A bit about the club. The club was set up in 2003 with the aim of providing the local community with the chance to take part in a growing sport, Cornish pilot gig rowing. Over the years we have grown from just one boat to currently having 5 boats. Len White, Whitford and Verbena are our three wooden boats, made of Cornish yew and a source of pride for the club. They are our racing boats and will glide through the water beautifully if rowed well. Costing around £30,000 each, with each oar costing £500 each, they are important assets and must be looked after well. Our other two boats, Siren and Margaret James, are our training gigs, made of GRP (plastic) which are much hardier and used to enable us to train all year round. These are our daily use gigs, which cost us £9,000 and take less maintenance than our racing boats. Appledore is a racing club, which means our first priority is to support our members in training for and ultimately competing in racing events throughout the summer racing season. We also have social members who are an important part of our club, who don't compete, but enjoy rowing socially with other members of the club. This guide is designed to help you as a member of the club to navigate the world or rowing, but please don't be afraid to ask questions too! Page 2 of 41 Contents page Chapter 1 - Getting started as a rower Page 4 The basics Knowing your way around the boat Key language Novice sign off sheet Intermediates sign off sheet Chapter 2 - Use of the pilot gig boats Page 13 Chapter 3 – Rowing preparation Page 15 Chapter 4 - Breakdown of the Gig Rowing Stroke Page 18 Chapter 5 – Being a member of APGC (Appledore Pilot Gig Club) Page 24 Fees Types of membership The calendar Communication Classification of rowers Rowing kit Crew selection Regattas Behind the scenes Captains/coxes/coaches Chapter 6 - “The Scillies” Page 32 Chapter 7 – Club Roles Page 35 Chapter 8 – Club Rules & Constitution Page 38 Page 3 of 41 Chapter 1 - Getting started as a rower The Basics - (Your first row, enjoy it!) Where the gigs are kept and where do we meet to go rowing? The gigs (boats) are kept in a section of the car park next to “The Seagate” pub in Appledore (see page 5) It is here that we have our Gig Shed. We keep two of our wooden gigs in the shed and the third wooden along with our two GRP gigs are kept alongside the shed. When we are preparing to go out we will either be in the car park getting the boat ready or on the slipway, which is part of the public car park (Churchfields), if the boat is coming in from another rowing session. What should I wear? We recommend weather appropriate sports based clothing. We also recommend footwear that you don't mind getting wet. In the winter we advise welly boots as they keep your feet dry and so warmer. If for any reason you need to buy kit to row, then it may be helpful to know that we normally wear predominantly black. What should I expect? You will have an hour-long session during which the Cox (who is the person steering the boat) usually in a ‘Social’ boat with existing club members. These sessions are for you to get a feel for rowing and to see if it is for you. How do I get booked in for the next session? Speak to, text or email the novice coordinator who will book you in for the next available boat. An email can be sent to [email protected] if you are unable to speak to the right person or do not have a note of their number. If it's for me what do I do? If you enjoy the rowing, then after 3 free of charge rows you will need to become a member. Speak to the novice coordinator and they will give you the details of the online form that you need to fill in. Membership currently costs £75.00 and can be paid online direct to the club bank account. If you are unable to pay online an arrangement can be made for you to pay by cheque or cash. If it's not for me what do I do? That's ok, just let the novice coordinator know and they will take you off the novice list. How do I progress? Having joined the club you will start to go out in Development boats. This is where you will learn the basics of rowing alongside other existing club members who are improving their skills. You will learn about timing, develop core skills, learn commands and phraseology and to work with your fellow crew members. This is an important stage and you will stay in these development boats until an experienced cox feels that you are ready to progress. This may take a while, and different people take varying lengths of time, it's harder to master rowing than you may think! Page 4 of 41 When you are ‘signed off’ from the development boats the next step includes social boats, mixed boats and crew boats. Depending upon how you would like to row you will get a chance to “go for crew”, which means your relevant captain (either male or female) will assess you with the help of the coxes and will place you in an appropriate crew to allow you to develop, or you may wish to just row socially. The Clubs Captains will ask you what you would like to do. If you do decide to go for crew boats you are still free to sign up for mixed and social boat in order to ensure you get a regular chance to row. When you are skilled enough and fit enough your captain will let you know to put your name down for racing at regattas. (Though it never hurts to ask if they have not said anything yet!) Key Locations The boat park/gig shed - this is where the boats are stored and it is situated next to the Seagate hotel in Appledore. You can find it by going to the Seagate Hotel, The Quay, Appledore, EX39 1QS. The Container – what and where is this? This is a shipping container that the club owns and is located at Knapp House. You can find this by going to the Knapp House campsite, found on the way into Appledore from Northam on Churchill Way on the A386. Opposite the Marshford Organic Foods Shop turn park up and walk down the private road overhung by trees. Blue lights Hall – This is the hall were most club meetings are held. This is on Vernons Lane in Appledore. In order to get there, you need to park on the quay or in the car park then walk back past The Seagate and the Coffee Cabin, take the first right after the Coffee Cabin and walk up the alleyway about 100 yards up until you reach the hall on y your left. Page 5 of 41 Frequently asked questions. How long do we normally row for? 1 hour is the usual length of a rowing session. When do we row? Simply put it depends upon the tide because we must have deep enough water to row on. We can normally row for up to 3 hours either side of the high tide unless it's a neap tide which means it's only 2 hours either side. We can only row in daylight for safety reasons. In the summer we often have evening rows. However, in the winter we are mostly limited to weekend rows. Where do we row to? On a daily basis, we will normally go in one of two main directions; either up to Bideford New Bridge to “visit the mermaid” or out to sea past The Cannons and the green buoys that you can see if you go for a walk on Northam Burrows. We also travel all over Devon and Cornwall to take part in regattas, rowing in some beautiful locations such as Clovelly, Port Isaac, Rock and Dartmouth. We also have our yearly trip to the Isles of Scilly in which we compete in World Pilot Gig Championship. This takes place on the first bank holiday of May each year and it's a huge event! A few general rules that we follow when scheduling boats and making choices in the club. The general rule for safety on this is that you row against the tide going out and with it coming back in so that even if there were to be a problem we would be able to drift back in with the tide. When getting the boat into the water, using the boat on the water, recovering the boat and putting it away, the cox is in charge. They must be listened to for safety reasons. If you are unable to this you will not be able to row in our club’s boats. Our weaker crews will always be given the easiest water to row in, meaning that they will often be given times to row when the water is at the top of the tide. On a very high tide we may have to cancel weaker crew boats. This is done for safety reasons. A cox may also cancel a row if the wind is seen to be making conditions dangerous.