Bursledon Gigs at the Great River Race

Bursledon Gigs from the River Hamble were out in force at the GRR, with boats from Hamble River Rowing and the Sea Scouts, who won in most of the Scouts classes. Smartest boat on the river was Mistress, the Hand family gig.

Great River Race

What a great event the Great River Race is. Everyone goes out to have a good time in a spirit of friendly rivalry (although this frays round the edges a bit when boats jostle for position on the water). It's great the way everyone mucks in to get everyone's boats in and out of the water.
The water was incredibly rough in the Lower Pool, where a westerly wind came in against the tide, and in the Upper Pool it started to rain hard and long. We were completely soaked, but the days training in the challenging conditions of Langstone Harbour stood us in good stead and Gladys clipped roughly five minutes off last year's time of 3hrs. So victory was ours! Fastest old beardies on the Thames! And the fastest Clayton skiff too.