23/07/2026
Under 14’s Championships, Sunday 19th July 2026
Hosted by Hayle Pilot Gig Club, Under 14’s Championships is always the highlight of the year for our youngest rowers. Normally held at Copperhouse Pool in Hayle, this year’s event had to be moved to Stithians Lake due to renovation work. Hayle Gig Club did an amazing job to make everything run like clockwork, a supersmooth event!
We arrived to the smell of bacon sandwiches and an unusual coolness to the air. Those that had brought an extra layer were very grateful. The cloud cover remained for most of the day, along with the breeze creating perfect rowing conditions.
Drawn in Heat 7, we first raced against Tamar and Tavy and Padstow. Falmouth chased Tamar and Tavy down the course, finishing 2nd but with a time fast enough to put them into the Plate semi-finals. Needless to say, the crew were thrilled!
Each race saw the crew consolidate their efforts. With a stronger start for the semi final race they nudged ahead quickly, followed every instruction and with a massive lift at the end, managed to stay ahead and win convincingly to go into the final. There was a lot of determination in the boat as we headed out to race Appledore and Helford in the final. This was a tight race, with us just ahead most of the way until a late push by Appledore made for a photo finish giving a bit of uncertainty as to the winner. Appledore were magnanimous as they confirmed that the finisher had called Falmouth, followed by Appledore without even closing the channel. We won by less than a second, with Appledore’s cox being kind enough to say that he was honoured to have raced in a final with Falmouth. They nearly had us! The trophy has now been located and is on its way to us.
Big thanks to HPGC and the CPGA for a brilliant day, to the parents and grandparents for all the loud support, and Geoff for being PA for the day. And to my boat full of chatterboxes, what a fabulous result for a wonderful crew! We can’t wait to see you progress through the winter.
