THE future oarsmen of the Tamar and Tavy Gig Club faced their first race of the season with confidence, enough to help them survive a tough Under 16s race against crews of considerably more experience. The junior crew, coxed by club chairman Bob Turner, of Greg Barnes, Sam Brockington, James Tailyour, Elliott Hoyt, Alex Newton, and Matt Walker, arrived very relaxed at Pentewan Sands for the day?s racing hosted by Mevagissey. The boys had a crack at the opposition but being very much the youngest crew, and easily the lightest, they didn?t offer too much of a threat. The senior section of the club was represented by a Men?s A, Ladies? A, Ladies? B and a mixed crew. The second event saw the men?s crew improve their ranking by two places, thanks to the huge effort put in by the crew Ed Hillson, Tom Broadbridge, Ian Page, John Hillson, Nigel Jenkins and Taryn Gay, cox Kate Reeves. The Ladies? A did not put in their best performance of the season. However the crew is determined to sort out the niggles in time for the Veterans? Championships at Saltash on Saturday. Cox Jack Baker, Kate Reeves, Sam Adlam (capt), Carolyn Dawe, Chrissy Baker, Helen Dickinson and Nicky Sellers finished the day 15/26 in the Ladies A. The Ladies? B crew, under the charming taskmaster John Hillson put in a strong row to finish 15/20. Lynn Hosking, Carrie Lawson, Debbie Vojkovic, Ruth Walker, Penny Twine and Helen Smith hauled through the field and arrived home in good spirits. At the end of a long day a mixed crew coxed by Kate Reeves took to the water and after an unorthodox start over the radio of a jumble of 15 boats in a sprint race, finished 6th. The crew Lynn Hosking, Carrie Lawson, Ian Page, Matt Pinney, Helen Smith and John Hillson drew on their very last ounce of energy to pip arch rivals Wolf at the finish. l The club has a number of crews racing at the 17th Saltash Regatta on Saturday, home gig club Caradon, this year hosting the Cornish Pilot Gig Association mixed and veteran championships. Racing at Saltash starts 9am. For more information about the event, visit http://www.saltashregatta.co.uk">www.saltashregatta.co.uk. For more information about Tamar and Tavy Gig Club visit http://www.tntgc.org.uk">www.tntgc.org.uk