Burnham and Brightlingsea Rowing Report
The last two gig events of the season took place in Burnham and Brightlingsea on consecutive weekends.
On Sunday 5th March Elettra travelled the short distance to the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club for Round 10 of the Harker’s Yard Gig Series. It was an extremely cold, grey day but only a gentle breeze. The Ladies with Lauren Hughes as stroke, Sophie Clayton, Edyta Hayward, Jenny Ball and Cap’n Kev as Cox took to the water first and positioned themselves close to the Burnham shore out of the tide. They had a good start, rowing down river against the tide and after a tight turn round the buoy headed back upriver managing to hold off William Rose (SSC) this time, beating them by over 2 minutes. Elettra finished in 12th position.
For the Men’s race Pete Clayton joined the regular team of Martin Baker – stroke, Steve Cleaver and Tim Parker as Tom Clayton was unavailable due to a small matter of getting married! Cap’n Kev as cox struggled to keep Elettra behind the line, as the tide had turned before the start and unfortunately they were just over at the gun. Harker’s Yard rules allow gigs to perform a 360° in clear water if less than a boat length over the line or take a 1 minute penalty. The decision was taken to do a 360 before the turning mark and a bow side pull round left Elettra plum last so had a lot of ground to make up. A lot of gigs underestimated the strength of the tide at the mark and were swept past enabling Elettra to cut inside and gain several valuable places. Rowing back upriver they continued to gain places and almost caught Aquiline (RCRC) to finish 8th. An excellent effort!
Finally the Mixed team; Cap’n Kev – stroke, Sandra Clayton, Sam Butler and Jonathan Lavender coxed by Pete Clayton took to the water and once again struggled to remain behind the line despite back rowing. With the tide under them they had a good start and maintain a steady pace to the mark.. They turned early avoiding being swept past the mark and once again made up several places. Having taken Tyrant (RCRC) at the mark and held her off for most of the return leg, as both gigs drew close to the finish line it became obvious that she was gaining on them. Despite the best efforts of the crew and with great encouragement from the shore Tyrant managed to beat Elettra by 1 second which put us in 15th place.
Sunday 12th March saw Elettra return to Brightlingsea for the third time this year for Round 11, hosted by Brightlingsea Coastal Rowing Club. The weather was very unsettled and there was some doubt as to whether the event would go ahead but on the day it was settled enough for time trials in the creek rather than the usual mass start out in the river.
Starting in pairs, at 2 minute intervals, the Ladies, Jo Murray – stroke, Sophie Clayton, Lauren Hughes and Clare Taylor, had excellent start, with the tide under them and quickly pulled ahead of Audacity (Wivgigs) , the gig they were paired with and started to gain ground on William Rose (SSC) who had started 2 minutes ahead. At the turn Elettra got swept down by the tide enabling Audacity to catch up, but Elettra quickly recovered and soon passed William Rose.. However Molliette (UCSC) was gaining ground, having started 2 minutes after Elettra. When the results came out Molliette was 4 seconds quicker so beat Elettra, who once again came 12th, with a time of 22.51, just over 3 minutes behind the first Ladies team.
Lessons learnt from the ladies’ race put Cap’n Kev in a conspiratorial mood. As soon as the mens’ crew of Martin Baker- stroke, Tom Clayton, Steve Cleaver and Tim Harker, were aboard and having rowed well away from the pontoon, he told them his plan. There had been a strong crosswind on Elettra’s port bow on the return leg against the wind and tide – as such, Kev had had to provide a lot of counter-steering to keep them rowing straight. The theory was simple: at the turn, Tim, in the bow, would toss his oar to the stroke side and slot it into the spare set of thole pins to become the third rower on stroke side. The main snags were that they only had softwood pins designed to snap under load, and weren’t allowed to practice for fear of giving the game away – but it would be alright on the night, right?
At the start, with a following wind and the tide roaring in, timing was going to be tricky. Elettra held back, and as the clock ticked over, wound up the rhythm and were away. As they pulled upriver with Audacity, their time trial competitor and fellow sailing-club-based rowing team, they began to pull away, ensuring they didn’t burn out on the ‘easy’ leg. By the turn, they were clear ahead of Audacity and began operation Switcheroo! A slick toss from Tim got the oar over to the stroke side, but the trickier move slowed them down and allowed Audacity to close up. The confusion was visible on their faces as they realised that they only had one rower pulling on the bow side, with no intentions of correcting the situation. As we fell into a rhythm we began to once again pull away from them and embarked on the tough row back to Brightlingsea, with only the odd oar clash from the unconventional style we were employing. Pulling up to the pontoon we drew a few interested looks, and the sweet siren song of the hooter let them know they had finished.
In previous seasons we’ve been pleased to scrape into the top ten, so to be disappointed by our seventh place finish is a surreal but good feeling – onwards to next season! We may even practice in between, so if you want to join our crew please get in touch – it’s good fun and a social day out with a competitive edge to keep us keen
time of 17.31 just 56 seconds behind the first gig
And so for the last race of the series the Mixed team, Cap’n Kev – stroke, Sophie Clayton (rowing for a second time), Sandra Clayton and Jonathan Lavender took to the water as the tide went slack. Once again paired with Audacity, who quickly pulled ahead, Elettra maintained a good pace to the mark, had a quick stroke side turn and then headed back down the creek but behind them Molliette and Hunter were gaining ground. Elettra finished in a time of 19.41 just three and a half minutes behind the first gig but in 16th place.
To quote Cap’n Kev’ ‘This season has been the fairest and most fun racing I have seen so far!’ It’s been great to welcome Jenny Ball to the rowing team and Tim Parker to the club but we still need more female rowers! Although the season is at an end there will be some social rows over the summer and the opportunity to row during the second week of camping in August If you think you’d like to give it a go contact Captain Kev (Kevin Stubbs) at rowing@marconi-sc.co.uk It’s a great way to get fit, have fun and stay on the water during the winter months.
Sandra and Tom Clayton
Main and inset photos courtesy of Sandra Clayton
