3 Rivers
On Saturday 14th March, Tamar & Tavy Gig Club entered two ladies and two men’s teams into the Three Rivers Race hosted by Caradon Gig Club. The race was an hour long endurance race with a course that began under the Tamar Bridge. Crews then rowed up river into the mouth of the Tavy, back down to the mouth of the Lynher, and finished back under the bridge. The crews all rowed well, and it was brilliant to be back on the water. The ladies went first, with an A and a B team, the A crew, Julie Rendle, Claire Luxton, Katie Turner, Sarah Gall, Debbie Farmer and Mel Cotton were coxed by Ian King, and the B team, Jennie Smith, Helen Samson-Hill, Charity Philips, Susan Douglass, Amy Dubrovich and Denise Nixon, were coxed by Lynn Renton. Both boats had a great race, enjoying relatively good conditions, despite the cold wind. They both had some tussles with other boats, but both overtook boats, with the A team taking 3 in the run up to the line. The A team finished in 42nd place, and the B team in 55th out of 63 boats.
The men raced second, with the A team, Simon Luke, Kevin Cole, Chris Morton, Jake Rendle, Mark Turner and Roger Hine, coxed by Bill Stacey-Norris, and the B team, Ian King, John Overnels, John Rogers, Pete Keegan, Martin Painter and Peter Clarke, coxed by Chris Dill. Both teams had a great row, with the A team holding their own and passing boats to finish 30th out of the 67 boats competing, and the B team having a great race and finishing in 66th place.
A great day was had by all, with welcome sunshine for the first full club outing of the season. This race is traditionally seen as the start to the gig season, with teams now all looking forward to the world championships on the Isles of Scilly on the May Day weekend.
