Porlock Weir Gig Club's First Regatta

Porlock Weir Gig Club staged its first regatta on Saturday 16 March, up at Wimbleball Lake. The event, sponsored by Shearwell Data Livestock Systems, was a welcome opportunity for racing ahead of the World Championships on the Isles of Scilly in May.

Crews from Ilfracombe, Bristol, Clevedon, Burnham-on-Sea, Portishead, Weymouth and Midland Cornish Pilot Gig Clubs threw themselves into the increasingly windy and wet action and all had a great day! Two-times Olympic gold-medallist, Alex Gregory, also attended, even jumping into one of the Porlock boats for a race! Rowers across the region are big fans of his ‘Mind Body Row’ training app and it was very exciting to have him there!

Competition was stiff and the winners, in race order, were as follows:

Women’s Masters, sponsored by Somerset Climate Control, Weymouth

Men’s Masters, sponsored by Paper Pixels, Bristol

Women’s B, sponsored by The Colour Centre Minehead, Ilfracombe

Men’s B, sponsored by Somerset Climate Control, Ilfracombe

Women’s Vets, sponsored by Southwest Customised Clothing, Bristol

Men’s Vets, sponsored by Beechtree Engineering, Portishead

Women’s A, sponsored by Window Woman and Locksmith, Ilfracombe

Men’s A, sponsored by Alex Gregory – Mind, Body, Row, Ilfracombe

Overall winners: Weymouth.

Porlock Weir Gig Club would like to thank Shearwell Data, SW Lakes, Wimbleball Rowing and all of the race sponsors, prize donators and everyone for attending; it was a wonderful joint effort and a fantastic day!

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Under starter’s orders photo by Jen Warwick

The all-important coxes’ briefing, photo by Jen Warwick

Porlock  women’s crew left to right Fi, Sarah, Jen, Allard, Caz, Jacquie, Verity

Latoyah, Emily, Naomi, Lucy, Gemma, from Porlock Gig Club, photo by Jen Warwick

Weymouth Gig Club were the overall winners of the event, drone still by Alex Dixon

Ilfracombe Women's A Crew who won their class, drone still by Alex Dixon

Race HQ was cold work, photo by Jon Barrett (www.instagram.com/jon_barrett_photos)

Porlock men, Mark, Ben, Chris, Charlie, Jordan, Dave, photo by Jon Barrett (www.instagram.com/jon_barrett_photos)

James Webber from Shearwell Data discusses rowing with Olympic gold medalist Alex Gregory, photo by Jon Barrett (www.instagram.com/jon_barrett_photos)