Falmouth finish season with a flourish in Holland
Falmouth Pilot Gig Club took two pilot gigs to the Muiden Pampus Muiden on November 5-6, returning with one third-placed finish, one second-placed finish, and one record-breaking win.
Holland’s celebrated annual sloop racing event features two days of fierce gig and sloop racing, over a four mile course around the island Pampus.
The Falmouth Ladies crew was first to the water on the Saturday, joining approximately 150 boats including whalers, sloops, and gigs.
Racing was timed, with each crew contesting three races and three boats starting at a time. The Falmouth Ladies – whose crew consisted of one world champion and four former world champions – finished second with an overall time of two hours, 6 minutes and 59.65 seconds, despite having just two training sessions together prior to the event.
Salcombe Estuary Rowing Club’s ladies finished in third place overall, a little under five minutes back over the three races.
In the men’s gig event, Falmouth two crews claimed first and third places overall on a stunning afternoon’s racing for the Cornish club.
The third-placed boat – containing a composite crew of Falmouth seniors, veterans, and two Flushing & Mylor Pilot Gig Club rowers – put up a brave fight against the second-placed Penryn crew, but failed to overtake their Cornish rivals’ time over the three races.
However, Falmouth’s A crew stole the headlines with a stunning row on their way to the gold medal in the men’s event with an overall time of one hour, 47 minutes and 59.64 seconds – smashing the course record in the progress.
The World Champion crew covered the four-mile course in 34 minutes and 53.34 seconds in their second race of the day, half a second clear of the previous course record – set by Caradon in 2002.
For more information on the 2011-12 Pilot Gig racing season, see the latest West Regional Rowing Council newsletter on the British Rowing Regions page.
To find out more about Falmouth Pilot Gig Rowing Club, visit www.falmouthgigclub.co.uk.
