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 has grown during 2024 and regular rowing sessions now take place either at weekends on during the week dependent on Row Leader availability.

Equipment available

At present we have the use of three rowing boats, suitable for adults and cadets. The slightly larger Coypu boat holds 4 adult rowers and a cox, and the smaller boat holds 2 adult rowers. The club also owns the Alston, a unique historic clinker-built boat named after our first Commodore Lt Col JS Alston. Following a recent refurbishment, the Alston has been brought back into use for Rowing.

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!