By Ruth Simms
It was an early start, but as I got closer to Swanage, the clouds drifted away and the sun started to shine. It felt more like a summer's day, than the end of September. I found my way to beautiful Swanage beach, with rolling hills on one side, regal houses on the other, and overlooked by a giant plastic dinosaur! I started to look for the red and yellow shirts of Lewes Pilot Gig Club.
I arrived around the same time as Irene - the wooden Grand Dame of Lewes's fleet of boats. I met my crew and help them to get Irene settled on the beach. We sorted out seats, racing starts and the different way Lewes do a stroke (eek!).
There were roughly 33 clubs in all participating, with races for women and men's crews, all over 50 years of age. The size of the regatta made for a buzzing atmosphere. And the view of all the different coloured wooden gigs lined up on the beach was a spectacle to the eye.
We rowed out to the start of our first race around 10am. There were 11 boats in total and it was amazing to see so many strong feisty woman - undaunted, fierce and ready to to race. The race was 2.5k with 3 bouys to manoeuvre around. The conditions couldn't have been more perfect. Nice flat water, a little heat from the sun, but a nice gentle breeze to keep us cool.
It was a valiant effort by the Lewes crew, some of whom hadn't raced before. We regrouped after the first race to talk through what we could improve on.
Our second race was just after lunch and I was beginning to regret the bacon bap and ice-cream. But I soon forgot that as we set off for a second time. This race felt much stronger and slicker. We pushed hard and made it to the end.
We may not have won any places but it was a great day spent with some awesome people and another race under my belt, albeit for another club.
But the last word should go to my son George. He asked who I was racing with. When I said 'Lewes' (pronounced Lewis), he said 'That's one person. What about the rest of the crew?'. Yep, he's not a local yet!
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