Winter series finale at the Brixham Regatta

Brixham Gig Rowing Club were the proud hosts for the last regatta in the new South Devon Winter League on Saturday, and competitors were treated to a calm day with a mix of sun, rain, and mist.

The course was set up as a straight 1.8km with no buoy turns and the boats heading out from the Breakwater beach to the start line.

Teams from Yealm, Salcombe, Dartmouth, Paignton, Teign and Brixham were at the regatta and, as it was the last event, there was the added incentive of double points at stake.

The overall series winners were Dart and many congratulations to them for such a strong showing and giving the rest of the teams an aiming point to strive for in the future.

As well as hosting the regatta, the Brixham Gig Club has been proudly supporting local charities over the course of the winter and club chairwoman Kirsten Pullen recently presented a cheque to Martyn Paddon from Brixham Does Care.

They were the club’s chosen charity for 2023 and they handed over the real cheque in December, so they could use the money for Christmas and then arranged the presentation at the event on Saturday.

Generosity works in both directions, as Kirsten joined club captain Amy Plowman and club bosun Jodie Ellis to show off the three new lifejackets that were kindly donated by Arleigh Group.

The regatta results were as follows:

Men’s Super Vets – Dart: 5 crews

Dart had a winning time of 8. 28 with Brixham second in 8.46 and in third was Yealm in 9.01

Men’s Vets – Dart: 6 crews

This race was much closer with Dart winning with a time of 8.40 and Yealm in 2nd with 8.48 then Salcombe a close 3rd with 8.49.

Men’s B – Dart: 7 crews

Another strong win for Dart in 9.11 with Salcombe 2nd in 9.32 and Yealm 3rd in 9.53.

Men’s A – Dart: 5 crews

The final Men’s event saw Dart take a clean sweep with a winning time of 8.32 followed in by Teign in 8.39 and then Brixham in 9.00.

Juniors – Brixham: 4 crews

Brixham juniors continued their great results with Dart and two Yealm crews competing.

Mixed Masters – Teign: 6 crews

This was another tightly contested race with Teign finishing in 10.41 followed by Salcombe in 10.43 and then Yealm in 10.55

Novices – Brixham: 6 crews

This was also quite close with 1st and 2nd only separated by seven seconds. The winning time was 11.38. Dart took the 2nd spot with Paignton in 3rd.

Ladies Masters – Brixham: 2 crews

Even with only two boats, this was another tight race with 1st in 12.10 and runners-up 12.26. In fact, it was a clean sweep as there were only Brixham crews involved.

Ladies Super Vets – Teign: 7 crews

This race had the first four boats separated by only 24 seconds from 9.10 to 9.34. Dart, Salcombe and Brixham filled those other places.

Ladies B – Teign: 7 crews

This was a strong showing for Teign in 9.45 and the chasing pack of four covered by 30 seconds. The pack consisted of Salcombe, Dart, Paignton and Brixham.

Ladies A – Brixham: 6 crews

The winning time was a respectable 9.34 with Teign coming in at 9.45 and 3rd placed Dart in 9.55.

Ladies Vets – Salcombe: 6 crews

The last race produced the best finish with Salcombe holding off Brixham by two seconds in a winning time of 9.37.