Brixham Gig Rowing Club have three reasons to celebrate
Published:
00:00 april 18, 2022
Following the success of a 6-week ‘Beginner’s Course’ and ‘Junior Taster Day’, which allowed people who had never rowed before to experience what it’s like to row traditional gigs from Cornish pilot, eighteen new adults, and about the same number of juniors, joined the club, greatly increasing the number of members.
This is fantastic for the club as many of these rowers will be part of competitive racing crews, representing Brixham at rowing regattas in Devon, Cornwall and at the annual World Championships held in the Isles of Scillies.
The club is particularly pleased to have attracted so many new juniors, as they are the lifeblood of a club, and the club’s junior rowers have been particularly successful in the past, and it is hoped that this success will continue in the future.
Second, the club took part in its first full regatta, organized by the Dartmouth Gig Club. The Brixham Gig Club had one of the largest contingents and crews were entered in almost every race. For many rowers, this was their first competitive event, and it was especially nice to see the junior under-14 team win their race and claim the shield.
Thirdly, the club benefited from a £3,000 donation from Greene King IPA, as part of its ‘Proud to Pitch In’ initiative. The money is used to buy a new set of oars, which are badly needed now that the membership of the club has increased. Thanks to Greene King IPA.
Club chairman Mark Ashworth said: “I am really delighted to see our local rowing club thriving and to see that rowing attracts so many people here, especially young people, where the common perception seems to be that ‘they just want to sit and play computer games.
“We have been incredibly fortunate to receive financial support, not only from Green King IPA, but also from local businesses such as Rockfish Restaurants, Brixham Trawler Agents and Maritime International Solutions, and from the local community through the Co-op Local Community Fund, and we are extremely grateful for that, without which we certainly wouldn’t be the successful community club that we are.
