Sunday the 15th is the Regatta of the Lyme Regis Gig Club

12 Teams are competing from all over the South West in our first Regatta spend the day watching this great rowing event. Starting from 10am till finish . See you there.

The following wording is to enhance the launch of the Lerret

In 2009 Gail Mc Garva was awarded a scholarship from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust,funded by the Royal Warrant Holders Association,to build a Lerret, a boat wholly native to Lyme Bay,originating from 1682. A beautifully beamy double-ended clinker vessel of 17ft, elm on oak.The Trust are dedicated to the preservation of British crafts and craftsmanship.Gail has built this boat 'by eye', without the use of designer drawings,under the mentorship of Roy Gollop,one of the last remaining boatbuilders in Dorset with this particular skill.

There was only one seaworthy Lerret remaining called Vera,built in 1923 from Langton Herring,which Gail is now custodian of.The lines were taken from this boat ,to build a 'daughtership' to Vera. This new build preserves the lineage of the Lerrets, breathing new life into a new generation of this unique craft. The inherent characteristics of this vessel have remained virtually unchanged from its inception,designed to be launched and landed from the steep stoney shelved beaches of Lyme Bay.

The Lerrets though primarily used for mackerel fishing,had earned such respect for their seaworthiness,that by the early 19th century the newly formed RNLI ,adopted two Lerrets for service as life-boats. Archive material recounting their stories of saving lives at sea is extensive and quite remarkable.

The new Lerret is not a static museum exhibit but is an expression of living history.The Lerret is to be actively used as a training boat to enable young people to gain confidence at sea,develop their rowing skills and work together as team.

All boats have a story to tell and the story of the Lerret is wholly pertinent to our Dorset shores and our communities.

Gail as a traditional wooden boatbuilder is totally committed to the building of craft of historical resonance that hold vibrancy in their modern day communities.

On the 31st July the Lerret daughtership was launched from Lyme harbour alongside the mother boat Vera as a vibrant celebration of living history.The launch was part of Lyme's Lifeboat fortnight to celebrate the Lerret's history as a RNLI lifeboat.

The new Lerret and procession,complete with an oar salute from Lyme Regis Gig club, journeyed from the Boat Building Academy,who kindly housed the building of the boat,to the harbour slipway. All boat bearers and rowers were dressed in their ‘Sunday best”,white shirts and waistcoats,echoing boatyard launches of the past.A brass band heralded the arrival of the new Lerret.

Gail Mc Garva gave a speech of thanks and presented Roy Gollop as mentor with a bowler hat as a gift of appreciation for all his guidance and support.Again this echoes boat building yards of the past,where the foreman of the yard would have worn a bowler hat.

The new the Lerret was named by the president of The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust,William Gunn.She is called ‘Littlesea’,the local name for The Fleet behind Chesil Beach.Gail first heard the name from Majorie Ireland,who is 90 years old and whose family worked the Lerrets along these shores.The name ‘Littlesea’is a tribute and celebration of Majorie’s family and all the Lerret fisherfolk.The president of QEST presented Majorie Ireland with a bottle of champagne.A blessing was carried out by the Vicar Keith Vivien and a specially written song for the Lerret was sung by Sue Beckers. The boat was then carried through an archway of Cornish Pilot Gig oars, scattered with sea salt for safe passage at sea and then launched into Lyme's historic harbour,cradled by the arm of the Cobb.Littlesea was guided out to sea by the RNLI lifeboat ‘The Pearl of Dorset’,accompained by Vera the motherboat and escorted by Lyme's two Cornish Pilot Gigs,which were also build by Gail in 2008 and 2009.

Hope this helps paints a picture of launch day and the story of the Lerret.

Best wishes

Gail

The Launch of the Lerret

Another boat built by the talented boat builder Gail M

Gig Club ladies super vets accepting the challenge

Ladies Super Vets team put on a superb show to show how far they have come from the early days .The estimate of the win could not be calculated truly but I think it was by ten lengths. The Gig Club thank the Lifeboat crews for taking part in the race and wish them well in there Lifeboat week.

Last week REBEL has been in the workshop

It was time for work to be done on REBEL. She has been very busy racing up and down the South West so last week a wonderfull group of volunteers turned out to oil the boat Well done everyone.

Launch of the Gig Safety Boat Pictures to follow

Lyme Regis Gig Club had a naming ceremony for our new safety boat Conway today. I like Peter Wiles pictures.

Lyme Regis Gig Club is lucky to be associated with the Conway Association whose members attended HMS Conway, a naughtical training school for member of the Merchant Navy and Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. This came about because the Gig Club’s late Committee Member Michael Rushforth attended Conway. The Conway Association support the Gig Club preserves the sea faring traditions that date back to the Napoleonic period when HMS Conway was launched.

The Gig Club safety boat was launched by Ian Hopkinson (hoppy) who attended Conway with the late Michel Rushforth. Ian is now a Marine Surveyor in Vancouver and visited Lyme Regis for the launching ceremony. Angela Rushforth and her son Tom were guests of honour.

The Gig Club’s safety boat Conway is a Rib of the type used by special forces with an inflatable hull and can be deployed from helicopters and submarines. Conway will be used as a safety boat supporting the Clubs new planned youth section and at rowing regattas and to take gig crews too and from the pontoon in the Pool, where the gigs are often based for training sessions.

The Pirates were here today on there charity row

Poole Pirates leaving Lyme Regis after there stay on the way to Portland .Lyme Regis Gig Club wish them well on there journey it was great to meet them all a jolly band of fellows !
Safety boat and Gig preparing to meet the Pirats

The Gig on its charity row arrived in Lyme Regis on its way to Poole from Cornwall. Escorted by a yacht they were met by our two gigs and the safety boat. Its was the first experience of Josephine Whetlor in the safety boat with Henry and one other . The Chairman had asked me to greet the pirates when they came ashore and welcome them to Lyme Regis and it was a pleasure to do so. In the evening a chanty evening was held at the Harbour Inn and good evening it was . We all wished the pirates a safe voyage back to Poole. For more information regarding this charity contact www.piratesofpoole.com.

Lyme Regis members at the World Championships in the Scilly Isles

Please read this letter received from the CPGA An endearing comment for our club

Hi all,

Thought you might like to see this. I asked Anne Curnow Care, who is secretary to the CPGA and also kindly coxed our Mens A crew in Scilly for a quote for the papers, and this is what she sent me. Read and be proud, all those of Lyme!

Lis

Begin forwarded message:

From: Theobosula@aol.com

Date: 6 May 2010 21:57:03 GMT+01:00

To: pauljdyer@btinternet.com

Cc: lis.dyer@btinternet.com

Subject: Re: Greetings from Lyme

A truly fantastic weekend was spent with the Lyme Regis Mens A crew in the gig Rebel at the recent Scilly World Gig Championships. Back in the distance past when I volunteered to cox for them, if they needed a little 'Scilly experience', I had little idea about what the weekend had in store.

The first race on the Saturday is always an awesome experience and even after 18 Championships the whole spectacle never diminishes. After a warning to get back, we did, but wondered whether a disqualification deed would be done, but luckily not.

The crew didn't feel their happiest on the Saturday, but following the award of a trophy - a toilet seat, found on the beach, the whole atmosphere lifted and Sunday was to be special.

the championship works by racing all gigs off together in the first race and then they are seeded. in each race the top two go up and the bottom two go down. On the Sunday Rebel was on form, winning in the morning the crew rose to the next heat and then in the afternoon, in a close fought battle with Lyonnesse (currently on loan to St Agnes on the Isles of Scilly) they won - winning Group F.

Joy all round, one of the most infectious things about a win is that it is not only shared with the crew that complete the task (all 7 of them) but also the rest of the Club. Lyme were certainly going to party on that on the Sunday night, many suffering on the Monday morning.

A Club that has the boats at its heart truly realised why Scillies is such a great experience over the weekend and are no doubt beginning to count down to next year, well I know that one of them is.

On a personal note, the first Scillies for any club is special and to be able to spend time with a club at this stage is very precious and as secretary of the CPGA dealing with 55 clubs on a regular basis it was an honour to be part of this special time for Lyme and certainly one that I will not forget and I hope, well I know that they won't either. Next year boys, you know where I am, if you need me!

cheers

Anne Curnow Care
Secretary to the CPGA
P Before you print, please think about the ENVIRONMENT

This might be good for the future

Scilly Isles What a remarkable achievement by the members.Congratulations

Just thought you'd all like to know how we got on at the weekend!

Out of a total field of 112 boats, the Ladies crews came 53rd for the A's, in the middle of Group E, and the Ladies B came 100th, towards the top of Group I.

For the men, competing against 121 other boats, the A crew achieved 61st place, winning Group F and thus getting to go up on the podium to collect our first trophy as winners of the group. The B crew came in 92, in the middle of Group H.

The Ladies Vets crews came in 34th and 43rd respectively in a field of 46, competing in horrible rainy conditions with a heavy sea. The rain stopped for the Mens Vets crews, who came in 24th and 46th, out of 62 boats.

Our lovely 'Rebel' and 'Black Ven' were voted the prettiest boats by the islanders, and we also won the prize for the best supporters!

All in all, a fantastic achievement for Lyme this weekend. There is an item on BBC Spotlight tonight on the Championships, so have a look at that if you can. You can also see Black Ven on the start line on ITV WestCountry News - the link is

http://www.itv.com/westcountry-west/world-gig-championships27329/

and there are photos going up on www.gigrower.co.uk all the time. Only the vets photos are there at the moment, but there are some great ones of our boys and girls, and more to follow over the next couple of days.

I am planning to put together a disc of a selection of all the photos taken over the weekend, which will be available for £4.50 for those that would like it - it has become clear over the weekend that we need to acquire some new radios and this seems a good way to fundraise for it! Let me know if you'd like a copy and I'll stick you on the list.

All the clubs I spoke to were really impressed with the results we achieved in our first ever championships - to come in the top half on our first time out is a huge achievement, and testament not only to the hard training of the rowers and coxes but also the fantastic support we get from everyone. So a big pat on the back all round. Here's to a great season!

Cheers,

Lis

Help the Heroes . West Bay Row

Hi everyone,

We have received a very complimentary thank you letter from the Governor of Portland Prison which I thought you might like to read. They believe they’ve raised over £20,000 for Help the Heroes which is tremendous.

Diana

Diana Dixon

LYME REGIS GIG CLUB

01297 445021

Lyme Regis Gig Club Arriving at West Bay after the Help for Heroes row

The Gigs arriving at West Bay having rowed from Lyme Regis some of the crew were changed and rowed back within the hour.


The Gigs also have to be put away at the end of the day in Lyme Regis

News and Pictures of the three rivers race

Here's a few pics - you've got one of each crew in the race and also Black Ven (Ladies B) and Rebel (Mens A) on the start line.

The regattas we're attending over the summer are as follows:

30 April - 3 May World Championships in Scilly

22 May Torridge

29 May Swanage

5/6 June Rebel being displayed by Gail at Beale Park Boat Show, nr Newbury

19 June Caradon (Mixed & Vets)

3/4 July Weymouth

17 July Teignmouth

7 Aug Covelly and/or Paignton

15 Aug LYME REGIS

21 Aug Ilfracombe

4/5 Sep Ladies County Championships in Newquay

18/19 Sep Mens County Championships in Newquay

Help for Heroes . West Bay Row

Hi all

Great response with requests to row! I have attached ‘the list’ of rowers and would appreciate an early reply if any of you cannot make the day after all.

We will aim to leave Lyme at 8.15am on Sunday 18^th so will need those first crews down at the gig shed by 8 a.m. at the latest. The crew in the boats leaving Lyme will include the Governor of the Portland Youth Offenders Unit and three of his colleagues in their sponsored fundraiser from Dartmoor prison to Portland Prison using as many modes of transport as possible.

The second crews will be leaving West Bay at around 10.30 a.m to return to Lyme Regis. The row should take under 2 hours each way.

We would like to support the Portland Prison Crew with their fundraising efforts for Help the Heroes which is a charity raising monies for military personnel wounded in current conflicts so I have attached a sponsorship form for all rowers – please could you try and get as much support as possible

Cheers

Diana