Rowing

Introduction

Since September 2023, Hill Head Sailing Club has been collaborating with 5th Gosport Sea Scouts to house some Scout Pulling boats at the club, that can be used by both parties. With the help of a member who is a keen experienced rower (having rowed over at Tudor Sailing Club for a number of years), HHSC then started offering some initial rowing sessions for those members interested in getting involved.

Interest grew during 2024 and regular rowing sessions now take place either at weekends on during the week dependent on Row Leader availability and a new Gig was purchased.

Non members interested in Rowing can get in touch and have three free rows before deciding whether to join the club: rowing@hillheadsc.org.uk

Intro to Membership and Rowing at HHSC 2025.pdf

New Bursledon Gig

With rowing proving so popular, Hill Head Sailing Club's Rowing Committee applied for and was successful in being awarded a grant from Sport England to purchase a brand new modern fibreglass Bursledon Gig. These gigs are used by a number of local clubs and benefit from being very versatile - they can be rowed by between two and four people plus a cox, and are ideal for local waters.

We took delivery of the new locally built gig in September 2024. To mark this new venture for the Sailing Club, Fareham's Mayor Cllr Pal Hayre presided over a naming ceremony for Bramble and cutting the ribbon, with the boat being blessed by Revd Steve Dent.

Equipment available

We now have the use of four rowing boats, suitable for adults and cadets. The new Bursledon Gig can be rowed with 2 or up to 5 rowers. The club also owns the Alston, a unique historic clinker-built boat named after our first Commodore Lt Col JS Alston. Following a refurbishment, the Alston has been brought back into use for Rowing and is very sturdy, suitable for beginners and heavier seas.The larger scout Coypu boat holds 4 adult rowers and a cox, and the smaller boat holds 2 adult rowers.

The Gig and the Scout boats are kept on the spitside and either launched down a slipway or via the beach with the help of a simple pulley system. As with sailing, we are governed by the tides, but have a larger launch window around high tide than the safety boats that support sailing races, so we can be slightly more flexible with rowing sessions.

Our rowing sessions are geared around having an experienced rower/water user to lead the session with novice rowers attending when available. We tend to be out on the water for around 60 to 90 minutes, with aspirations for making longer trips in due course for those interested.

The aim is to row all year round, so wearing layers is essential to keep the wind out. Each boat has a full safety kit including throwing and tow rope, safety knife, plastic survival bag, small first aid kit and a couple of bailers.

Tudor Challenge race, August 2024

As well as participating in the race, a few days beforehand, a group rowed the Alston from Hill Head round to Tudor Sailing Club (TSC) at the top of Langstone Harbour. With help from a couple of rowers from TSC and a pit stop in Gosport for crew change, this was achieved, rowing 14 miles in total during a very hot afternoon. The route was to row east along the coast, around Gilkicker and into Portsmouth harbour via the small boat channel, then up the final stretch up to Hilsea lines, under a few bridges and then a short distance to the slipway at TSC.

The Tudor Challenge is a 10-mile race in Langstone Harbour (https://tudorchallenge.com/). This was our first competitive event that took place in the Alston against 26 gigs of various sizes including Pilot gigs, Bursledons, Longboats and Skiffs. We knew it would be a challenge - starting with the other smaller boats - and although our boat was slower than the other rowing gigs we completed the 10 miles in 4 hrs 40 mins, arriving last at the finish to a great reception. We were presented with the Sportsmanship trophy!