Burnham-On-Sea Pilot Gig Rowing Club has this month competed in the World Pilot Gig Championships on the Isles of Scilly.
The club had crews in the Ladies Vets (>40s) and Open, and the Mens SuperVets (>50s) and Open.
There were two races for the Vets, a 3km row out to the island of St Agnes, with a race back to St Marys, and then the 2km Nut Rock Race, with a row out to the start.
The Open crews row the same St Agnes Race, and three Nut Rock races over two days. Many of the crews rowed in both the open and Vets races, with six races overall.
The club’s Stuart Anderson told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The Ladies Vets came first in their group D, finishing 37th out of 44 starters. The Mens Supervets came 31st out of 42.”
“The Ladies Open crew finished 122nd out of 140 starters and were second in their Group K.”
“The Mens Open won their second round Nut Rock Race, which promoted them to the group above, but were unable to hold their position and finished 114th out of 139 boats.”
“It was an amazing experience being on the 1 mile start line of the St Agnes race with that many boats. The raft up of all the boats after the final races is particularly special.”
This is the second year that Burnham-on-Sea have entered a crew for the Championship, and have trained hard over the winter.
Anyone who is interested in trying gig rowing, aged over 18 with any level of fitness, can get in contact for three free taster rows to see if gig rowing is for you. Email the club at BOSgigs@outlook.com
You can watch Gig racing at the Burnham-On-Sea Regatta on Saturday June 1st, starting around mid-day, when several boats from other Gig clubs will be racing with Burnham along the seafront, weather permitting.
