World Pilot Gig Championships – 2023
Maverick: “I feel the need …”
Goose: “… the need for speed!”
A quote that was repeated on many occasion and became synonymous with the weekend of April 27th – April 30th 2023
After a 4 year hiatus (mainly due to covid) the crews in Red were on their way to the World Pilot Gig Championships in the beautiful Isles of Scilly. As most of you know, this is a huge fixture in the gig rowing calendar so there was obviously a lot of excitement heading into it – despite the early morning starts and long journeys ahead of us!
The club had entered a Men’s Vets Team, as well as Men and Ladies A crews for the open races with the Men’s Vets team kicking off the racing for PGRC. The format is that the first race is the seeding race. All teams in the vets category race the long race from St Agnes, to determine what positions the crews will be in for the following races from Nut Rock. The gents put in a solid row to finish 9th which meant they would be in group A for the following heats. Mixed news then followed. The fog came in which meant the remaining heats due to take place Friday afternoon had to be canceled – which was a shame but what this did mean is that the guys went straight through to the final which would take place Saturday Morning. Saturday morning was a bit of a waiting game to see whether the Men’s Vets Final races would go ahead or not due to the fog. Thankfully this lifted and the crews were given the all clear to race. The guys once again put in a superb performance to finish 9th. 9TH IN THE WORLD!! What a result, well done to the Men’s Vets Team you should all be really proud of what you have achieved.
The Saturday afternoon brought the first heats of the races for both our Men’s and Ladies A crews. Once again all crews (100+ of them) race from St Agnes to determine what groups they will be in for the following heats. It’s such an experience, being on the start line with 100+ boats and as soon as the word “GO!” is shouted down the radio – all you hear is a thunder of oars crashing onto the pins, something that can’t be replicated at any other regatta. Both crews performed magnificently across the whole weekend. The men even got caught up in an incident towards the end of the first race with different boats crashing into the side of them, therefore interfering with their progress in the race and ultimately having an impact on their seeding for the following heats.
The results from for the open category were the following:
Men’s A – Round 1 – St Agnes Race – 78th
Men’s A – Round 2 – Nut Rock Race – 6th in Group G
Men’s A – Round 3 – Nut Rock Race – Cancelled due to fog
Men’s A – Round 4 – Nut Rock Race – 1st in Group G (73rd Overall)
Ladies A – Round 1 – St Agnes Race – 78th
Ladies A – Round 2 – Nut Rock Race – 2nd in Group G – PROMOTION TO GROUP F
Ladies A – Round 3 – Nut Rock Race – 4th in Group F
Ladies A – Round 4 – Nut Rock Race – 8th in Group F (68th Overall)
Lots to be proud of there as you can see! The ladies A crew getting themselves promoted and holding their own within the higher group too. Very well done to all!
And the men managed to pull themselves to victory in the final race, meaning an opportunity to celebrate on the podium and collect a trophy.
Once the rowing had stopped, the party began, the port was flowing and everyone donned on their Top Gun Overalls which went down well with the crowds throughout the night, the team even made an appearance on BBC Cornwall!
To summarise, it was a fantastic weekend for the club, a great effort from everyone involved and some brilliant results were achieved. Also safe to say the post championship blues have well and truly set in!
Who’s up for 2024!? – See you soon Isles of Scilly
(check out our photo gallery for more photos!)
