Over the May Bank Holiday weekend Porlock Weir Gig Rowing Club made its way over to the Isles of Scilly to complete at the 32nd World Pilot Gig Rowing World Championships. Porlock took four crews with them this year, with the addition of a Men’s Super Vet (50+) crew over last years 3. The racing lasts three days starting on the Friday with the veteran (40+) and super vet (SV) categories. The racing consists of the St Agnes Race, a 1.6nm or 3km mass start race which can see over 120 crews lined up together. This race takes the record for the longest start line in the world being over a mile wide. Based on positions in the Agnes race crews will be split up into groups of 12. Each of these groups are given a letter (first 12 are in Group A, 13-24 are in Group B, and so on). These races are called the Nut Rock Races and are raced over 1.1nm or 2km. The veteran categories get one chance to race the Nut Rock Races, with the open crews having three nut rock races.
The first off was the SV women’s crew racing the St Agnes Race. Unfortunately, injury leading up to the championship meant one member couldn’t go out and the crew had a sub. Illness on the day lead to a difficult race with the crew battling hard but coming in last. It was then time for the men’s SV crew. The men’s crew had only had one pervious row together, with three of the crew being sliding seat rowers from Monmouth Rowing Club. However, they had a strong race, using their fitness to their advantage placing 28th out of 44. The SV women were then back up, racing in the Nut Rock Race. Due to illness, they needed a sub and again fought well in their race however unfortunately came in last. The men’s racing was postponed due to fog, which turned out to be the theme for the weekend.
Saturday started with a break in the fog enabling the men’s SV crew to race their final race. Again, they backed their fitness and racing ability and placed a very respectable 33rd, the relatively highest a Porlock Crew ever has.
It was then time for the open crews, with the women setting off first. A great performance showed how the training this year has been paying off seeing the women smash last year’s placing coming 89th out of 123 crews. The men were next getting off to a quick start they managed to get out into good water, which enabled them to be ahead of a crash further down the pack. The team finished 31st out of 123 crews, showing their strength and improvement from the year before. The women then got back out and raced the first of the Nut Rock races maintaining their place in the H group. The men went back out in the torrential rain but managed to hold a solid place in the C group.
The morning saw the fog back again, a break in the weather enabled the women’s 3rd round to get underway. This race saw a great performance from the women’s crew seeing them move up into 3rd in their group.
The fog then set in with pausing of racing. The race organisers decided to move straight to the men’s final when there was a break in the weather. Thankfully a break came, and the men went out, pumped up for one last hard race. Unfortunately, on the start line Charlie Walker-Blair snapped a pin, however he saved it quickly and the crew gained places, dug deep and sprinted for the line coming in 9th, placing them 33rd/123 overall, beating the target of top 50, coming top in Somerset and smashing last year’s placing of 77/106.
The fog kept away and with the sun breaking though the women pushed off for their final race of the day. The women raced will battling with their opposite number. The crew came in 10th in their final, placing them 94th/122 beating last year’s placing of 109.
Overall places
SV Women – 51/51
SV men – 33/42
Open Men – 33/123
Open Women – 94/122Over the May Bank Holiday weekend Porlock Weir Gig Rowing Club made its way over to the Isles of Scilly to complete at the 32nd World Pilot Gig Rowing World Championships. Porlock took four crews with them this year, with the addition of a Men’s Super Vet (50+) crew over last years 3. The racing lasts three days starting on the Friday with the veteran (40+) and super vet (SV) categories. The racing consists of the St Agnes Race, a 1.6nm or 3km mass start race which can see over 120 crews lined up together. This race takes the record for the longest start line in the world being over a mile wide. Based on positions in the Agnes race crews will be split up into groups of 12. Each of these groups are given a letter (first 12 are in Group A, 13-24 are in Group B, and so on). These races are called the Nut Rock Races and are raced over 1.1nm or 2km. The veteran categories get one chance to race the Nut Rock Races, with the open crews having three nut rock races.
The first off was the SV women’s crew racing the St Agnes Race. Unfortunately, injury leading up to the championship meant one member couldn’t go out and the crew had a sub. Illness on the day lead to a difficult race with the crew battling hard but coming in last. It was then time for the men’s SV crew. The men’s crew had only had one pervious row together, with three of the crew being sliding seat rowers from Monmouth Rowing Club. However, they had a strong race, using their fitness to their advantage placing 28th out of 44. The SV women were then back up, racing in the Nut Rock Race. Due to illness, they needed a sub and again fought well in their race however unfortunately came in last. The men’s racing was postponed due to fog, which turned out to be the theme for the weekend.
Saturday started with a break in the fog enabling the men’s SV crew to race their final race. Again, they backed their fitness and racing ability and placed a very respectable 33rd, the relatively highest a Porlock Crew ever has.
It was then time for the open crews, with the women setting off first. A great performance showed how the training this year has been paying off seeing the women smash last year’s placing coming 89th out of 123 crews. The men were next getting off to a quick start they managed to get out into good water, which enabled them to be ahead of a crash further down the pack. The team finished 31st out of 123 crews, showing their strength and improvement from the year before. The women then got back out and raced the first of the Nut Rock races maintaining their place in the H group. The men went back out in the torrential rain but managed to hold a solid place in the C group.
The morning saw the fog back again, a break in the weather enabled the women’s 3rd round to get underway. This race saw a great performance from the women’s crew seeing them move up into 3rd in their group.
The fog then set in with pausing of racing. The race organisers decided to move straight to the men’s final when there was a break in the weather. Thankfully a break came, and the men went out, pumped up for one last hard race. Unfortunately, on the start line Charlie Walker-Blair snapped a pin, however he saved it quickly and the crew gained places, dug deep and sprinted for the line coming in 9th, placing them 33rd/123 overall, beating the target of top 50, coming top in Somerset and smashing last year’s placing of 77/106.
The fog kept away and with the sun breaking though the women pushed off for their final race of the day. The women raced will battling with their opposite number. The crew came in 10th in their final, placing them 94th/122 beating last year’s placing of 109.
Overall places
SV Women – 51/51
SV men – 33/42
Open Men – 33/123
Open Women – 94/122
