THE Tamar and Tavy Gig Club has been awarded the Lyzie Pine Trophy by the Cornish Pilot Gig Association, recognising them for having the best turned out traditional wooden gigs in the county.

The trophy, presented to the club at its AGM on January 21, was presented to chairman Mark Cockings.

The trophy is a memorial trophy and the decision of who should win it is made by Lyzie’s husband, based on his assessment of all the gigs throughout the season. The gigs selected must be more than three years old.

Looking after these traditional craft is a genuine team effort and requires dedication, committment and a willingness to learn and pass on the skills needed to keep them going.

This includes associated equipment and routines, with regular cleaning, seats, thole pins, oars, trailers, trolleys and more. At one time or another, all of these things need running repairs and general maintenance.

The Tamar and Tavy gigs are currently away for their winter maintenance period; the Tamar boat is hidden in a location at Weir Quay while Ginette is residing in Lifton. To date, approximately 161 hours of work has gone in to the boats, with more work still to be carried out.

The club is looking forward to the opening of the new boatshed on the Weir Quay Community Watersports site close to the public slipway as this will make future winter refits and ongoing maintenance a lot easier.

With all being well, the first race of the season — the Three Rivers Race at Saltash on March 10 — should see a strong start to the season, before the world championships at the Isles of Scilly and many races beyond.

The gig club expressed thanks to Becky Masters, Martin Painter, Dan Painter, John Rogers, Brian Nobbs, Mark Cockings, John Overnell, Rob Smith, Alistair Montreath and Bruce Horner for helping the club win the Lyzie Pine Trophy.