GigRower - Three Rivers Race 2010

Short video of the ladies Three Rivers Race on Sunday, March 7 2010. The below report is from http://gigrower.co.uk.

Hosted by Caradon Gig Club this is one of the longest races in the Gig Racing calender at around 6 miles (50 min) long. The race is given its name as it passes through the three rivers of Tamar, Tavy & Lynher.

Each race was stared under the Tamar bridge into an ebb tide and fresh east wind on the starboard bow, a buoy turn after 1000m was followed by a 500m slog into the wind before three gradual buoy turns faced the crews back down river towards the bridge with the tide and wind beneath them.

As with so many races the first mark is everything and despite the length of this endurance course Three Rivers is no exception and the order after the first mark changed very little from the finish results half an hour later. There where however some exceptions as crew members begin to suffer from blistered hands, poor fitness, fatigue, broken kit and today, the bitter cold.

The second and longest leg then passed under the bridge and tracked towards a port turn mark at the entrance to the river Lynher which set crews once again into the now stronger wind and chop in the exposed river mouth. After the final mark crews could focus on the finish line under the bridge and the end of the race. These final two legs where perhaps the hardest of the day and boat speeds dropped as low as three knots as tired crews pushed a strengthening ebb tide to cross the line.

The ladies first heat saw Falmouth A and Caradon A take an early lead and by the fiftieth stroke both had clear water over the rest of the fleet. A broken pin in the Falmouth boat and a aggressive push from the home crew then gave Caradon clear water but Falmouth attacked and started to close but it was not enough and by the start of the return leg Caradon still had clear water and used their dominant position to drive of Falmouth and finish 25 seconds ahead, a complete reversal from last year when Falmouth beat Caradon by almost the same time (30 seconds). Mounts Bay then came across in third followed by Falmouth B and Newquay A in fourth and fifth.

Category:

Sports

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