Scilly’s population doubled last weekend as rowers and supporters gathered for the 18th World Pilot Gig Championships.

The annual event is the busiest weekend of the year.

The contest was the biggest yet, with a record 103 gigs lining up for the first men’s race, the most since the championships began.

Some 95 gigs took part in the ladies’ event.

“It’s quite a sight. I can understand why everyone wants to be involved,” committee member Kevin Sherris told the BBC.

It started off overcast, but has reduced to haze in time for the first races of the day.

In both competitions it is close running between Roseland, Falmouth, Caradon and Newquay. Other clubs are in with a chance, especially Mount’s Bay in the ladies and Par Bay in the mens. It all depends on what the heat A crews have been saving for the final.

|Ladies|

Gigs in heat A for final (in round 3 position order):
Irene Too, Polvarth, Miller’s Daughter, Kensa, Hope, Waterwitch, Killigerran, Dall Lewyer, Pilgrim, Double Dutch and, up from heat B, Irene and Merthen. Tregarthens and Melusine were relegated from heat A in round 3.

In the final, Polvarth got off to a good start, but was soon caught by the Irene Too. By half-way, Irene Too had a lead of 2 lengths over Polvarth, who was only half-a-length ahead of Miller’s Daughter. Polvarth dug in again, gaining little ground on Irene Too, but pulling away from the Caradon gig. Irene Too won by 3 lengths, Polvarth lead the Miller’s Daughter by 3 lengths, and the Kensa won fourth position 3 lengths back in a tight race fought against Killigerran and Hope.

See http://pilotgigs.info/pilotgigs/results.phpx?r=WPGC2007-L-F for full results.

|Mens|

In the final Miller’s Daughter lead at the beginning, soon caught by the Polvarth. They two gigs took it in turns to be half a length ahead. On the line, officials said the Miller’s Daughter was in the lead by a three feet. Phantom came a definate third 2 lengths behind, and ahead of the Emma Louise and Irene Too.

See http://pilotgigs.info/pilotgigs/results.phpx?r=WPGC2007-M-F for full results.

See http://pilotgigs.info/pilotgigs/gallery.phpx for pictures from the day.

More photos can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/remote_upload/gigs_sunday2007/ , http://scillywebcam.blogspot.com/

Normally there would be a sailing race at 10.30, but due to high wind and swelly seas, it has been cancelled. There is also the rugby tournament on the Garrison and this year the addition of a golf tournament, though it is doubtful if players will get very far with the high winds.

It started off a misty day, but since the 1200 coxswains meeting has brightened up significantly, with a little mist remaining on the horizon.

The first round races are from St Agnes, with all gigs lining up as usual, with the slight change that this year the marshalls are not ordering gigs alphabetically — at the coxswains’ meeting they said that a trial at last night’s veterans race was successful, so they will be implementing it at the St Agnes startline.

|Ladies|

95 gigs raced. See http://www.pilotgigs.info/pilotgigs/results.phpx?r=WPGC2007-L-1 for results and http://www.pilotgigs.info/pilotgigs/gallery.phpx?g=40 for photos of probably all of the gigs on the startline.

At half-way, the Irene Too, Miller’s Daughter and Kensa were lengths apart, the Miller’s Daughter eventually overtaking the Irene Too to finish first by 3-4 lengths. There was not a particularly close battle for 12th place, the group A gigs being decided quite easily.

The Royal and Penlee Point lost over nine positions due to a collision with another gig, possibly the Volante.

In the second round, there was a casualty in the Ann Glanville, a gig being borrowed by Calstock for the championships. The lady was escorted from the gig by one of the marshall RIBs.

|Mens|

See http://www.pilotgigs.info/pilotgigs/results.phpx?r=WPGC2007-M-1 for results and http://www.pilotgigs.info/pilotgigs/gallery.phpx?g=41 for a few pictures (the lineup was very quick, so not many photos were taken).

With 103 starters, the mens’ rowers have broken the 100 mark for the first time in the championship’s 18 year history.

The Phantom and Roseland’s new gig the Polvarth proved very strong throughout the race, the pair finishing over three lengths ahead of the Miller’s Daughter. Pilgrim, fighting to be in group A seemed to be caught in significant wake at the Newman buoy, would prove in the second round it deserves to be in group A.

Behind the Pilgrim in heat B, there was a close battle between three gigs hungry to be in the top group for tomorrow, the Emperor, Richard Lander and Hope, with the Emperor succeeding in today.

In earlier heats, the leading gig Peveril nearly missed the finishing buoy, but managed to swing around to get on the inside for the line — losing one position and nearly colliding with the Golden Eagle (4th).

In heat E, the Volante lead its group but was disqualified for failing to pass between the finished buoys, and so will be demoted to heat F in round 3.

The Roscarrok was supposed to row in heat G but had raced in an earlier heat, and so was relegated to the bottom in heat I.

The first event in the championship’s calendar is the ladies’ and mens’ veteran races.

The ladies’ event will take place at 1830 this evening; the mens’ at 2000. A report will appear here post-race.

|Ladies|

There were a mixed pack leading to begin with: Irene Too, Kensa, Old Harry and Melusine looking strong. At half-way, Irene Too stormed ahead, leaving the leading pack behind. Merthen came from the pack to finish in second, behind the Irene Too. Full results at http://www.pilotgigs.info/pilotgigs/results.phpx?r=WPGC2007-W-F and see http://www.pilotgigs.info/pilotgigs/gallery.phpx for pictures.

|Mens|

As in the ladies’ event, the Irene Too finished strongly, this time in second position, being beaten by Roseland’s new gig, the Polvarth. The Islands’ Tregathen’s finished in third position. See http://www.pilotgigs.info/pilotgigs/results.phpx?r=WPGC2007-G-F for results and http://www.pilotgigs.info/pilotgigs/gallery.phpx?g=39 for pictures.

In both events, it was great to see over 10 more crews competing — meaning that the veterans’ events are growing faster than the younger adults’ main event.

The Islands are preparing for the eighteenth World Pilot Gig Championships, which will take place this weekend. Scilly News will be there doing it’s normal coverage.

The WPGC 2007 brochure explains there is one new club this year, from Bristol, bringing with them their new gig, the Isambard. There are also two new gigs, Salcombe’s Bolt and Roseland’s Polvarth.

There are 106 gigs on the Islands, so we hope that either the mens’ or ladies’ St Agnes race will involve more than 100 gigs for the first time in the championship’s 18 year history — it all depends on the amount of crews available. We will see tomorrow…

We have posted the list of gigs competing in this year’s championships at http://www.pilotgigs.info/pilotgigs/competinggigs.phpx , updated at 3 pm.

The Islands are preparing for the eighteenth World Pilot Gig Championships, which will take place this weekend. Scilly News will be there doing it’s normal coverage.

Stay tuned.

Weather: overcast. Sea: calm.

Reigning champions for this year are the same as last year in both the mens’ and ladies’ events: Caradon and Falmouth respectively. Both teams won all of their races this year.

Unfortunately Rame, who finished 13th last year, were disqualified in the first heat for turning another gig.

Par Bay, who came third last year, disappointingly did not attend this year’s championships.

The fight for second place in the ladies’ event was a tense battle between Caradon’s Miller’s Daughter and Mount’s Bay’s Kensa – support from the crowd mostly going to the Kensa. Kensa beat the Miller’s Daughter on the line. Caradon pull out a strong A crew in the ladies’ event every year, having finished between third and fifth for the last eight years. Caradon do not get a great deal of support from the spectators after their domination in the mens event for the last decade. Mount’s Bay bring along and increasingly strong A crew, with a deserved second place this year.

The mens’ top three positions were less closely fought, Roseland’s Killigerran wedged between a first and third for Caradon.

Most notable improvement over the event was the Volante, climbing 24 positions, winning the final of group C. New crew from Boscastle and Crackington Haven were also notable for their 21 place climb to lead group E in the final positions. Sir Tristan crew climbing 25 positions was a brilliant improvement for the Weymouth crew in the ladies’ event.

Check out http://www.pilotgigs.info/wpg/ now for all the pictures from the second day and for full final results.

Final results:

1. Royal (50′26)
2. Jeannie (59′45)
3. Mystery (62′01)
4. Kathrin Rose (70′12)

A fair wind blew, providing plenty of power to be harnessed by the spectacular gigs.

A sunny morning promised a good day of racing – certainly compared to last year.

|Ladies Round 1|

The ladies’ St Agnes race was probably the quickest lineup the championships have seen since more than 50 gigs have been attending. Within a minute, the flag was up and down – signalling the start of the ladies’ championships.

Irene Too started very strong, and continued to pull ahead of the field, and stayed there finishing a very convincing first. A closer battle was fought for second between the Miller’s Daughter, Killigerran and Kensa – the former two being caught by the Kensa in the later stages of the race. Miller’s Daughter lead the pack chasing the Irene Too. The Killigerran had slipped to sixth by the end of the race.

|Mens Round 1|

The Irene Too, again, was an early leader in the mens’ St Agnes race. In slightly cloudier weather, the Falmouth gig could not hold on to it’s lead when the Miller’s Daughter started fighting hard to catch up. She eventually overtook the Irene Too finishing first. Her fellow Caradon gig, the Mary Newman, was almost disqualified after nearly venturing the wrong side of one of the marker buoys. The mistake was corrected at the last moment, when the Newman was rowing almost perpendicular to the other gigs in order to stay the right side. Despite this, they managed to finish fourth.

|More info|

http://www.pilotgigs.info/wpg/ has pictures from the first day, full results from round 1, plus up-to-date photos of the results boards (updated 10:20 am Sunday).

Full report published later today.