New Wooden Pilot Gig for Lyme Regis Gig Club

Aim

We need to build a new wooden Cornish Pilot Gig to increase our capacity for regular rowing and attract a new generation of younger rowers

Who are we?

Lyme Regis Gig Club is a registered charity, with members passionate about rowing wooden Cornish pilot Gigs on the sea. We have around 130 members of all ages from 9 to 75+. Although the gig club is based in Lyme, the members come from a much wider area of the Southwest covering East Devon and Somerset.

Gig rowing is a fast growing sport which uniquely connects people of all ages and sections of the community with the sea and traditionally crafted wooden boats. It also has significant mental health benefits associated with being out in nature and working in a team.

We have an active youth section and engage with local schools and scout groups. The social rowing aspect of the club is also very popular for those who do not want to compete. Finally there is the competitive section of the club, participating in regattas all over Cornwall, Devon and the southwest, including the annual World Championships held in the Isles of Scillies. Last year, Lyme Regis Gig Club held the first Masters (over 60s) Championships, which is a testament to the popularity of the sport at all ages.

Why are we crowdfunding?

The clubs exisitng boats were all built by a local boatbuilder in Lyme Regis. They are beautiful and tough but incredibly well used, with often over 70 people rowing in them over the course of a week. This heavy usage takes its toll on the boats and they can often be out of action for maintenance or away at regattas.

We desperately need another boat to relieve this pressure and provide capacity for more people to participate in this fast growing sport whilst allowing us to reach out and engage with more sections of the community.

The Boat Building Academy, a world renown school for the craft of traditional wooden boat building is based in Lyme and we have a fantastic opportunity to work with them. Rob Hounslow, a 30 year old member of the club and also a teacher at the school has agreed to build the boat at the academy

How we’ll spend the money raised

We’ve bitten the bullet and the new wooden Pilot Gig is currently being built, however we need more funds to complete the project.

We’ve already raised £25K through various fundraising events , but we need your help to raise the last £10K to complete the project.

Community impact

Our new club boat will be built in our town by a young local boatbuilder at the local boat building Academy. It really is a project owned by the local community.

Once completed it will allow us to offer more people of all ages the opportunity to row these lovely wooden boats on the sea, improving personal fitness, mental well being and sense of belonging to a local community .

How you can play your part

There are simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

This project successfully funded on 31st December 2023