The 2005 World Pilot Gig Championships were the most disrupted by weather than any previous. Sea fog was to blame for delays to events and some heats being cancelled. Despite the weather and alterations, a good time was had by all.

Vets Races

The veterans races were supposed to be run on the Friday evening, but were delayed until Saturday morning. The startline was reassigned as Nut Rock races (as opposed to starting at St Agnes) to reduce the race time so that all of the days events could be fitted in.

The good old sea fog came down as the mens vets crews made their way to the finish line. It came in very thick, the coxs relying on the spectator boats for guidance through the fog.

Disappointingly, the only local gig to enter a crew in the vets races was the Emperor mens crew.

St Agnes Heat One

Due to be run immediately after the vets races, the adults St Agnes heat one was postponed until Sunday morning.

Sunday was slightly overcast most of the time and pretty windy all of the time. The starter took ages to line up the gigs for both ladies and mens races, battling against tides, winds and cheeky coxswains.

In the mens heat the Millers Daughter took an early lead and managed to increase their lead all the way to the finish line. The Emma Louise took second place and the Punchbowl Trophy (previously awarded on Friday nights, as a competition between Scilly and Truro gigs) after battling with Mary Newman and Phantom (built by Peter Martin, who was coxing the Emma Louise).

All other heats were cancelled, leaving only the final for gig crews to prove their worth. This meant that the St Agnes race was very important, as this year there was no promotions or demotions between groups.

Finals

The weather had significantly improved for the finals, fresh wind blowing on sunburnt skin with added salt for extra reddness.

The Emma Louise got off to a poor start in the ladies final, starting part of the race in 11th postiion, but managed to gain back on the competition, finishing a few lengths behind the new gig from Falmouth, Irene Too. Caradon’s ladies were successful for the first time in a few years at getting to the podium in third position (but not without the help of an ex-Island rower!)

Caradon proved to be very strong in the final of the mens competition, the Millers Daughter uncatchable event before half-way. The competition for second-fifth places was very tight between the Mary Newman, Phantom and Emma Louise until Mary Newman started pulling away after half-way, managing to lead the others by two lengths as they crossed the finish line. The Phantom managed to pull foward to lead the Emma Louise by about half-a-length at the finish, leaving the local crew off the top three this year. By the finish, the Emma Louise was almost level with the Irene Too and Kiligerran, both gaining on the local gig right up to the finishing line, but the Louise managed to stay ahead of both as she crossed the finish line fourth.

Pictures of the competition for second-fifth can be found in the galleries on http://www.pilotgigs.info/. There you will also be able to find full results and other galleries, as well as information on all of the clubs and gigs that have competed in recent years. Contact us if you have any information on any of the clubs which you would like us to add, including contact information, web site details, new gigs, etc..

Awards Ceremony

The award for sportsmanship went to the Breton crew in the Serica for letting the CRAB crew ‘not finish last’ in the St Agnes race.

The mens champions were celebrated with a few flares, one of which went astray as it got caught in a flag, causing a commotion for a couple of seconds as the winners feared for their legs. Stage diving was as popular as ever this year, with the Dutch acting as a human net.

A video of the top three awards for mens and ladies will go up soon on http://www.pilotgigs.info/.