31/01/2024
Just before the pandemic, 2 rowing enthusiasts from Surrey. purchased “Revenge II” (a GRP, training pilot gig) from Lyme Regis Gig Club in Dorset.
Being affiliated to 1st Cuddington (Warspite) Sea Scout Group, she was donated to the group and moored on The Thames at Thames Ditton, near Kingston.
The purpose of the purchase was to be able to compete in The Great River Race (GRR) in a more suitable craft than the Home Counties Gig previously used.
2 long years later, when the pandemic and associated lockdowns finally gave way, rowing commenced!
One of our crew had been diagnosed, several years previously, with advanced Prostate Cancer: a terminal diagnosis.
At the time (and still to this day) he was an active fund raiser and ambassador for Prostate Cancer UK.
It was decided that the crew would raise money for that richly deserving charity and, given that one in every eight men will contract the disease, Revenge was renamed (in a ceremony in keeping with maritime tradition) “One In Eight”.
This name was incredibly apt, in that the GRR rules meant the boat needed a company of 8 (6 rowing, a cox and a passenger) so, literally, one in eight of our crew had prostate cancer.
To date, the crew has completed one GRR and the same event (the previous year) that became the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Procession, following the passing of the monarch days before the scheduled race.
A long distance row from Henley to Thames Ditton (about 50 miles) was also completed in July ‘23; another sponsored event for PCUK.
At the end of the 2023 season the crew decided that the charity beneficiary would change.
The daughter of one crew member had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and it was agreed that the MS Society should benefit from future sponsorship and fund raising.
In the winter of ‘23/‘24, One In Eight was taken into the workshop for an overhaul and a lick of paint.
At the time of writing, the project is nearing completion.
From white hull with blue trim, she is now resplendent in the colours of the MS Society - blue gunwales with orange hull (and black anti-foul).
It should be stressed that the crew had never painted a boat before this! It was a steep learning curve and has taken many hours, in what is an exhaustive process, but the end result is something of which everyone involved is rightly proud.
There are some finishing touches still to do, and the Thames is in rather wild flood at the moment, but soon she will be relaunched.
The crew is the same. The one in eight ratio in the crew is the same, so the name has been retained.
We love the name - and the new sign-writing retains the iconic “Man of Men” link to PCUK.
The charity is new to us, and a brilliantly deserving one at that.
Follow the crew’s progress from the re-launch, through training, to another long distance row on the upper Thames in July, through to the GRR once again in September.
Donation links will appear in due course. (You knew that was coming, right?)
The aim of this page is to promote the crew in out bid to raise funds for the MS Society and also raise awareness of this disease, whilst continuing our links with PCUK.
Being only a “plastic Pilot gig”, One In Eight isn’t allowed to compete in the events organised for the “grown-up”, wooden craft. Nor, to be fair, would we stand a chance against those incredible athletes!
But, with her stunning looks and the good causes involved, it would be great to get some kind of recognition from the wider gig-rowing fraternity, so we’ll be giving that a go as well.
Please feel free to promote and share our story.
Hopefully, our regular updates will be of interest as we gear up to taking to the water!
