WEYMOUTH Rowing Club travelled to London to compete in the 26th London Great River Race.

The ladies and men’s crews and their supporters took two of their Cornish pilot gig boats, Tristan and Isolde.

The Great River Race, a marathon of 22 miles was a spectacular event, where the route goes up the Thames, attracting almost 340 crews this year from all over the globe.

The Weymouth teams entered in one of the faster classes of fixed-seat rowing boats.

They set off in the last few boats, and ahead of them were more than 330 other crews.

The race started near Canary Wharf and ended close to Richmond.

With the flags of their Dorset sponsors Dorwest proudly flying from the stern, there was excitement and nervousness among the crew. However, they soon got into their stride and quickly closed in on the earlier boats.

The first bridge they encountered was probably the most memorable, the Tower Bridge.

The crews said it was a surreal experience to row under it.

As the crews moved from London into Surrey, the river traffic increased and became narrower with the concrete banks changing to leafy overhangs.

This brought with it the challenge of keeping up the racing pace while trying to get past all the slower boats. There were lots of overtaking manoeuvres past two, three and four-man boats, right up to crews of 10 to 15.

Weymouth rowed past three boats of pink fairies, a Where’s Wally crew, 15 Santas and numerous scary looking pirate crews.

Even the Dutch Navy were no match for Weymouth.

In just under two and a half hours, the Weymouth men’s team crossed the finish line having overtaken more than 250 boats.

They finished fifth fastest gig and 57th overall. A mere 18 minutes later, the Weymouth ladies crossed the line to the roar of the cannon and the acrid smell of the gun smoke.

They had completed the race in two hours and 47 minutes with more than 100 boats in their wake and were the second fastest all-ladies’ pilot gig team.

It was a wonderful, colourful and emotional race for Weymouth and something enjoyed by all those who took part.

There will be a range of pilot gigs in the waters off Weymouth beach on Saturday, October 18, when Weymouth host a mini regatta bringing in clubs from all over the south west.

Spectators are welcome. Hot food and drink will be served in the Nothe Fort from 11am.

If you would like to try rowing a pilot gig boat from Weymouth harbour, make contact via the club’s website, weymouthrowing club.co.uk