LYME Regis Gig Club sent boats to the final events of the season, the Head of the River race at Helford in Cornwall and the Tamar Challenge.

The Helford race is a four-and-a-half mile pursuit event with crews given handicaps depending on age and gender.

Both Lyme crews were mixed, with three men and three women in each crew.

The Rebel crew, made up of five supervets (over-50) and a 30-year-old, set off two minutes before the Tempest crew and made steady progress.

They caught the slower boats and managed not to get passed by many of the quicker crews, finishing the race in 42 minutes and 52 seconds, and an overall place of 14th from 30 gigs entered.

The Tempest crew, made up of four vets (over-40) and two in their 20s, got off to a flying start and caught many of the earlier starters, finally finishing in 39 minutes and 43 seconds for a final placing of fifth overall, only being beaten by four all male crews.

HELFORD CREWS:

Tempest: Cox: Jeff Legge. Michelle Prosser, Sam Smith, Cam Short, Harry Poulson, Dan Dunford, Emma Hensman

Rebel: Cox: Elliott Dale. Kerry Maguire, Charlotte Ryall, Chris Walters, Pete Rowsell, Marcus Dixon

On the Tamar, weather conditions were so poor they almost warranted calling off the event.

This event is also a long distance race and again a handicapped pursuit race.

Visibility was greatly reduced by the heavy sleeting rain bouncing off the water surface.

All crews were absolutely soaked before the flag went down, making the race extra challenging.

Rowing in Prospero, this year’s crew were a full supervet one and managed to finish in 61m 51secs making them the fastest supervets crew on the day, a great result.

This marks the end of a remarkable season for the club, much of which has been achieved through the continued support of sponsors, including Otter Brewery and Lyme Regis Town Council.