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The Gig rowing community enjoyed a full weekend of sport across the South West last weekend, with regattas taking place at Ilfracombe, Boscastle, Rock, Exmouth and St Ives. North Devon Clubs were well represented with Barnstaple Pilot Gig Club at Boscastle regatta on Saturday and Rock on Sunday, Torridge gig club at Ilfracombe on Saturday and Rock on Sunday, Bideford gig club attended Exmouth regatta on Saturday, and Appledore and Ilfracombe gig clubs were at Ilfracombe regatta also on Saturday.

Boscastle regatta on Saturday continued despite the early fog that shrouded the harbour in the morning, but which fortunately lifted enough for the racing to commence in the afternoon. The home club (Boscastle and Crackington Haven) were well adapted to the almost unique conditions on the race course that circumnavigated Meachard Island, with a final buoy turn for a homeward dash to the finish line at the harbour entrance. They came first in every category to take the overall trophy for the day. Barnstaple came 2nd in the Ladies B, 4th in the Men’s B, 3rd in the Ladies A, 4th in the Men’s A, and 4th in both the Ladies and Men’s Veteran races. The home club then entertained the visitors to a garden party in the magnificent setting of Boscastle Harbour, enjoyed by all.

Rock regatta was held on Sunday at Daymer Bay and it attracted 27 boats to take part, including Nipper from Barnstaple and Will to Win from Torridge. Many of the Barnstaple rowers had also rowed at Boscastle the previous day, so they all took part in five separate races over the weekend. The conditions at Daymer Bay were good, with only a slight swell and light winds, in contrast to the ‘Bibbly-Bobbly’ conditions the previous day at Boscastle. Friendly rivalry took place between Torridge and Barnstaple in the different races during the day, culminating in a determined row by Barnstaple Ladies in the A race chasing Torridge ladies all the way to the finishing line. The Torridge crew prevailed to cross the line one boat length ahead of Barnstaple. The beautiful beach and river views at Daymer Bay were a fine setting for this regatta, much enjoyed by all who attended.

Photos:
1 Men’s B crews at Rock regatta, Torridge followed by Barnstaple then Bude.
2 Gig boats in Boscastle harbour preparing to race.

Dragon Boat Challenge – February 2019

Barnstaple Pilot Gig Club finished one of their busiest weeks ever on Sunday with their third Dragon Boat Festival on the Taw in Barnstaple.  Full advantage was taken of the Spring-like weather and high spring tides when the nine competing crews gathered at Castle Quay early on Sunday morning, and the first race got underway at 8.45am.

The visiting Bude Pilot Gig Boat club kindly loaned their gig ‘Barrel Rock’ to race alongside Barum’s ‘Phillipa J’ and ‘Barum Bobby’ in a series of seven races from the swing bridge over the Yeo to the finish line opposite Tea on the Taw. The boats were adorned with Dragon Heads on the bow, and each had 12 paddlers for crew and a Barum helmsman.  Crews came from Lyme Regis Gig Club, Bude Gig Club, Exe-Calibre Dragon Boat Club, Saunton Sands Surf Life Saving Club, Fremington Trailblazers (3 crews), Parker Hannifin in Barnstaple, and Barnstaple Pilot Gig Club.

Each crew raced in one of the first three races against two other crews, and the third-placed crews from those races raced each other in race 4. The second-placed crews raced in race 5, and the first-placed crews raced in race 6 to determine the overall winner. Finally the second-placed crews from races 5 and 6 raced each other in race 7 to determine second and third places overall.

The final placings were:

1st  Saunton Sands Surf Life Saving Club

2nd   Lyme Regis Gig Club

3rd   Exe-Calibre Dragon Boat Club

Phillipa J and Barum Bobby racing each other.

Nine Gig Boat clubs travelled to Appledore last Saturday to take part in the second round of the North Coast Gig League. Many of the clubs use this league to try out new crews and to introduce new rowers to gig boat racing, so it was well attended with no room left in the car park by 10.30 in the morning. The start line was beyond Yelland Quay in the river Taw, and the boats raced back to the finishing line at Appledore Quay.

The weather was fair and sea conditions good as the first race (Ladies B) set off for the start line, pulling against a strong incoming tide. This meant the crews were well warmed up before the race back, won by Bristol. Bristol went on to win the Men’s A and B races, and the Ladies and Men’s Veteran races, and the Men’s A was won by Appledore. Appledore also went on to win the Supervets races for both Ladies and Men.

Bristol Pilot Gig Club have presented strong crews at both NCGL meetings this year, indicating their determination to get good results in the World Championships in the Scilly Isles in May.

David Dixon
Barnstaple Pilot Gig Club CIO
Charity reg no. 1172955

Photos:
1 Boats on Appledore slipway

Sport England grant brings Barnstaple Water Sports Centre nearer to realisation

Barnstaple Pilot Gig Club has now been promised a grant of £75,000 from Sport England towards the cost of purchasing a former warehouse on Rolle’s Quay for use as a Water Sports Centre and communal facility for the people of Barnstaple. This follows on from the earlier promise by the Fullabrook Community fund to provide £34,000 as well towards the project. Both promises are conditional on BPGC raising the balance of the £200,000 purchase price for the building, and, in the case of Sport England, for the estimated £50,000 needed to refurbish.

During the last twelve months the club has raised £26,000 through it’s ‘Off the R’owd’ appeal, with fund-raising events at least once every month. In addition the club is very grateful for the grants from NDC Councillors Community fund that allowed professional surveys of the building, so that plans can be made for the necessary remedial works. The Peregrine Mears Architectural practise has kindly prepared design drawings and technical drawings for the building to be used as a boatshed and communal facility, and Clear Asbestos Solutions Ltd, Slee Blackwell solicitors and Underwood Wright Chartered Surveyors have all provided professional services at little or no cost.

There is still a balance of £65,000 needed to achieve the purchase price, and the club is continuing with its fund-raising efforts every month. Also the outcomes of two further grant applications are awaited.

The proposed Water Sports centre has already aroused interest from North Devon Scouts, the WI, the University of the Third Age, PETROC, local Surf Life Saving clubs, Bideford Canoe Club, a Morris Dancing Group in Braunton, and West Buckland school. When complete it will have a secure boatshed and workshop on the ground floor and a substantial secure compound outside for storing trailers, boats and ancillary equipment. The first floor will be principally a large meeting area big enough to seat at least 60 people, a small kitchenette and toilets. Modifications to the building will allow disabled access.

Club chairman Kevin Ward said “We are very grateful for all the support given to this project by local business and the general public in the Barnstaple area that has allowed us to achieve so much in such a short time. We are hoping to achieve the purchase price during early 2019 so that refurbishment works may commence and the Water Sports Centre become fully operational by late summer 2019. It is the club’s aspiration that the facility will welcome other water sports users, and encourage creation and growth of other clubs, and individual users to create a vibrant water sports culture in Barnstaple. To help us turn this dream into reality we have a just giving page (https://www.justgiving.com/barnstaplepilotgigclub), so please dig deep – every donation, large or small will help create a water sports and community facility that can benefit us all. Thank you to all who have already supported our aims. Our fund-raising team continue to organise fund-raising events and I ask for everyone to support those events in order that Barnstaple will benefit from this project.”

6656 Former Warehouse, Rolle Quay A04

6656 Former Warehouse, Rolle Quay A02

The Great River Race on the Thames in London took place last Saturday, attended by almost every Pilot Gig Boat club in North Devon.  The race is almost 22 miles long, from Millwall slip in the East of London to Ham House next to Richmond on Thames, and it is a handicap race for all types of traditional rowing boats.  320 boats took part this year, including 49 Cornish Pilot Gig Boats, the majority of which were from Devon and Cornwall.

Because of the handicap system the Pilot gig Boats started almost an hour after the slower rowing boats, but even so Will-to-Win from the Torridge Gig Boat Club in Appledore was rowed with skill and power through the throng of boats on the river to gain first place in the race in a time of 2 hours, 22 minutes and 32 seconds.  It was such a quick time that the gunner who was responsible for firing the finish cannon was not ready and he missed the first boat arriving!

Finishing places and times by local clubs are shown below:

Summary showing finishing positions for North Devon Pilot Gig Boats:

Position           Boat                          Club                      Time

1                  Will to Win                  Torridge                 02.21.32

28                Bedehaven                  Bude                    02.35.48

42                Torrent                        Boscastle / CH      02.40.22

74                Margaret James          Appledore             02.47.10

84                Barum Bobby              Barnstaple            02.47.51

105              Kerens                        Torridge                 02.50.42

171              Phillipa J                     Barnstaple            03.00.28

186              Lantern                       Ilfracombe             03.04.00

209              Headon Home            Clovelly                 03.09.20

226              Morvoren                    Private entry          03.10.01

There were 49 Cornish Pilot Gig Boats in this race, so more than 20% were from North Devon.

Although the competition was strong the event was enjoyed by all, particularly the experience of rowing through central London and seeing the different types of rowing boats, ranging from 2-man rowing skiffs for picnics, to 20-man dragon Boats.

Pictures:

1  Phillipa J heading for Tower Bridge

2  Barum Bobby waiting for the start

Photographs by David Dixon,  Vice Chairman Barnstaple Pilot Gig Club CIO

Barnstaple Pilot Gig Club (BPGC) took their boat Lady Freda and 15 rowers on Saturday 25th to the Gig Boat regatta at Lyme Regis. All 12 gig clubs at the regatta enjoyed a sunny late-summer’s day with fairly calm seas and light winds, competing a kite-shaped course in full view of the crowds assembled on the famous Cobb breakwater.

There was a full programme of thirteen races for the day, but the Barum club could only compete in six of these races because of limited availability of club members on a Public Holiday weekend. Every club member there competed in at least two races, most in three races, enjoying the friendly rivalry and the sunny weather.

This regatta completed perhaps the busiest month yet for BPGC. On Sunday 6th August the club held a Duck Race and Car Boot Sale at Barnstaple and Pilton Cricket Club, raising more than £1050 towards their ‘Off the R’owd’ appeal for a Watersports Centre at Rolle Quay. This was followed by the annual Estuary Race between north coast clubs at Appledore on Wednesday 8th August, then Paignton Gig Boat regatta on Sunday 12th, competing with clubs from as far afield as Essex as well as clubs from Devon and Cornwall. The next Gig Boat regatta attended was Porthleven, on Saturday 18th, where the Barum club competed against 20 other mainly Cornish clubs, winning 14th position overall. Many club members stayed for the whole weekend to enjoy the area and the entertainment provided on Friday and Saturday evenings, and the RNLI Lifeboat festival on the Sunday.

As well as attending these four competitions, normal training sessions continued on weekday evenings and weekends throughout the month, also sessions every Monday and Thursday evening at Ilfracombe. The racing boats Lady Freda and Nipper were towed to Ilfracombe harbour for sea-rowing practise and the Barum club is indebted to Ilfracombe Pilot Gig Club for the assistance and advice freely offered on those occasions.

The club is now looking forward to the County Championships at Newquay, 2nd September for the Ladies crews, and 15th September for the men.