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Tamar & Tavy Gig Club celebrate best ever world championships

Tamar & Tavy Gig Club had a fantastic weekend of racing at the World Pilot Gig Championships on the Isles of Scilly from the 2^nd – 4^th May. They took Ladies and Men’s A and B teams, and their boats Ginette and Tamar were two of 147 gigs taking part. The teams had worked hard all winter to prepare, often battling challenging conditions on the Tamar, but they were rewarded by idyllic conditions to race in, with calm seas and clear blue skies. Rowing captain Lynn Renton commented that the ‘great weather, great results and great people all combined to make it a fantastic experience’.

The Men’s A team rowed superbly, with some brilliant coxing resulting in them reaching group D (the 4^th of 12 groups) in the seeding race; within the top 50 crews. They then held their position for the 2 heats that followed, and had a blistering row in the final with some fierce competition, finishing in 7^th place in their heat and 42^nd overall. An amazing achievement and a massive 33 places higher than they finished in 2013, proving they are a force to be reckoned with. The B team also had a strong championships, beginning in a low group, but winning that in the first heat by a good few boat lengths – fantastic! They went on to finish in group K in 127^th place; a great achievement.

The Ladies A team similarly proved their worth, battling some tough conditions in the seeding race, which landed them in group H, below where they were hoping to be. This gave them renewed determination and they had an amazing couple of heats, winning both by at least a boat length which put them into group F for the final. They pulled it out of the bag, rowing their hearts out, to finish 2^nd in the group, and 62^nd overall, 8 places higher than ever before; fantastic! The Ladies B had a superb row in the seeding race, finishing in group I. They then held their position, competing strongly within their group with 2 strong heats, and a brilliant final finishing 104^th overall.

Club chair Simon Howes said ‘This year’s expedition to the World Championships in Scilly was our best ever – best training, best organisation, best publicity, best teamwork, best weather and BEST RESULTS.  It takes an enormous amount of effort to project two boats and four teams to the islands and it is a whole club enterprise.  Oar painters, coaches, boat tow drivers and all the others who have had a part in the club’s success should be proud of our results.  We can of course do even better next year and with this level of commitment I am confident we shall.’

Huge congratulations to all the rowers, to their coxes, and in particular to Pete Keegan, Jake Rendle and Claire Luxton, for whom it was their first world championships. They did the club proud. Thanks also to Jean-Pierre Le Tissier from Cotehele Quay Gig Club who rowed for our men’s B team, and to all the supporters and club members who have trained and rowed throughout the winter and supported the team’s preparations. It truly was a great club event and a brilliant start to the 2014 season.

It’s a bit of a different day on the islands today, we’ve lost the sun so the shorts are packed and the woolly hats back out! The seas look quite rough for those on the Scillonian…so everyone is envious of those who are flying.

The official results are now in! A full report will follow once we’re back on the mainland, but for now we are extremely proud to report the following:

Ladies
A team: 62nd – 6. Sarah Gall, 5. Meg Keegan, 4. Katie Turner, 3. Helen Atrill, 2. Charity Phillips, 1. Heidi Brodribb, Cox. Bill Stacey-Norris

B team: 104th – 6. Julie Rendle, 5. Nicky Evans, 4. Lynn Renton, 3. Claire Luxton, 2. Jane Morton, 1. Helen Samson-Hill, Cox. Simon Howes

Men’s
A team: 43rd – 6. Andy Morton, 5. Pete Keegan, 4. Mark Turner, 3. Jake Rendle, 2. Rob Dawe, 1. Simon Luke, Cox. Carolyn Dawe

B team: 127th – 6. Jean-Pierre Le Tissier (Cotehele Quay), 5. John Rogers, 4. Roger Hine, 3. Euan Roxburgh, 2. Peter Clark, 1. Matt Pinney, Cox. Chris Dill

We had a great time celebrating last night once the boats were packed away. They were manhandled very successfully off the beach and onto their trailers – who needs trolleys hey?! The meal at the Kavorna was very tasty, and we then went our separate ways, some to the campsite, some only made it as far as The Atlantic across the road, and others off to the Turks Head on St Agnes. But we did all have one thing in common, and that was that we made the most of some celebratory drinks – very well deserved I think!

So, it’s been an amazing weekend, we couldn’t have hoped for better conditions, and the results prove how good our teams really are. Huge congratulations to all that rowed and to our fantastic coxes. Thanks also to our two captains, Katie and Chris, our rowing captain Lynn and chairman Simon, and to those that have coached and coxed us in training, and of course a massive thank you to all our supporters and the rest of the club – we most certainly couldn’t have done it without you!

Both teams had an amazing heat. The B team came first by at least 3 boat lengths which was fantastic, so they have gone up into group K. The men’s A rowed really strongly, coming 4th in group D – well set up for tomorrow.

So that’s two boats winning there heats and 2 boats staying put, and everyone looking strong!

Off to shower and eat now before an early night ready to race out hearts out tomorrow. Can’t wait!

Day two has been another lovely day, despite the fact that we haven’t seen the sun at all! We’ve got the boats sorted out and then had 4 boats on the water. The first was a mixed boat and they had some swells to battle…heading across to St Agnes and back. Then the men’s crews went out for a spin, by which time the swell had died away – phew! The ladies then followed suit, also enjoying glassy smooth seas and watching a gig sailing – and it looked gorgeous. Fingers crossed the seas are the same tomorrow….! The Scillonian has just arrived, delivering the last few club members safely, so now all that remains is to carb load and watch the vets. We’ll be cheering on Carolyn who is rowing for Cotehele Quay and Nicky for Langstone Cutters. Good luck ladies! Then it’ll be off to bed to make sure we are fully rested and ready to row!

Ginette has now joined Tamar on the islands! Thank you to Lynn Renton for delivering her safely to Penzance for us. Training is winding down now (the Ladies A even had a time for a cream tea after last Monday’s row – thank you Heidi) and there is less than a week to go before we will be heading west to join the gigs. In fact, this time next week day one of racing will be well and truly underway! We’ve been enjoying some much better weather recently, with some stunning weekend and evening rows. All the crews are looking strong, and despite some last minute injuries we have 4 full crews ready for action! The ladies managed a day sea training thanks to Bill Stacey-Norris a couple of weeks ago, and the men have been putting the hours in on the river. Now all that remains is to get everyone out to the Scillies and then to row our hearts out….bring it on!