Lyme Regis Gig Club crew guide Tempest to Saltash succesLyme Gig Club started the new gig rowing season in fine form at the traditional season opener at Saltash.

The Three Rivers Race features 80 crews both in the ladies and men’s races, including the majority of the top clubs, giving a good test and a measure of how all those long hours of winter training have gone.

The race is around seven miles long, taking around one hour to complete.

Lyme entered two crews in the ladies race. The ladies A crew, rowing Tempest, showed great fitness to overtake a number of competing crews in the latter part of the race, including local rivals Bridport A, to finish in a club best of 24th.

A healthy rivalry beckons this season between these two friendly local crews.

The ladies B crew, rowing Black Ven, also produced a superb performance knocking well over three minutes off last years’ time. Indeed all those hours of winter work have paid off.

In the men’s category Lyme entered three crews. The A crew, unchanged from last season and rowing Tempest, had a rapid start amongst the race leaders, then settling into 11th position where they stayed to the finish, narrowly edged out of a top ten finish by a fine crew of gents from Salcombe.

The Mens B crew had a solid row with no fewer than three of the crew taking part in their first Three Rivers meeting.

The rowing became more composed as the race progressed and this saw them haul in some notable scalps, including Cotehele Quay A, in what was a very strong finish in 32nd position.

Finally the men’s C crew in Rebel, had an outstanding performance from the outset, breaking free of the pack with only two ‘B’ teams to keep them company for the remainder of the course.

A controlled row would see the Lyme crew hold their own against the B crews of Torridge and Salcombe fighting to gain the advantage to finish 57th.

The combined results put Tempest in 12th place overall, a club best for Lyme.

The men’s race was won again by Falmouth and the ladies by home crew Caradon.

Now the club will focus on eight weeks of training both on and off the water towards the World Championships on the Isles of Scilly at the end of April where they will enter a record seven crews.

The club are always keen to welcome new members, no experience required. Contact the club via www.lymeregisgigclub.com