday and came away with some excellent results particularly in the junior section of the club.
The regatta was held at the beautiful Daymer Bay with crews rowing from the beach out round two buoys at the Doom Bar and back to the beach. The setting was absolutely stunning, made even more so by the beautiful sunny day. There was an off shore wind which made rowing the last leg hard going and with quite a lot of surf getting on and off the beach was quite hairy at times.
First off were the Ladies and then Mens Vets crews. Both crews had members rowing their first race giving them invaluable experience competing in sea conditions. The boats were with the main packs all the way and had really good races.
Next out were the Under 14s with Fen Eastaugh, Rosie Lloyd, Megan Haynes-Parry, Charlie Fethney, Ollie Wood and Angus Hogg. Although they had a bad start all rowed a brilliant race finishing in a fantastic 3rd position. With two fairly new rowers this really was an excellent result.
So many juniors wanted to row in this regatta that four other under 14s, Anya Anstey, Freya Novak, Caitlin Haynes-Parry and Vicky Fethney got together with 2 rowers from Cotehele Quay and formed another crew. This boat also did really well and again provided all the rowers with good experience of sea conditions. Sam Lloyd also stepped up to help a crew from another club who were short of a rower although he hadn’t planned on rowing at all.
The Under 16s race was next and T & T crew Amber Friendship, Miles Eastaugh, George Masters, Fran Kelly, Alice Kalninis and Drew Mortimore, coxed by Paula Haynes-Parry had an excellent race battling with another boat for 2nd place towards the end. They couldn’t quite hold them off so also finished in brilliant 3rd position.
The Ladies A race went off in two heats and the T & T crew were 9th overall out of 17, the ladies B crew were 13th out of 21. The Mens B crew, after having a serious battle on the buoy involving broken thole pins, were also 13th.
The biggest surprise of the day was in the last race. A boat comprising ladies and men were sent out to take part in the mixed race but after leaving the beach they discovered it was actually a novelty race which involved leaping out of the boat at the end, running up the beach with half the crew carrying the other half. For the rest of the club watching it was, needless to say, hilarious but they took it in good part with hardly any injuries!
All these results were fantastic but particular mention must be made of the clubs junior section who not only performed brilliantly but also really enjoyed themselves in the surf and on the beach all day.
The coxes did a great job as always, Bill Stacey-Norris, Tricia Stewart, Paula Haynes-Parry and Nicky Sellers. Mike Vosper once again towed the gig down the narrow lanes and the supporters also did a great job especially the youngsters leaping up and down in the surf shouting encouragement to the crews.
A great day was had by all.
Tamar and Tavy will be holding their own regatta on Saturday 27th August at Weir Quay. There will be a barbecue and evening entertainment and everyone is welcome.
The club welcome new members with sessions to suit everyone from purely social rowing to training for competition and also junior sessions on a Friday night which often involve a barbecue. All ages are welcome with the current membership ranging from 10 years old to rowers in their 70s.
Tamar and Tavy Gig Club hosted their second regatta on Saturday. The rain held off and despite the chilly wind everything went smoothly and all crews enjoyed themselves. The barbecue fed everyone all afternoon and the cake stall with the most fantastic display of cakes baked by club members kept energy levels topped up.Visiting crews were from Salcombe Gig Club with their boat Bolt and local rivals Cotehele Quay with their boats Zeus and Cream of Cornwall.
The first race which opened the regatta was gruelling 7 mile slog from Weir Quay to the Brunel Bridge and back taking over an hour. The crews were handicapped according to age so the T & T ladies in Tamar went off first and were followed and fairly quickly overtaken by the ladies in Bolt. The Salcombe crew were, in fact, in the lead for over half the race but were then taken by the young men from Cotehele Quay in Cream of Cornwall. The end results was Cream of Cornwall 1st, 2nd place Bolt and in 3rd place the mixed crew from Tamar and Tavy in Ginette.
The vets race was next, a shorter course but keenly fought. The Salcombe ladies in Bolt had a good start and got an early lead. Tamar and Tavy ladies in Ginette, after a difficult start, pulled through past the men in Cream of Cornwall and the T & T mixed crew in Tamar, trying hard to catch Bolt. The pull down to the buoys at the Saltash side of Cargreen seemed a long row but Ginette gradually began to close on Bolt though finally losing to the Salcombe crew by a couple of boat lengths. Finishing places were Bolt in 1st place with Ginette 2nd then Cream of Cornwall and Tamar.
The hotly contested Juniors race was next with a straight race from Cargreen back up to Weir Quay. Tamar and Tavy entered two crews with both boats rowing cracking races to come in first and second places. The junior section of the club has had an absolutely fantastic season this year with their commitment and enjoyment of the sport reaping rewards.
The last race of the day was the Barbarian race which despite being a more fun event is still keenly fought over. All clubs fielded completely mixed crews with juniors, ladies and men all rowing in the same boats. Cotehele Quay rowing in Cream of Cornwall came 1st overall and was able to celebrate some really good results during the afternoon.
At the end of the day, Tricia Stewart, club Chairman, thanked visiting crews for helping to make the regatta a success and then introduced Bob Turner, one of the clubs founder members, who kindly presented the prizes.
It was all hands on deck to get the gigs out of the water and back onto the trailers ready for the homeward journeys. The raffle then took place and with such a vast array of gifts on offer took some time to complete.
The day was a great success enjoyed by all.
Chilly weather on Friday, heavy sea swell on Saturday and perfect conditions on Sunday, set the scene for the World Gig Championships. All the crews sent from this Bere Peninsula club, showed huge amounts of grit, determination, and sheer ‘Grunt,’ especially when asked by their coxes for more!
The seeding races took place on the Saturday morning, were long and hard but this grouped the boats fairly, according to ability. All the races were hard fought, throughout the weekend and not without incidence. Oars were seen to clash on more than one occasion!
The club was represented by a fantastic combination of age and experience (the average age being late thirties/forties), old hands and debutants. The results achieved were the culmination of solid, consistent training throughout the winter months, great personal commitment and outstanding support from family, friends and the wider club community.
Ladies Group I Winners:
coxed by Bill Stacey-Norris, Viv Barnes, Tricia Stewart, Julie Rendle, Nicky Evans, Fizz Ward, Helen Samson-Hill
The results:
Ladies Veterans (A), 21st of 53;
Ladies Supervets (B) were 5th;
Men’s Veterans, 23rd of 48;
Ladies (A), 66th of 125;
Men’s (A), 2nd in their group final, 62nd of 120 overall;
Ladies (B), 109 of 125, group I winners, trophy holders and pictured above; coxed by Bill Stacey-Norris, Viv Barnes (stroke), Tricia Stewart (5), Julie Rendle (4), Nicky Evans (3), Fizz Ward (2), Helen Samson-Hill (1).
All of which continues to demonstrate a local club going from strength to strength and looking forward to the rest of the 2012 season!