LYME Regis Gig Club travelled to their twin town of St Georges in Bermuda, to take part in the Bermuda Pilot Gig Club’s inaugural International Regatta.

Putting rivalries aside, Lyme invited rowers from the surrounding Jurassic Coast Clubs to join with them and compete under a combined ‘Team Jurassic’ banner.

Rowers from Sidmouth, Portland, Weymouth and Swanage all accepted and four crews were assembled, two male and two female.

The Lyme/Jurassic rowers competed against teams from Bermuda, the Netherlands and the USA.

Other clubs competing were Rame, representing Cornwall and Appledore from Devon.

A series of regattas, held at three locations on the island, saw Lyme Regis and Team Jurassic excel on the customary kite-shaped courses and the choppy waters of Mangrove Bay and the Americas Cup arena at Spanish Point.

The final regatta, held in the sheltered St Georges harbour, was a sprint race of 1,000m.

The men’s race was won by the Bermudians with the Jurassic team just beating their Lyme colleagues for the first time.

However, the overall standings were that the Lyme and Jurassic Coast men were placed first and second respectively after their clean sweep at Mangrove Bay and Spanish Point.

The two Lyme/Jurassic Ladies' crews came in third and sixth out of 11 teams behind the Bermudian ladies in first place and the Dutch team in second.

At the awards ceremony after the final regatta at St Georges, Phil Hayward on behalf of LRGC, presented the Bermudians with a model wooden gig built by the Lyme Regis Boat Building academy.

Hayward paid tribute to the organisers and said: "This was the best sporting experience of my life. Your hospitality, warmth and friendliness shown towards us all were just outstanding.

"The organisation and attention to detail was superb and I think many of us learned some lessons on how to put on a successful regatta.

“We have been treated as though we were visiting royalty”

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