The Races.

As our reason for going to the Scilly Isles was the World Pilot Gig Championships I thought that today I would focus on the gig racing. Peter and the rest of the Men Veterans A Crew going out for a practice row in Lady Frieda.

Gig racing originated on the Scilly Isles in the days when bigger ships needed local pilots to guide them through the treacherous waters. The gigs would race against each other as the first pilot to arrive at the ship got the job.

The main pack of the Ladies' Race.

For the 'long' race course the crews rowed 2 miles out to the start line by the island of St Agnes and then raced the 2 miles back to the finish line at St Mary's harbour wall. The first races were on Friday evening on the long course, first the Veteran Ladies followed by the Veteran Men. To be a veteran you need to be 40+ and some crews were racing as super-veterans at 50+. Peter is 61 but some of the crew were under 50 so they had to be veterans.

Part of the starting line up of the Mens 1st race about 1.5 miles away.

On the Saturday morning it was the Ladies 1st race followed by the men. For this race all 120 gigs line up by St Agnes. It was impossible to see the whole of the start line but it was a magnificent sight.

The Men's race about halfway along with officials' boats and spectators' boats on either side.

After the long races in the morning the gigs were put into groups of 12 according to position. In the afternoon all the gigs rowed over to the island of Tresco for the 1 mile sprint back to St Mary's. We were lucky in that on all 3 race days the sea was very calm. The local Scilly teams were a little put out as they had been training in 9ft swells and the usual rough conditions would have given them even more of an advantage.

Peter is rowing in Leah C, middle of the picture above the crew with white t-shirts.

They set off in their groups with a gap between each group so that basically they were racing against 11 other crews. The slowest group went first and both our A & B crews were in this group. Our club has only been going for 4 years and while there are some experienced members there are also quite a few like Peter who have only been rowing for a year so there were no expectations of high placings. Just to complete the races was an achievement. There is no comparison with the top crews who were young, fit and experienced. One of the men from the winning crew was in our minibus on the journey home and he was a builder in his 20s, played rugby and his crew trained every night so they deserved to be the best in the world.

Our Mens' B crew worn out after their first sprint.
On the Sunday the men and women each rowed 2 more sprints. Each time the fastest 2 gigs in each group moved up a group and the slowest 2 gigs moved down a group. Men's B finished 2nd from last and were happy with that while the Men's A moved up 26 places from last year which was an achievement. (I wasn't keeping tabs on the ladies' results.)

As the crews finished the final sprints many of them rafted together in the harbour to celebrate, mainly with bottles of port or champagne. I can't say even when I am fit enough to go rowing again, that I will ever be tempted to race and as for going on the open sea that would only be with a life jacket and a motor.
Today, Thursday, the rain has continued. It hasn't stopped since we arrived. I have had a quiet day at home, finishing the unpacking and sorting through my photos.