Portland prove we baint a bunch of ‘Average Joes’ at WPGC ‘26
Words by Matthew R-E
Rowing out from St Mary’s Harbour to the start line of the Nut Rock Vets race, we paused for an “oars!” to soak up the archipelago’s splendour and take in the gravity of the event itself. For this was the 35th World Pilot Gig Championships. A true festival of the ocean, a celebration of gig rowing, and for us, a golden opportunity to put into practice the months of hard training that had got us here.
There was an undeniable sense of anticipation, but also a mood of purposeful, collective calm throughout the boat. Glancing over the gunwale of our beloved Pulpit Rock into the glittering sub-tropical waters, I felt not only a connection with the sea and the islands, the sport and our gig, but more deeply than that, with the club that I row for, the shirt on my back, and, in that sublime moment, the team who were with me. There for each other, pulling together, making our boat sing in the Isles of Scilly. And then, just as we started moving again, Max began singing sea shanties. You don’t forget moments like that in a hurry.
Minutes later, with a job we knew we had to do, we were rowing like warriors against the rest of the world, sucking in air, hanging on our oars, pistoning with our legs, and bringing it home for Portland!
Reflecting now, two weeks after the World Championships, on the whole weekend, it was this potent sense of togetherness, calm and commitment to what we had all been striving for, that summed up the competitive experience of the event for me. And even when we weren’t in the boat, we were all still part of that special community we know and love, week in, week out: the support crew waiting in the shallows on the beach, the teammates and families cheering with hoarse voices from the quay, and all those watching the live stream on their TVs, laptops and phones from home.
It’s that incredible noise of 1500 pins on the start line, the icy splash of a sudden wave on the back, the involuntary roar as you cross the finish. It’s the inspirational calls of the cox ringing in your ears, the unique sight of hundreds of oars in the air at the raft up, and that arm round the shoulder from the captain who led you here.
That is why we do it. And this is how it all happened…
In striking contrast to last year’s conditions, the weather was kinder and the waters were calmer; but the competition and the rowing was fiercer than ever. Adding Portland red to the barbarian crew’s stylish black kit, the club’s legendary Bos’n rowed like a Trojan in the no. 1 seat. This Ladies Vets crew was a union of Jurassic clubs, also including Weymouth and Lyme Regis. Having trained together since the end of January, the Green/Blue/Reds stroked Pulpit into 32nd place out of 48 boats, doing Dorset proud on the world stage. While this was an exciting opportunity for three rowers to experience the Scillies for the very first time, an extra special mention, kudos and congratulations go to Becky from Weymouth who was celebrating her 25th World Championship rodeo as part of this crew!
The Portland Men’s Vets, this year joined by other Scillies first-timers Keith B and Chris W, also showed their mettle in the St Agnes and Nut Rock races on the Friday. With Max ‘Flash’ Gordon coxing, Dazza setting the stroke and Keith A calling the drive, the Veteran Reds impressively held their own against stiff competition, finishing 21st out of 35 teams.
After a day’s hard rowing and racing, Friday evening brought the whole crew to the Old Town Inn for what has now become a Portland Scillies tradition. After the disruption and delay to crossings the day before, it was good to finally get the entire Portland family together. Rowers, team helpers, supporters and families (including perhaps the youngest ever member of PGRC to set foot on the IoS) enjoyed a meal of massive proportions. I’m not kidding – the burger alone was immense, but those onion rings deserve to be in the Guinness Book of Records! Happy and tired, we headed back across the island, up dark, winding lanes, to our hotels, B&Bs and tents, with only the gentle sounds of the lapping waves and the light of the full moon to lead us.
(Editor’s note. It wasn’t all ‘gentle sounds’ for everyone – upon arriving back in Hugh Town, those staying in Schooners were met with a deafening fire alarm coming from the third floor of the hotel. The very floor, coincidentally, where a certain Portland men’s rower who was also a retired firefighter just happened to be staying… The owners told me the following day that they had been very grateful to have someone with that experience on hand while they identified and resolved the issue.)
Saturday arrived with fresh challenges – but nothing that our stoic Ladies Captain, Jenny, couldn’t cope with. The team, coxed by Allard, suffered the early setback when (Portland) Becky succumbed to illness before the day’s racing got underway. With just 30 minutes before ‘go time’, Jenny managed to rustle up a replacement, who, incidentally, at the moment of receiving the call to arms, was taking a very relaxing stroll! Lightning (or more accurately, D&V) struck twice on day two as Shelley was struck down with similar symptoms and Jenny, who was now an expert in the art of crew re-registration and sourcing spare red kits, scoured her contacts and secured another honorary Portland rower by 0730. Our hearts went out to Becky and Shelley as it looked like their IoS ‘26 experience was in danger of being cut (and caught) short! But fortune smiled and they both recovered in time to get some serious racing done. For Shelley, this was also her first time at the World Champs, so we all felt a huge sense of relief when, smiling and raring to go, she felt well enough to jump in the boat and row like a pro on day 2 of the Senior Ladies competition. For Becky, her bounce back from illness added an injection of power that gave the team that extra edge over their competition. In their 2nd Nut Rock heat, pulling hard, the Reds absolutely smashed their race, coming first in Group J by five boat lengths (!!!) and progressing up to the next group for the final.
With plucky Portland perseverance, and the Ladies achieved their target of breaking into the top 100, finishing 99th overall (8 places higher than 2025!), having moved up an incredible 15 places since the seeding race. This truly was a worthy testament to what Jenny and her team have been building towards over the Winter. The jubilant mood was matched by their sense of fun too, with music playing each time they rowed out to the start before getting their game faces on when the racing began. We are so grateful to the wonderful rowers from a certain green-coloured neighbouring club who leant their strength and skill to the boat in our time of need. By the time of the ladies raft up, in full disco mode, Portland – all dressed in Hawaiian outfits – had every right to be celebrating in style.
(Jenny would also like to point out that the Ladies team will be seeking sponsorship from Imodium next year!)
I want to take a moment here to introduce Portland’s newly appointed resident psychic. Move over Mystic Meg; make way for Telepathic Trudy. Before the Ladies’ 3rd round heat, this Portland prophet predicted the result precisely – that the Ladies would win the group and gain promotion. And it happened just as she said it would! So, when this oracle foretold of a similar outcome for the Senior Men’s crew in their third race, I was filled with a dizzying mixture of excitement, trepidation, the weight of expectation and awe. Up until this moment, the Men’s Open team had summoned the strength of the bear to finish 67th in the long race (incidentally, their final position in 2025) before moving up to 64th in the first Nut Rock heat. Could Trudy’s fortune-telling really come true? Filled with a collective sense of belief, and feeling that fate was, in fact, in our own hands (and legs, core, arms), we rowed out to the start line with Tony in the cox’s seat for the penultimate push before the final.
After a tricky start, in which Hayden, our valiant captain in stroke, had to pull his oar in…twice!…to avoid another boat, we stayed calm and steadily moved up the pack until we only had one boat ahead of us. In a thrilling cat and mouse race to the end, smelling victory as we roared towards the finish line, the brave boys in the Red boat gave it everything and proved Trudy right with true Portland grit.
Having earned the promotion to Group E and making it a double day of victories for the Men’s and Ladies’ teams, Portland Men went into the final on a high. Empyting the tank and giving it their all, the Men did the club proud by finishing 59th in the world and continuing to set the bar for the rest of the season. Joined by the Bos’n and her cork-popping Mate, and despite joining the raft up dressed as members of the underdogs from Dodgeball, as Simon pointed out in a post-race huddle, this was no team of Average Joes. Instead, this was a crew led by an inspirational captain, rowing with pride for each other, proving our worth, and packing a powerful Red Portland punch!
After returning to the beach, a little dizzy from a combination of lingering adrenaline, sheer elation and Simon’s very tasty port, we spent the rest of that final evening doing what every one of the 3000 or so rowers do on the Sunday night at the world championships: partying!!! It was a fitting end to a fantastic weekend – soaking up the celebrations, singing in the pubs, sharing stories from the last three days, sinking some Cornish cider, and knowing we’d all done a proper job for Portland and each other out there on the water.
It’s always sad to say goodbye to St Mary’s. But, after packing away my wet tent and having a final pastry from the Garrison shop, it was time to return to the mainland and head back to reality. But the memories and the stories and the celebrations will stay will us for a very long time, and as soon as my feet touched Penzance pavement, I started counting down the days until I’ll be eating another one of Ann’s pasties on Porthcressa beach with my Portland family again next year!
Just 348 days to go!!!*
*this number was correct at the time of writing but to be honest, whatever the figure, WPGC ‘27 can’t come soon enough!
