Spring sunshine shone brightly on more than 2,000 rowers gathered recently on the Scilly Isles for the World Pilot Gig Championships – the biggest ever in the competitions 25-year history. With around 130 gigs shipped over for the racing, the number of boats taking part was a record. Salcombe Gig Club took eight crews, two for the veterans' races on Friday night and six to compete in the main men's and ladies' racing on Saturday and Sunday. The water at Scilly is famously tricky, often with a large swell, making rowing very challenging. But for the first time in many years it was flat calm on Friday evening, with little change for the rest of the weekend. In such conditions every race was much tighter, as more boats raced closer to each other making the spectacle more exciting. The Friday evening vets' races are the longest, a distance of 1.59 nautical miles from St Agnes to St Mary's. Salcombe's lady vets were the first to compete. They did well, finishing 14th out of 69. In the next race the men's vets crew also did a great job, coming 24th out of 67. Saturday saw the start of the main races, with all crews rowing the long St Agnes race again. This was followed by the first of the championship's four 'sprint' races from Nut Rock to St Mary's (1.16 nautical miles) to sort out positions for the following day's heats and finals. Salcombe fielded three crews in both the men's and the ladies' races. In the C crews some were vets, who had barely recovered from the races the night before. Sunday saw the last of the heats, followed by the finals in the afternoon. The weather continued to be hot and sunny, making racing even tougher and more draining. The morning heats were hard-fought, with all rowers giving everything to secure the most advantageous positions for their boats in the finals. Salcombe crews were more than happy with their final positions. The ladies' A crew came fourth in group D (40th overall), with the ladies' C crew coming fifth in group G (77th overall). In the men's races, the A crew finished 12th in group C (36th overall,) the Bs came ninth in group G (81st overall) and the Cs finished fifth in group I (101st overall). However, the biggest cheers were reserved for Salcombe's ladies' B crew who, in their final, battled their way past a team from Truro in the last 200 metres to finish top of their group and a well-deserved place on the victors' podium. This was all the more creditworthy since local schoolteachers Cathy Norris and Claire Boyd had never raced a gig before and one of them had not even set foot in one until last October! Everybody has to start somewhere. So, if you feel inspired to try your hand after reading this, the club is running the second of its free rowing sessions this Sunday. Anyone interested shold meet at the Normandy pontoon for a 2-4 pm session.