Another new boat build is underway. After finishing ‘Arwenack’ for Falmouth Gig Club at the end of 2018, Peter Williams immediately started work on another new build, this time for Appledore. After a sustained period of fundraising through a wide range of events such as the Appledore Supervets Championships, Appledore are finally getting the opportunity to add a third wooden boat to their existing fleet of two gigs and two GRPs.
The village of Appledore has a strong maritime history and sits on the south side of the Taw/Torridge estuary, just opposite the confluence of where the two rivers meet. The club started in 2003, and with the two wooden gigs, Verbena and Whitford, having been built in 2005 and 2007 respectively, a new boat is desperately needed to help the club support its growing membership, maintain its recent success and push right into the top level of gig rowing.
Appledore will see many changes this year including their recently built brand new Gig Shed, their new racing gig and a new chairman in Steve Lock. With their performances on the Gig circuit getting better at each major championship, they are looking to build on the successes at local level to challenge the top 12 crews for a place in the final at the World Pilot Gig Championship. Both their top Ladies’ and Men’s crews finished in Group B last year but with changes in both crews with a strong squad depth, along with a quicker racing gig, they will hope they can push for that final spot.
At the end of January, a few club members made the journey down to Bodinnick to view progress. They were excited to see that work was progressing so well, and the second measurement stage should be reached within the next few weeks.
In the meantime, they are hard at training on the water then will be celebrating the launch of the new gig, stay tuned for details on the launch, name & photos!
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