Thirty-nine members of River Teign Rowing Club's gig rowers travelled with three of the club's gigs to the Isles of Scilly during the May Day bank holiday weekend to compete in the 20th World Pilot Gig Championships.

Racing began with the veteran races on the Friday evening. Teign ladies'crew of Julie Cranwell, Ann Holliday, Sharon Sanger, Debs from Charlestown, Lisa Pash, Donna Bell and cox Rachel Holgate rowed well together through the confused sea across the channel between St Agnes and St Mary's, then picked up on the following waves as they worked along the coastline of St Mary's towards the harbour finish line.

Teign pulled through Salcombe, Truro and held off Flushing Mylor to finish in 24th place in a field of 34. The first two gigs across the line were disqualified for being ahead at the start, putting Helford into first place, Mevagissey second and the island gig Tregarthens third.

Teign had two crews in the men's vets – Rod Pash, Mick Cranwell, Jon Haytread, Mike Izzard, Paul Walton, Nigel Evans and cox Andy Forte as supervets, in Morgan, and Bob Higgs, Simon Hounsell, John Holgate, Rupert Holliday, Kevin Mason, Ivan Tabbernor and cox Sue Heath in Teign Spirit.

The Morgan crew started strongly and rowed well throughout the race; the Teign Spirit crew took a while to settle, but then really got it together and pulled up to Morgan, the two spurring each on to the finish to take 15h (Morgan) and 16th (Teign Spirit) respectively – Morgan missing out on the supervets category trophy by a boat length to Salcombe. Newquay won the vets race, with Roseland second and Helford third.

Saturday dawned bright and clear, with the first two 'seeding' races involving all of the gigs lining up together off St Agnes and racing the 3,500m in to St Mary's harbour – 113 gigs in the ladies' race and 119 in the men's.

Teign's ladies crew in Teign Spirit were Sharon Fortune, Ann Holliday, Sharon Sanger, Donna Bell, Lisa Pash, Julie Hill and Cox Jon Haytread/Nigel Evans. Good team work and determination saw them hold a mid-fleet position right through the race and cross the line in 71st place.

The Double Dutch crew of Jo Haydon, Catherine Lovell, Sarah Free, Cindy John, Ali Bland, Tracy Sharam and cox Paul Walton worked their way towards the leading group of gigs and, despite being caught up in a jam close to one of the marker buoys, crossed the line in 18th place.

The Morgan crew of Rachel Holgate, Kelly Inness, Lucy Barczok, Kate Barczok, Kerrie Potter, Sue Heath and cox Andy Forte also got away well and rowed a strong race, pulling through the fleet and staying ahead of regular rivals Cattewater, Truro and Swanage. A great final push saw them cross the line in 15th place.

The men's seeding race saw equally strong racing from the Teign crews.

The Teign Spirit crew of Rod Pash, Mick Cranwell, Jon Haytread, Mike Izzard, Paul Walton, Nigel Evans and cox Lisa Pash started well and pulled strongly through the race. They were forced to row inside a marker buoy by a clash immediately ahead of them, but were saved from disqualification as the usually banned manoeuvre was selected on safety grounds. A strong finish saw them take 59th place.

Teign's Double Dutch crew of Kevin Mason, Ben Forte, Tim Fortune, Harry Oliver, Joe Lang, Ivan Tabbernor and cox Kate/Jill Barczok also had a good race, crossing the line in 38th place, while the Morgan crew of Graham Hill, Rich Wickenden, Simon Putt, Simon Hounsell, Jake Laxton, Rupert Holliday and cox Andy Forte battled well in the middle of the fleet, finishing 63rd.

With the seeding races over, crews were sorted into groups of 12 for the remaining races of the weekend.

The ladies' heat one took place on Saturday afternoon, the course now running from Nut Rock off Tresco to St Mary's harbour (just over a mile).

The Teign Spirit crew again rowed hard and a good team effort saw them cross the line in ninth place to hold them in group F for the next heat.

Double Dutch crew's determination saw them take ninth place to keep them in group B, while the Morgan crew crossed the line with three other gigs, requiring finish line photos to confirm their seventh place in group B.

The men's heat one race saw Morgan start in group F. The crew had a great race battling with Rame for the lead before crossing the line in second place, which took them up into group E for the next heat. Teign Spirit, in group E, powered through to the middle of the group and hung on to cross the line in eighth place, but Double Dutch fared less well in group D, ending the race in 11th, dropping to group E.

On Sunday, the weather was dry with a stiff breeze to keep the sea up. Teign Spirit ladies made good progress through the race, but approaching the line one of Caradon's crews and the Dutch girls found a bit extra and pulled ahead, leaving Spirit to cross in 11th place, dropping to group G.

Double Dutch finished seventh, while Morgan's crew finished well, pulling through two gigs to finish in 11th place to retain their group B place.

The men's heats saw all three Teign gigs starting in the same group. The Teign Spirit and Morgan crews worked well and did what was needed to hold on to their group E places, finishing in tenth and sixth places.

However, some of the Double Dutch crew were not at their best and struggled in this race, finishing in 12th place to drop to group F for the final race.

The ladies' final race took place under brightening skies. Teign Spirit crew regained their form, pulling ahead of crews from Bude, Helford and Devoran to take second place across the line and 74th overall – a fine result for a relatively inexperienced crew.

Double Dutch ladies finished 11th (23rd overall), while Morgan's crew were sixth (18th overall).

The overall winners were Roseland, with Falmouth second and Mounts Bay third.

The men's final saw some exciting rowing. In group F, Double Dutch rowed like a crew with something to prove, winning the group ahead of Rock and Weymouth.

Group E saw Morgan and Teign Spirit in competition, with Spirit's crew battling with Zennor and Salcombe to cross the line 11th (59th overall).

Morgan's crew found an extra something as they vied with Rock at the front of the group and pushed ahead at the line to win, giving them 49th place overall and a group winner's trophy.

The overall winners were Par Bay, with Caradon a close second and Falmouth third.

A noisy presentation ceremony concluded the day's proceedings with Teign's Morgan and Double Dutch men's crews having their moment on the podium as group winners.