Sidmouth Gig Club internal regatta success for Team A

Sidmouth Gig Club crews in action during the club's internal regatta. Picture CONTRIBUTED (Image: Archant)

For this event, racing crews are forgotten as club names went into the hat to be drawn at random after the Friday social meal. It was pleasing to see nearly 30 competitors drawn into four crews, many of whom have never raced before, raring to go on the Sunday.

With the course starting at the Sailing Club and including a buoy turn at Clifton, tactics were always going to be important and although this was a fun event, there were some really competitive encounters!

Gig racing in regattas can be a challenging event, with crews often clashing oars when competing for the best route, especially at the starts and on buoy turns. Fortunately the whole event was completed with no mishaps.

The event took the form of a “Round Robin” tournament, where each team raced the other three during the morning. Surprisingly, Teams B, C and D all won one race and were awarded equal second place at the presentation. The one crew winning all three of their races was Team A (Nigel Winchester, Val Ranger, Amanda Bleazard, Grant Clarke, Nick Thompson and Angela Lambert).

Sidmouth Gig Club crews on the beach prior to the club regatta, held last weekend. Picture CONTRIBUTED (Image: Archant)

Thanks should also go to the social committee who, produced some excellent home-made soup and rolls on the beach at the finish of the racing.

One of the most rewarding aspects of the day was to hear members who had previously not even contemplated the cut and thrust of regatta races commenting, “That was great! I think I could get into this racing lark!”

This Saturday (September 8) sees the club taking two racing gigs to London to compete for the first time in the “Great River Race.” This a 26 mile timed processional event down the Thames, with all manner of watercraft involved, followed by a celebration at Richmond on finishing.