Recently, I had a fantastic adventure rowing in the Great River Race, an annual event that’s held every autumn and has become known as London’s River Marathon. The race attracts rowers from across the country, as well as international teams from the US, Spain, and Holland, all competing in a variety of traditional boats. This year, the race took place on Saturday, the 21st of September—a warm day with a gentle east wind and a strong tide, which gave us a welcome push along the way. The race covers an impressive 22 miles, starting from Millwall in East London and finishing near Twickenham.
I had the privilege of rowing with one of my clubs, the Flushing and Mylor Gig Club, made up of seven men and one woman who all took part in the rowing. We rowed in a wooden Cornish Pilot Gig Boat, as shown in the photos, which I’m particularly proud of. Since 1986, all new Cornish gigs have been built to a St Mawes design from 1850, making them not only efficient but beautiful to look at. The growth of the sport continues to help keep alive the skills of traditional wooden boat building.
Training began in early July, and we’d spend up to three hours at a time rowing. On one memorable occasion, we rowed from Falmouth to within sight of Truro Cathedral and Luke Powell’s Rhoda Mary Shipyard. The preparation was both intense and rewarding, though it left a few sore spots along the way, which were quickly resolved with the judicious application of Vaseline! We even caught the eye of the King Harry Ferry crew and passengers as we rowed past.
On race day, our crew ranged in age from 60 to 81 (I’m 75 myself), and despite our seniority, we were determined to give the younger crews a run for their money! Here’s how we did:
- Total distance rowed: 22 miles (Millwall to near Twickenham)
- Total boats participating: 270 rowing boats
- Cornish Pilot Gig Boats: 70
- Our crew’s overall placement: 51st out of 270
- Placement amongst Cornish Pilot Gig Boats: 11th out of 70
- Placement amongst over-60 crews: 1st place!
- Time taken: 2 hours 38 minutes (a club record!)
- 4035 Strokes
The atmosphere on the water was electric. With so many boats, the river was alive with movement and excitement. The Great River Race is run as a pursuit race, meaning the slower boats set off first. This meant we were one of the last groups to start, adding to the anticipation.
As someone who has always dreamed of sailing a tall ship under Tower Bridge, rowing under it was a close second and probably little more personal ! We rowed beneath thirteen famous bridges, past the Palace of Westminster, where two rather bored-looking policemen watched us pass by (no Cornish rebellion that day!), and we were eyed by the London Eye. The cheers from spectators lining the riverbanks and bridges were hugely encouraging and kept our spirits high, helping us focus on the rhythm of the rowing.
The Rhythm
Reach forward, drop the blade into the water for the catch, keep your arms straight for as long as possible, lean back, push with your legs, and exert those core muscles to move the boat through the water before starting again with the reach. There are no sliding seats in a gig boat, and while a longer stroke is ideal, over 22 miles this can damage your abdomen. As a result, we kept the stroke a little shorter—but still finished each stroke with arms bent to the chest. And yes, we repeated this motion about 4,035 times!
Wow.
It was very exciting shooting beneath the arches of the bridges, where the tide surges and can twirl you around if you are not careful. You certainly don’t want to catch against one of the piers or get in a tangle with another boat.
The further up the river we went, the narrower it became, and the boats we overtook were less agile in the water. At one point, we had a brief clash of oars with a four-person rowing boat, but we quickly moved past without any harm to anyone’s oars.
Reaching the finishing line after such a long row was a fantastic feeling, a real sense of achievement. Everyone was cheering, it felt like a festival on the river. Such fun! Everyone in our boat achieved a PB (personal best)—though not hard to do, as none of us had ever rowed this race before!
To top off the day, we headed to The White Swan, where all the gig boats went ashore for a quick pint or two. Thank you, Guy!
What a day—never to be forgotten, and hopefully to be repeated next year at the Great River Race on Saturday 20th September 2025.
Here’s to new records and PB’s!
My thanks to the towers from Cornwall to London and back, the coxes and the fantastic rowing team for an amazing event.
Photos mostly by Sue and Richard, thank you. Others thank you.
If you want to see where the biggest Cornish Pilot Gig Races are held you need to visit the Isles of Scilly on Tallulah
