Teams compete in veteran gig rowing championships


The second day of the World Pilot Gig Championships took place on Saturday - Image © Cornish Pilot Gig Association

The second day of the World Pilot Gig Championships on the Isles of Scilly has seen the finals of the ladies and men's veteran and super veterans' races.

Some 481 crews of six rowers and a cox are registered to compete until Sunday.

Falmouth in Fury led in the Women's Vets category, followed by Mounts Bay in Ictis and Caradon in An Showrlann in third. The Women's Super Vets saw the newly-formed Helford River crew win against last year's winners Teign in Teign Spirit and Salcombe in Bolt.

In the Open Vets race, Devon celebrated success after Appledore in Whitford took first place, with Caradon in An Dhowrlann second, followed by Dart in Smudger in third and Bude in Summerleaze in fourth place.

Mel Williams from Helford River Super Vets said it was "really tough." She said: "We came into this race as the underdogs. We're quite a new crew, so we didn't really know where we were going to be."

Williams said to be at the front with Teign at the beginning was "amazing", and "they were well ahead of us at the start line". She said: "We literally just crawled up and up. It was an absolute mental game. We just had to believe we could do it."

On Saturday, Falmouth Gig Club won the Women's Veteran's World Title, while Salcombe Gig Club win multiple medals at World Championships including bronze in Women's Super Vets and silver in Women's Masters.

The berths and results can be found on the World Pilot Gig Championships' website.

(BBC article continues)