World Championship Dream For All-Women Crew

RACHAEL SHARPE meets the inspirational Cornish Pilot Gig racing team from Burnham-on-Sea.

- Rachael Sharpe

BOS PILOT GIGS represents the fastest growing sport in the South West.

“We thought ‘why not give it a go?” explains Simon Eastham, team captain, who formed the all-women team in September 2015.

The group meets at least twice a week, mainly at weekends, but during spring and summer they also try to get out in the evenings during the week.

“Our biggest challenge is the tidal range in Burnham-on-Sea as it is the second largest in the world. At its smallest we’re looking at a change in depth of 8m, at its largest 12m,” explains Simon, who tells us the team are hoping to compete in their first regatta this year, and the World Championships in Scilly next May.

The team has grown from a handful of members when it first started to 30 strong. Now more than 50 per cent of the club’s members are female.

“Apart from my wife Lindsay, who rowed gigs in the Scillies for more than a decade, all of us are complete novices and self taught. We’ve had to learn how to row, cox and look after our gigs from scratch. We’ve also learned a lot about weather, tides and seamanship. It’s been a steep learning curve,” enthuses Simon.