Portishead and Clevedon Pilot Gig Clubs were delighted with their results at the World Championships in the Isles of Scilly.
The Portishead Ladies open crew achieved their highest finish, coming 41st out of 115 boats and smashing their previous best by 21 places, as the men’s open came 66th, only two places behind their 2019 performance.
Both open crews had to fight hard for their results, battling through four gruelling races over two days and facing tough and very experienced competition, but were spurred on by the great support from the finish line.
Clevedon's men and ladies both performed superbly with wonderful results from their race.
The men's A side finished in a superb 43rd place, while the B side were 89th.
The Ladies A side finished in a respectful 78th place, 32 places higher than their B side in 110th.
Friday saw the turn of the vets and supervets crews and Portishead's crews finished strongly in both races, as the vets achieved an impressive 20th out of 28, and the supervets came 21st out of 41.
Clevedon's men's vets finished one position behind Portishead and the supervets rounded off the top 30 with an impressive 27th place.
The Ladies vets also secured 27th place with the Supervets had to settle for 41st.
With oar clashes, photo finishes, blisters and sun burn, all crews had to dig deep during their races so their hard work and hours of practice paid off.
Weather conditions were stunning, with blues skies and flat seas until the final men’s race on Sunday when the rain came down. Many said they were the calmest seas seen in 31 years of the championship.
“We are so proud of what we have achieved," said Isobel Jones, member of the PPGC committee.
"We are still a relatively new club, and many of our crew had never experienced the magic and mayhem of the World Championships before. Starting on the start line with 115 boats is incredible, so to go out and finish above well established clubs really puts us on the map.
"a huge well done to all our rowers, and thank you to our support crew who cheered and kept the boat in great order. It was a true team effort.”
Clevedon PGC chair Andrew Brown added: "It was great to get back to the Scillies after two years away due to Covid, and whilst we did not do as well as in previous years, for many of our members it was their first time at the Championships which certainly bodes well for the future."
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