LYME Regis Gig Club set some new club standards when they attended Bridport Regatta.

From the 13 races throughout the day, Lyme took top honours in seven, setting a new club record in the process.

That also took the club’s trophy haul to 14 for the season so far, another new club record.

The day began with the ladies’ races. It was a subdued start for Lyme, with the ladies’ crews struggling to find their normally good form.

The ladies’ C crew came in fourth (including a contingent of four juniors in the crew), ladies’ B were sixth and ladies’ A were also sixth in their respective races.

It was then the turn of the men. Starting with the men’s C crew, they drove strongly off the start line in increasingly heavy seas and gradually pulled away for the first Lyme win of the day.

Following were the men’s B crew, and, at pretty much full strength, they again saw off strong competition for victory.

The big challenge was the men’s A race. Home side Bridport had high hopes of a win, and they stayed with the Lyme crew for the first leg to the first turn.

Gut Lyme then surged clear and never looked back, despite some very good coxing from Bridport where they attempted to surf the now rolling breaking waves for victory.

After a short break, it was the turn of the under-14s. Lyme fielded two crews, one now very experienced crew rowing in Tempest, the other full of first-time racers rowing in Black Ven.

The Tempest crew had a poor start and early on were well down the field, but some expert rowing saw them move to the front with confidence to win convincingly. The Black Ven crew rowed very well for sixth.

The ladies’ vets were next, finishing fifth. This was followed by the men’s vets, who without a victory this year so far were desperate for a win.

And they did not disappoint, steaming through from the start for a commanding lead and cruised home by some 10 boat lengths.

The ladies’ supervets come home a solid fourth place in their race, which led on to the men’s supervets.

This crew have been unbeaten since April and there was a small amount of pressure to pick up yet another trophy.

They did it in style, seeing off the opposition early on for a victory by six boat lengths.

The final race of the day was the mixed crew race, with Lyme again fielding two crews.

The Lyme A mixed crew have not seen success for two years, but fielding their strongest crew and with confidence high from the day so far, they motored off the start line with full power leaving the competition trailing behind.

The lead was never in doubt and they pulled further away throughout the race for the club’s seventh victory of the day.

A spokesperson for the club said: “It was a great day for Lyme Gig Club. The event was brilliantly hosted by Bridport Gig Club and thanks must go to them. Also thanks to all the club members who towed, coxed and helped with the boats.”

n Lyme Gig Club would like to thank their valued sponsors, including Otter Brewery. If you fancy taking up this ever-growing high octane sport, visit lyme regisgigclub.co.uk to try it out. All abilities welcome.