Winter
Training - 2009/10
Winter training…no thanks, I’m staying in bed!!
Truly a phase known to many a sports person during the low
winter months except, that is, the hardy gig rower who can be found bleary
eyed and shivering, wearing only a faithful 1997 World Gig Championship T-shirt
and a pair of shorts first thing on a cold and not all together pleasant Sunday
morning. Yes, it can only mean one thing dear reader - Scillies training. Not a year
goes by, across the fair county of Cornwall that men, women and even their
children crawl out of warm comfy beds and head down to their club house or gig
shed and head out onto the cold and grey sea. Zennor members are no exception
to this and even as I write they are probably down the gym honing their bodies into
peak physical condition…..no really, now stop laughing and carry on reading!
In an ideal world that would be true, but where would the fun
be in that? Imagine if everybody was a Steve Redgrave, there would be no need
for crew selection. All that would happen is the Cox would walk down the beach
10 minutes before the first race and gather 6 rowers and go and win….. no fun
at all. No, we don’t want that at all. Instead we want a bit of competition
before we even get to Scillies. That is where our crew selection comes into
play.
Every rower has an idea, nay a dream, of where they want to
sit and in which crew they want to race but alas these dreams cannot always
come true for in their way stands, or rather sits, the Cox. So begins the crew
selection, weeks of rowing round and round and round Mounts Bay until the ideal
crew is formed. A, B and if we’re lucky a C crew too. Unfortunately it doesn’t
end there, oh no, now the real work starts. The following weeks are full of
serious and punishing training to get the crew “together”, weeks full of
sprints, stamina and technique (and we do this for fun???) It’s all worth it
though. When the first race comes, the crew gives everything plus a bit more to
pull ahead of that next boat and beat them across the line. After all taking
part is never ever as important as winning!!!!!
So when you next look out on cold, grey, wet Sunday morning
just remember the intrepid rowers of Zennor and think “winter training…oh go on
then!”
Richard
Cornish - 11th February 2010
Typical
Saturday Racing Day
Well the season is well and truly over for another year, the
boats are having a bit of a winter touch up and the rowers of Zennor Gig Club
can take a breath and relax (before we go again next year!) As you may have
noticed, it wasn’t the best of summers weather-wise, which meant that a fair
few events were either a wash-out for those who attended or cancelled
completely. As it was, the results for
Zennor were, let’s put it mildly, not as good as they might have been. To save
you, the dear and devoted reader, from the tear jerking and heart rending story
of the year, I thought I might take a moment of your time and will try and
recreate the magic of a day at the races.
For those who have never witnessed a day of gig racing, a
brief description would be a group of people standing on a beach, occasionally
getting in a boat and then going to the pub!
Ho ho, I hear you cry, surely there is more to it than that. Well yes
there is, so let us begin.
Early every Saturday morning in the season, a couple of people
will turn up at the Ggg shed and the gig will be hitched to the towing vehicle.
These early birds are a vital part of the whole day…. they get the boat to the
event! Clearly without them a day of gig racing might be a wee bit difficult.
Having driven to the beach/harbour/rock strewn quarry or river estuary, they
will manoeuvre the trailer as close to the water as possible and then wait.
They may be adventurous enough to go and grab a coffee before the club members
start to arrive. When enough members have arrived, the boat will be off loaded
(with the assistance of the club hosting the event) and then base camp will be
set up. If it’s not too windy, the club gazebo may get an airing. In any case,
picnic rugs and folding chairs will be spread out and Camp Zennor (including a
flag!) will be born.
By now most of the other clubs will have arrived and also
set up their camps for the day and preparing the boats for the fast approaching
first race. This is when the nervousness will start to rear its head. Will the
crew all arrive before the boats start leaving the beach? Have I remembered the
sun cream? Where’s my water bottle? Why have a drunk so much water before a
race? And so on.
At last, the first race of the day. Depending on event this
will either be a men’s race or a ladies’ race. For arguments sake, we’ll assume
the men’s race is first. The men will get to the boat, get in the boat and go
out to the start line. Witty banter will ensure to the point when the boats
begin to line up. Racing mode takes over and the adrenaline starts to pump. The
race: 15 minutes of hard rowing, swearing and sweating. As the boat crosses the
finish bodies, will slump across oars.
For the ladies race then, the order will be as follows.
Adjust seat cushion, put water bottle in boat, take a drink of water and put
bottle back in boat. Adjust stretcher to the right setting. Make sure spare
pins are at hand. Run for a nervous pee (the second one, as the first one had
taken place during the men’s race) take trainers and socks off, and get in
boat. Put socks and trainers back on. Adjust stretcher again. Take a drink of
water. Contemplate getting out for a pee again. Get oar out and begin to row
out to the start line. Once at the start line, take jacket, jumper and first
t-shirt off. Drink some water and prepare to race. Consider another pee….. too
late!
After each race, crews will head directly for the burger
stall followed by the cake stall. Now clearly this is because of the huge
amount of energy expended during the course of a race and nothing to do with
the fact that most are just plain greedy!
Now each event will have both ladies and men’s races generally two of
each, the A’s and the B’s but there will also be junior races, mixed races and
finally vet’s races. Vet’s races are not races held exclusively for members of
veterinary practices but for (as heard in Scillies) coffin dodgers or over
40’s, sounds cruel declaring all over 40’s as veterans, I know but that’s gig
racing for you.
So the racing will carry on as described above for the A’s
and the B’s and so on until all races have been concluded. Now the fun begins
as 10 to 20 clubs try and get there boats of the beach and onto the trailers….
complete chaos! Once boats are away, rowers head home tired, full of cake and
burgers but the very true and faithful will head straight to the pub to quench
their thirst …. now that’s true dedication to your sport.
Oh, and don’t forget the towers who, having arrived at the
beach hours before some rowers, then have to tow the gig home again …..
arriving home hours after their fellow rowers!
Scillies
2008
by Richard Cornish
Another year, another
Scillies or to give it its full title ‘The World Pilot Gig Championships 2008’!
A marvellous title I know but, for all the grandeur of the title and the ever
increasing number of gigs and the rowers to put in them, it still retains a
wonderful feeling of community.
It may be because all
the crews and their supporters are so closely packed for the duration of the
weekend’s racing or the fact that once ashore from the racing, everyone forgets
rivalries and comes together in celebration of the sport we all love, or it
could be the fact that there only seems to be a handful of pubs on the island
and so many thirsty rowers needing to get into them.
It was into this great
feeling of welcome that the members of Zennor Gig Club arrived on St Mary’s via
the helicopter, Skybus or the good old favourite, the Scillonian III. Even more importantly, all of gigs had arrived
in time for the weekend - something that was in serious doubt when the Gry
Maritha (lovingly called the Grim Reaper) was taken out of service in the weeks
leading up to the racing.
As is the tradition for
the Scillies, Friday evening is reserved for the veterans races (one Scillies
boatman was overheard saying “coffin dodgers race”) and in the true polite way,
the ladies were sent out to test the waters first, lest it be too wet or cold
or lumpy for the men! Zennor fielded a
strong ladies vets crew (as always seems to be the case) and once again came in
with a respectable result of 9th. Having decided that the water was indeed wet
but not too cold or lumpy, the brave men set out for the startline off St
Agnes. Now it must be noted that
although there is rivalry between clubs, the greatest rivalry is to be found
within clubs and Zennor is no exception. Each year, the mens and ladies vets will
always try and beat each other. Last
year was the year for the ladies, this year it was the men who could look smug
in the pub that evening having come in 7th. I know it’s only two places but that’s racing
for you.
Saturday dawned with yet
another Scillies tradition ……. fog. Now fog has been a pain in the proverbial
for the past few years, causing delays, making boats get all lost only to find
themselves bumping into the harbour wall, etc. This year, the Gods smiled upon the
islands and the fog burnt off and the sun came out and stayed out. The first round of races is from St Agnes to
the harbour and this means that for the ladies race there were 106 crews on the
startline and for the men’s race there are an impressive 111 boats jostling
position. As is the norm in racing, the
Ladies A crew beat the Ladies B crew. However,
things were slightly different for the men. In a break with tradition, the Mens B crew
beat the Mens A crew across the finish line - quite a shock for all, I can
assure you. It did take a few hours for
the grins of the B’s to wear off it must be noted. With the long race out of the way, the
afternoon saw the short sprint races for the group heats take place between a
small rock off of Tresco and the Harbour on St. Mary’s. By Saturday evening, all the crews had raced
their little hearts out only to realise that they had to do it all again on Sunday.
Sunday ….. and the fog
is back ….. but the smiling Gods must be enjoying the spectacle so decide that the
fog would be a slight hindrance in watching it unfold. Saturday’s sun has turned into Sunday’s
sunburn and the previous evening’s pub crawl is starting to feel like a very
bad idea as crews start the two Nut Rock races of the day for both the men and ladies.
The ladies heats go out first with the Ladies B racing before the Ladies A,
followed by the men. After a brief spot
of lunch, the finals have arrived. Blistered
hands and behinds take to the water for the final time. The boats head out to the start and await for
their heats to be called to the line. First
off is the Ladies B who make a good race to finish the weekend. While the lower heats raft up in the harbour
and break out the port, wine, beer and sweeties, the upper heats set off
towards the finish and the possibility of a medal if they win a heat. By the time the Ladies A crosses the line,
there is much slightly drunken cheering and shouting as the club cheers on it’s
own and other clubs across the line. The final results for the ladies were
Ladies A 18th and Ladies B 82nd.
Once the ladies have
staggered ashore it’s time for the men to race. As mentioned before, the Mens B beat the Mens
A in the St. Agnes race so it is the Mens A who races first (lower heats race
before higher heats.) True to form, the
A crew race for glory and win their heat meaning that they got a trip to the
podium and a medal for coming in 37th out of 111. The final Zennor boat to race contains the Mens
B, who have yet to hear of the A’s success. They too race for glory but the smiling God’s
don’t want to be too generous so decide that the B’s should be content in
coming in higher than the A’s with the a final result of 32nd.
As with the ladies, the
men raft up and wait for the final heat containing the top crew to race in. This leaves plenty of time for the port and
other fine medicines to work their magic and dull the aches and pains of the
past two days. Of course in true
Scillies tradition, there is the Sunday night in the Mermaid. This is where the fine rowers of Zennor Gig
Club can unwind and stuff yummy things down their necks as finding food on
Sunday night would be like trying to find, well, a sober person, it’s never
going to happen!
It would be very
unsporting of me to disclose the full goings on of Zennor’s members so I’ll
leave it up to you to imagine what sticky drunken messes were found the next
morning emerging bleary eyed from all corners of the IslanD….. Some
traditions are worth keeping and Scillies is one fine example of one worth
cherishing.
Mermaid’s Echo – February
2008
by Richard Cornish
Having spent most of the winter months
hiding form the cold, bleary eyed Zennor Gig Club members have been slowly
getting back into the idea of spending the majority of their time sat in a
wooden boat wishing they were sat somewhere much more agreeable, namely the
pub. This brings me neatly onto the subject of the much anticipated, yet
strangely painful, annual drinking trip to the Scillies, also known as the World
Pilot Gig Championships.
This is clearly THE most important event of
the year (excepting Zennor’s own event, held at Sandy Cove, Newlyn
31st May - see you there!) So as you would expect, the rowers of
Zennor have embraced the new season's training with a great deal of passion.
Well, that is what you and I would like to hear. The truth is slightly more
sobering for several reasons. Firstly, two of the Club’s elder statesmen spent
time away doing a spot of rowing so they could spend some time sat on a beach
drinking rum. Secondly, Morvoren has spent the winter sat on a beach drinking
rum. No. Sorry, got in loop. Morvoren has had a full face lift and tummy tuck or,
as they say in the boat world, had her hull stripped and painted. Unfortunately
this took a wee bit longer than anticipated (I wrote about this last time - before
Christmas!) meaning that for a couple of weeks Senara was the only boat
available for training and, thirdly, it's just been rubbish weather for training
meaning that rowing around Penzance Harbour is as exciting as it’s got. Even so
training is still training and to paraphrase Tesco “Every Little Helps” which
is good because until the sun comes out and the wind becomes a tropical breeze,
we won’t be going far.
However despite all the little set backs,
we’ll soon be up and running at full race speed. I only hope that that’ll be
peaking on or around the Saturday and Sunday of the Scillies!
SCILLY ACCOMMODATION NEEDED
By Anna Willmott
Anna the spanner has
no bed.
No soft pillow to rest her head.
No roof, no mattress, no draft excluder,
No excuse for not organising something sooner.
Even Nicky and George have got a hotel room,
Now I know I've got to organise something soon,
I just really hope I haven't left it too late,
Fortunately I'm a great believer in fate.
And someday soon my guardian angel will email me,
And say that Ican stay with he/she
Please guys I need your help,
I'm just not up for paying 200 quid to stays with those boys for the night.
So if you have a place on the lovely campsite,
Then I can provide a large tent where I promise to stay out of sight,
I'll even bring my own ear plugs,
Just in case you bring back some Scilly bed bugs,
Or if you have a little floor space,
Imagine that as my mattress where I can rest my weary face,
If none of these you have to give,
Then please let me know if there's someone else u know I can stay with.
One way or the other I will make it to the Nut Rock race
Even if I sleep on the beach with the wind in my face...and arse crack.
Mermaid’s Echo – November
2007
by Richard Cornish
So here we are again. The
year drawing to an end with the festive season being forced down our throats
like that final helping of turkey!
All across the county,
weary rowers have hung up their oars and have gone off to find a cave to
hibernate in till the New Year, except the rowers of Zennor Gig Club that is.
No, Zennor’s rowers are being kept very busy indeed. Extra-curricular activities are the order of
the day (or evening).
Basketball has become a
very popular with the club. While those
who go are very enthusiastic and eager, no one knows the exact rules. As a result, it’s not so much a game of
basketball but more a gladiatorial trail, which leaves bodies strewn across the
court having suffered being squashed against the walls, rugby tackled and generally
manhandled in a not too gentle way. Everyone
loves it! Likewise, the gym is a regular
haunt for the Zennor lot. With every
intention to keep driving hard on every piece of equipment, there is a slight
playground feel to it, with some members who shall remain nameless cracking up
with laughter every five seconds. Of
course all this training isn’t just for fun, oh no, there is a much more
serious point to it all. The Scillies is
only just around the corner and crew selection is even closer!
Most importantly, the
winter time allows for some vital maintenance on the gigs. First to go into the beauty parlour for a
little TLC is Morvoren, who as I write has once again been turned over waiting
for her bottom to be touched up (not like that!!!!) Once Morvoren has been finished, it’ll be
Senara’s turn to be stripped, dried and re-painted ready for the new season.
Finally, I must mention
Steve and Paul who have finally set off for their fantastic (if not completely
bonkers) adventure. Having had two farewell
parties over the weekend, who would have thought that they both knew so many
people all wanting to make sure they really were going! We wish them good luck and will see them again
in February. In the meantime, watch
their progress at www.the-reason-why.co.uk
(Remember they don’t start rowing until the 2nd of December.)
Right, I’m off to find
some nuts and berries and a nice dark cave for the next few months.
Mermaid’s Echo – September
2007
by Richard Cornish
Where did I get to last time?
I’m sure I’d covered the drunken mess that was Scillies and the brilliant day of
our event (did I mention the dolphins?) So what’s been happening in the months
in between?
Well, first to mention is
that we now boast 4 rowers who actually live in Zennor, well between the
Gurnards Head and the Tinner’s, and one of these fine chaps is Steve Gardner
who, as you probably know, is going to be rowing the Atlantic in November with
Paul Harris . We’ll keep you updated with their progress and no doubt raise a
few glasses to their epic (if not completely bonkers) journey. The remaining
“Zennor Boys” have slotted very nicely into both the mens crews with some great
results during the season.
The season has, as always,
produced some interesting results for Zennor Gig Club, some too terrible to
mention that they’ll cause you to weep inconsolably for days if not seconds, so
I won’t mention those but will instead reflect on a few of the more uplifting
ones.
The Two Castles Race: a race
from a point off St. Anthony’s head just next to St. Mawes into
Falmouth harbour,
finishing right next to the Maritime
Museum. With 24 crews
competing including Roseland and Falmouth, the going was
going to be tough. Zennor had entered two crews, a mens and a mixed. As you
would expect there was the pre-start banter between the two crews which was
chiefly concerned with who was going to have to buy the beer for the other crew
when they lost. Well the race went rather well in the end for both crews with
the mens crew coming in 4th over the line and 3rd mens
crew, and the mixed 10th over the line and also 3rd in the
mixed crews. As it transpired later the mens crew had made things very hard for
themselves by sticking close to Falmouth’s mens crews on
the start, thinking that, being Falmouth they’d have the
local knowledge. Unfortunately Falmouth had decided to
make things more challenging for themselves and had opted for a mid channel
start position. This was where the outgoing tide and the winds were strongest!
The free beer and pasties at the end more than made up for it though.
The Newlyn Fish Festival is
another Club favourite, mostly because the boats tend to stop on the way back to
Penzance and engage in a
little mackerel fishing. The race, as usual, is a long one starting off Newlyn
pier up to Low Lee buoy back to the Gear Pole and back to
Newlyn
Harbour where the finish
is. Well, the two mixed crews rowed rather well, although the second mixed crew
had a bit of a tangle at Low Lee causing many raised voices and a few choice
words. After a little manoeuvring and taking full advantage of the mess up by
another boat (in which there was desperate reaching for an oar that had somehow
left the grasp of its rower) they made up lost ground and were steadily gaining
on Penryn. In the end the first Zennor
crew came across the line in 2nd with the second crew in hot pursuit
coming across the line in 4th only a boat length behind
Penryn.
After a traditional thirst
quenching at The Swordfish, the crews decided to head for home….. in the teeth
of a gale (well if felt like it, even if it was only a force 4!) Stopping to get
the fishing rods out was seriously out of the question as the boats would have
been blown back to Newlyn where the fish had already been caught, thus spoiling
any fun the crews might have had.
More recently, the ladies
and Under 16s of Zennor were taking part in the
County
Championships. The Ladies A
did well and made it through to the quarter finals, narrowly missing out on a
place in the semi finals by just one second! In the end they were =12th with
Falmouth B. The Ladies B were knocked out in the first round but did go on to
win the Plate Race, after much arm twisting by the crew to get the Cox to do it.
The author can in no way suggest that the result was due the crew being powered
by port and bubbly!
The Under 16 crew rowed well
coming 5th in their race. Unfortunately they missed out on a place in
the second round on time but there’s always next year. They finished in 18th
place.
So, as the season slows down
(it never actually stops completely) there are a few races still to be had.
There’s the Mens County Championships in a couple of weeks time, the Helford
River Race, the Bristol River Race and not forgetting the race to the bar
following each event. Before we know it,
it’ll be time to book those Scillonian tickets for Scillies 08…… I need a
drink!
Life in the Ladies A Crew in Scillies
2007
by Becky Williams
Saturday: Got up. Went
toilet. Had breakfast. Went toilet. Got dressed (chose best racing knickers).
Went toilet. Wandered onto Green. Had nervous look around. Got nervous. Went
toilet. Replaced toilet roll (used WHOLE one since breakfast).Sort out gig. Go
toilet. Have 50 THOUSAND publicity photos taken. Go toilet for ONE.LAST.TIME.
Get in gig. Row to start line. Wait for ‘The Phrase of The Harris’. Well this IS
it girls.Faff on start line. Give father greg a Paddington bear hard stare as
he’s about to take OUR WATER!!!-The cheek of it. Row up. Adjust knickers. Row
like hell. Repeat from ‘wandered onto green’ step 6. Finish racing for first
day. DON’T need to go to toilet for rest of day. Have argument with father greg
about start line. Mother greg leaves holiday flat……
Sunday: Pretty much same
as Saturday. BUT this time there’s the added highlight of my first wild wee on
the back of Tresco.Got stage fright. Admired view out across islands. Forgot
what I was there for. Slight cold draft reminded me I was supposed to be
peeing……Start to row up to start line. Miss start. Then some
rowing/screaming/swearing and general uproar…..don’t want to go into
that….Finish last race. Decide on crew challenge for night. Bow vs stroke.
Drink copious amounts of port after only eating dextrose energy tablets all day.
Try to walk up quay in sensible manner, but in real life I’m actually walking
like I’m wearing flippers….Drink more port. Eat pizza to sober up so I can put
lenses in without stabbing my eyes out. Shower. Sit on bed. Feel like old
person that’s been beaten with sticks. Get second wind and away I go
again….Mermaid. Red wine. Much hilarity with dubious wooden statues.
Hi-lar-ious. Go upstairs. More red wine. Tables. Red wine.
Carnage…
Monday: Wake up. Mouth
like camel’s arm pit (do camels have arms?). Last night’s make up on. Alice
Cooper. Drag myself down to Green. Slink around trying to make myself invisible.
Roskilly’s ice cream for breakfast. Celebrate the success of the Bow Side Bonus
Dream Team….
Mermaid’s Echo – May
2007
by Richard Cornish
So,
Scillies is over for another year, memories are now surrounded with a sepia hue
that makes the rowing seem more fun and less painful, the dancing on the
tables less of a drunken staggering about and more of a ‘Strictly Come Dancing’
special and the massive hangovers seem, well, like massive hangovers.
Let us take a brief journey
back to the first Bank Holiday weekend of May and join the excited souls of
Zennor Gig Club. The weekend started, as usual, by sending all the veterans
crews out for a Friday evening race. Whether this is a clever ploy by organizers
to get the more experienced rowers nice and thirsty for the weekend or an
attempt to try and kill them off to allow some of the younger rowers a sniff at
a podium place, I’m not sure. Either way it was Zennor’s Ladies Vets crew who
pulled out a fantastic performance and got to the pub in 3rd place -
sorry I mean came across the line in 3rd. The men didn’t do quite so
well, coming in 20th. Maybe they were saving themselves for the main
races on the Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday dawned too bright for some,
joyfully sunny for everyone else.
The ladies went off and
raced the 3 mile St Agnes race
resulting in a fairly respectable placing for all three crews. Then after a
brief interlude provided by the Island Fog Co. the men rowed out to St. Agnes
turned round and raced back. The Mens A crew went off as always with the main
pack while the Men’s B had to fight off Salcombe, who had decided that the patch
of water in which Senara was being rowed, looked like a better patch of water
and wanted it for themselves. Despite this brief interruption, the Mens B
managed to get across the finish line in a respectable manner. What followed was
a sort of yo-yoing affair where by Zennor’s crews went up and then down through
the groups finally coming to rest in about the right place that enabled them to
start the second from final race (the final race being the one to the bar) in
high hopes of coming away with a not to shameful result. As it was, the Ladies A finished
14th, the Ladies B 51st and the Ladies C 84th.
The Mens A who had come 5th last year could only manage
27th but the Mens B, who last year came 87th pulled
themselves right up to 64th place this year.
With the racing over, it was
a quick shower then down to the Mermaid for a light snack and a couple of
mineral waters before turning in about 9 pm…. if you believe that you’ll believe
anything! I’ll not divulge the gory details, firstly to save those involved from
a lifetime of ridicule and finger pointing and secondly, you might be eating
your breakfast!
What with Scillies done and
dusted and crews slowly drying out (in more ways than one) it was time to look
to our own event. We’d managed to get the first racing weekend after the
Scillies which meant that there should be plenty of race hungry crews out there
looking for victory and a burger. In the end, we had 17 clubs turn up which
proved to be just the right number as any more and there would have been
absolute havoc instead of the mild chaos that was present when the boats arrived
at the turning marks. Despite having to
man the bbq, the food tent, set out the course and keep everyone happy, Zennor’s
crews did quite well during the day. The Ladies A came in 1st after a
brilliant performance, both the Mens A and the Ladies B managed a
3rd the mixed came
9th and the Vet’s crew, made up of the same ladies who did so well in
Scillies, came in 6th but were the first ladies vets crew across the
line.
The day saw dolphins playing
in between the oars of the ladies as they rowed for the finish line, blue skies
and some very happy rowers. Of course it wouldn’t be a racing event if Zennor
didn’t celebrate in the traditional way by going to the pub.
Who said we’re a drinking
club with a rowing problem?
C O N G R A T
U L A T I O N S T O:-
Alice, Becky, Ellisha, Fiona, Jennie, Sarah, Tamsin and Vanessa who
all took part in the 2006 Race for Life in Penzance. To say it rained is an
understatement - it absolutely bucketed down so everyone was cold and wet before
the race even started. However, we managed to raise over £800 for
Cancer Research - Well Done Everyone!
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