Ten local gig clubs including Dart Gig Club travelled to Teignmouth on Saturday, June 1, to take part in the annual gig regatta.

It was a great day for rowers and supporters as the weather was fine and warm all day, with early on shore winds dying away to create good conditions on the water.

There is always a healthy competitive spirit between local Devon clubs and this regatta was no exception.

Dart were racing their new gig Smudger for the first time on Devon waters.

The racing got under way with the ladies' B race which had two crew members new to racing with Dart.

In the stroke seat was Lauren Kenneby in her first race, who did a great job, bringing the crew in at fifth place, with Hilary Bussell also in her first race for Dart in the number two seat.

Ladies' A crew rowed next and in a hard-fought race came in a good fourth, with Dart coming in very close behind the Salcombe crew.

In the next race, the men's A, several of the boats were trying to get in the best position close to the start boat.

The cross winds and some poor coxing made this tricky. The starter called the boats back, and before the line had reformed he let the boats go.

Unfortunately for Dart, Clevedon, in Blackbird, came in on them and it was a while before they managed to get free and start rowing.

They were never able to get free of Blackbird, who gained the water on the first mark over Dart, who then had to drop in behind them.

This put Dart in fourth place and they maintained this position to the finish.

In the subsequent races, behaviour on the start line was more orderly... The ladies' vets followed with another fourth place after a really close finish.

The men's vets did even better, coming in third after leading in the early stages of the race. They had to fight hard to the finish line, with Salcombe creeping up on one side, and Weymouth on the other. Last to row were a mixed crew. By this time a number of club members had left and this left the mixed crew short of a cox.

Peta Chivers, who has been practising her coxing skills on the Dart, was persuaded into the boat to cox her first race. The crew had a fair start, and managed to pull up through the fleet into fourth position.

Despite being outside Lyme in Rebel, they managed to gain the water over her on the first mark. As Dart rounded the mark, poor coxing on the part of Rebel meant that she came in on the side of Dart.

Dart's stroke side rowers managed to catch hold of Rebel's bow and push her away and a nasty collision was avoided.

The crew pulled away from the melée and had a solid row, maintaining their fourth place to the finish line. The coxes' skill round the buoy turns ensured that the crews were always well placed for their final positions.

It was a hugely enjoyable day with good competitive rowing and closely fought victories.

Dart showed real spirit and performed close to the top of the leader board in all races. Well done to all the crews who were:

Ladies: Peta Chivers, Clare Thorp, Chloe Gardner, Jo Hayden, Kate Cooke, Maggie Trubshaw, Carol Squire, Lauren Kenneby, Hilary Bussell and Maggie Russell.

Men: Paul Kunert, Tom Pierce-Holloway, Mark Peters, Michael Bryant-Mole, Chris Gale, Jon Pope and Stan Bray.