TAMAR & Tavy Gig Club entered a mixed vets crew into The Great London River Race at the beginning of the month.

More than 320 boats took part in the race, and the T&T crew were one of 32 Cornish pilot gigs competing. The race began at London Docklands amidst a carnival atmosphere, and the boats rowed up the Thames through central London, passing under Tower Bridge, past the Houses of Parliament, up through Putney and Richmond and ending at Ham in Surrey – a total of 21 miles of racing which made for a very competitive atmosphere.

The T&T crew was formed of Carolyn Dawe and Chris Dill who shared the coxing, Lynn Renton, Johnny Rogers, Simon Howes, Martin Painter, Wendy Maclean and Sandra Anstey. They had a fantastic row, enduring only minor scuffles and some clashing of oars as they went through the bridges, and completed the course with a time of 2:45:06. This placed them 142nd out of the 324 boats competing and 12th out of the 32 pilot gigs — a brilliant result, especially as they were the last gig to start. All in all it was a great day on the water, and well worth the blisters!

Tamar & Tavy Gig Club members row regularly on the Tamar and are based at Weir Quay. The club welcomes new members whether for social or competitive rowing. For more information please see http://www.tamarandtavygigclub.co.uk">www.tamarandtavygigclub.co.uk

l ON Saturday, September 21, Tamar & Tavy Gig Club is holding its annual regatta at Weir Quay.

The day begins at noon with the coxes meeting and the racing will commence at 1pm with the Brunel Challenge.

This is an endurance race where the teams will row down to the Brunel Bridge and back. This will be followed by sprint races for ladies, mens, super vets and junior teams and the day will end with a barbarians' race. All are welcome to come along and support the teams competing and to get a taste of what gig rowing is all about.

There will be a barbecue, cake stall, tombola and a raffle. It promises to be a great day out so please do come along and join the fun. For more information about the club see the website at: http://www.tamarandtavygigclub.co.uk/">http://www.tamarandtavygigclub.co.uk/