Last Saturday saw the second and final round of the Tribute series in the picturesque cove at Cawsand on the Rame peninsula.

This is a favourite with the gig club fraternity and the event was well attended by 32 clubs.

Due to the narrow access, gigs have to be unloaded on to the beach in single file, inevitably making it quite a long day, but it is well worth for the chance to row at this beautiful venue.  

The course is the usual kite shape comprising three buoy turns with the second mark being particularly sharp.

There was a full programme of ladies, men's, vets and mixed events with Dart participating in all.  

The first event was the men's A. The crew of Paul Kunert, Tom Holloway, Simon Tozer, Jonny Holmes, Michael Bryant-Mole and Stan Bray, coxed by Clare Thorp, competed in the third heat and finished in fourth place in a time of 16.03 ahead of Porthleven, Paignton, Raleigh and Pendeen, giving them an overall 22nd place out of 31.  

The ladies' A had one of their best races of the season beating Truro, Weymouth, Coverack, Paignton, Cattewater and Bristol.

Dart have been working hard on their starts and this time it came together and Dart flew off the line in second position behind Flushing Mylor, with Devoran in hot pursuit until the final moments of the race when, despite their strenuous efforts, Dart could no longer hold them off.

Truro and Coverack were pushing hard in the final straight but Dart stayed strong and finished the heat in third place in a time of 17.29, 15th out of 30 overall.

The crew was Peta Chivers, Clare Thorp, Christina Thorp, Jo Haydn, Paula Hine and Chloe Gardner, coxed by Paul Kunert.  

Dart's three men's vets, Paul Kunert, Stan Bray and Michael Bryant-Mole, joined forces with three vets from Paignton with Jonny Holmes enthusiastically coxing his first race.

With so many boats on the line, it was inevitable that there were a few collisions on the way, but Dart/

Paignton battled through to finish ninth position out of 16. 

The ladies' vets had another excellent row, finishing fourth out of 12, beaten only by the top crews of Mounts Bay, Rock and Swanage.

Dart had another good start, flying off the line in second place. Rock got the water at the second mark but took a long time to get around.

Dart had to slow down, which enabled Rame and Pendeen to get past. On the final leg Dart caught up with Rame and were neck and neck with Pendeen until the last 100 metres when Dart dug deep and pulled out a length to finish fourth.

Ladies vets: Mary Eames, Clare Thorp, Peta Chivers, Jo Haydn, Carol Squire, Wendy Jones, coxed by Paul Kunert.  

The mixed was the last race of the day, with the youngsters in the club competing in a large field of 18 – a recipe for multiple collisions. 

The race was won by Looe with Dart rowing strongly into seventh place. Mixed crew: Christina Thorp, Tom Holloway, Simon Tozer, Jonny Holmes, Mary Eames, Chloe Gardner, coxed by Clare Thorp.