IOS WPGC 2025 – Captains’ Log
Jenny Bousfield – Ladies Team Captain
The 34th World Pilot Gig Championship took place at the beginning of May on the Isles of Scilly. The event celebrates the traditions of Gig rowing with camaraderie, athleticism, energy and enthusiasm. A team of ladies joined a team of men to represent PORTLAND GIG ROWING CLUB, rowing in the OPEN EVENT. The Event consists 1.59 Nautical mile straight line race from ST AGNES, which is a seeding race and followed by 3 more races – 1.16 Nautical miles known as NUTROCK.
The ladies team consisted of Ann (6) myself; Jenny (5) Becky (4) Karen C (3) Heather L(2) Vicky (1), and coxed by Josh for St Agnes and Trudy for the 3 Nutrock races. With support from the ladies team, we have trained hard for this event, working on mimicking the distance and racing back. However the first days racing threw all racing plans out of the window. With North-westerly winds and some unpredictable water, it took us double the time to even reach the start line, and then with 128 gigs competing it took a while to get started. Josh navigated some crazy water and we were relieved to finish. As someone who is quite happy to get wet rowing in seat 1, I was not expecting the same amount of water from seat 5. Strokes were missed, recovery and resilience were the key for this race. Some boats in this race were towed back in by the RNLI,who were more than spectators for this race.
Back on the beach – it was a quick turnaround to get the men out for their race.
Our second race of the day should have been easier, but again the waters turned an easy row to the start line as a challenge in its self, neighbouring gigs were stopping so rowers could relieve themselves of their stomach contents, it took so long to get to the start line that the racing was delayed in order to allow the Scillonean ferry to leave the harbour. Still in wet clothes from earlier we back watered, back watered a bit more and just for a change back watered. Trudy was our calm and skilful cox, what we couldn’t see from our positions was that the conditions with all the boats was hindering our start berth, Trudy kept us safe and able to get there. Once we were allowed to start we just wanted to get to the finish line. We started that heat as the second fastest, the fastest was relegated and we hung on to finish just in that heat. It is fair to say everyone felt shell shocked. Wet and cold and reminding ourselves this was a hobby. But… we row in this water all of the time – just on this day it was moving just a bit differently to how we are used to.
The second days racing could not have been more different. The sun came out, our noses burnt and we competed well, racing hard and competitively. Our overall position was 106, this could just as easily have been 99 – so close were the final finishes.
The event was finished with us donning our JOCKEY attire and celebrating not only our achievements but those of all the other rowers and HELFORD who lifted the trophy.
This was Karen and Vicky’s first Scillies and hope they enjoyed the event.
The combination of mixing with other rowers from other clubs, staying on arguably the most beautiful islands in the country and experiencing some challenging rowing has already got me planning for next year. Define addiction ?– it’s the WPGC
I am incredibly proud to have captained such a committed team of ladies and if anyone is considering it next year- it takes planning, resourcefulness, training and a sprinkling of craziness.
Keith Avant – Men’s Team Captain
After a long winter of on-water and specialised gym sessions hosted at the Portland Beach Cross Fit facility and an impressive placing at the 3 rivers, attention and excitement turned to the IOS WPGC for the Portland Men’s Team.
Although small in numbers, the Portland men made up for it in camaraderie and were a tight-knit group throughout the weekend. The majority traveled down to Penzance to catch the Thursday morning ferry, and once bags were safely stowed in the Steam Ship Companies ISO containers awaiting lifting into the ship’s hold, the men relaxed in the comfort of the Dolphin Tavern. Playing cards on the ferry to help to ease pre-championship nerves, and once on the glorious sun-kissed St Mary’s, The Atlantic Inn took the batton in providing a refuge to the weary travelers. A meal at the Old Town Inn and some final race discussions saw the evening out before attention turned to the Vets races on Friday.
Vets team recently bolstered by New recruits Peter Glock & Richard Hunter were looking to once again break into the top 12 after a period of falling short.
With calm seas and glorious weather, Cox’n Josh Smith positioned the Portland Vets crew perfectly, and a clear line to the finish combined with a fantastic start saw the Portland Men out in front for a period. This couldn’t be sustained and inexperience started to show as the Men finished a very credible 22nd in the Vets seeding Race. The crew felt they had more to give and, upon lining up in Heat B felt confident they may be able to steal a march into Heat A for the final on Saturday morning. unfortunately, alongside some serious competition, the Portland Vets couldn’t make any inroads into Heat A and finished 24th of 38.
Saturday morning brought a change in wind direction, strength, sea conditions, and new energy to Pulpit Rock as the vets made way to the Younger rowers. Upon rowing out to the start line, it dawned on this experienced Portland Open crew that the conditions were going to be something to savour, and not only would we be battling other boats, mother nature was also throwing down the gauntlet. Expertly coxed by seasoned Bristolian Darren Howard, the crew handled the conditions admirably and, upon completion of the seeding race in what could only be decried as biblical conditions, the men finished a very impressive 62nd of 129. The men were confident that this could be improved upon, and excitement built for the first Nut Rock race. Again, conditions were extremely testing, and Cox Darren Howard with a failing radio, somehow managed to put Pulpit Rock into the perfect start position and fantastic line for the start of the Nut Rock race. Again, the crew raced as if their lives depended on it with calm, experienced stroke rower Rob Lennis setting a rhythmic long stroke for the young powerhouses of Tom Howard, Keith Avant & Josh Smith in 4,3 & 2 to maximise the power output, which had Pulpit Rock singing in testing conditions. A mid heat placing was achieved with no threat of relegation, the crew had the bit between their teeth and were confident of a promotion place the following day.
On Sunday, the conditions were once again glorious and sea conditions calm. The excitement and determination within the crew was palpable. However Men’s Captain Keith Avant was rocked by news that Matt Ryan East had sustained a significant injury from the day before and would be unable to continue rowing on the Sunday. Richard Hunter stepped in yet again and assisted the crew in achieving another mid-heat finish.
The final race was now upon us, and still with the distinct possibility from their previous Nut Rock heat showing the men were confident that a podium finish was within their grasp, owing to Matt’s injury, the seating positions were shuffled as the last roll of the dice. Darren Howard heroically relinquished coxing duties to replace Matt, and the crew shuffled to have Josh Smith providing the heartbeat in the stroke seat. The trusted and experienced scillies vet Trudy Comben now stepped in to Cox and Pulpit Rock powered off the start line well in contention of that podium first place in heat F. Pulpit Rock on the outside berth was among the front runners but hit significant wash from the tripper boats with about 300 metres to and the resolve and heart was broken as they faded away from the front of the group eventually finishing 69th of 129.
The crew rowed back to the beach to collect the entirety of the crew, something to toast with, and to don this year’s firemen’s fancy dress outfits to then join the rafted gig boats in the amazing spectacle to raise oars to the final winning boat as the curtain came down on another truly spectacular weekend.
Men’s team captain Keith Avant: “Once again, a wonderful weekend! Considering how small we are as a club in comparison to some of our peers, we must be proud of our achievements yet again. The commitment, effort, and camaraderie within this tight-knit group is something special”
