Oct 26 Combined JW - Flipbook - Page 45
Rowing Hayling Herald
A seafront first for Langstone
Pilot Gig Club!
Jo Jhanji of Langstone Pilot Gig Club
By Jo Jhanji
SATURDAY, August 22nd saw Langstone Pilot
Gig Club play host to the much-anticipated inaugural Hayling Bay Regatta, on the seafront by
Chichester Road car park.
This was the final event of the 2026 Jurassic
League Series.
After months of hard work and preparation, our
team of volunteer regatta organisers were rewarded
with near-perfect conditions of glorious sunshine
and calm waters with very little wind – not what the
forecast was showing at the beginning of the week.
The team had worked closely with local councillor Mark Coates to get all of the t’s crossed and i’s
dotted ahead of the event and enlisted the help of
Hayling Lions who did a fantastic job of keeping
everyone fed and watered throughout the day.
The event was well attended by clubs from along
the Jurassic coast, Essex, and West London. With
crews and boats arriving nice and early, racing was
able to get underway ahead of schedule at 9am. The
honour of opening the regatta went to the mixed
crews, swiftly followed by the usual Supervets, Vets,
Gigs launching off the beach and in the Bay, below
U16, U25, Open & Ladies categories.
Each race was a hard-fought battle, seeing crews
leaving everything out on the water. Ultimately, the
day was dominated by Swanage, who won the event
overall and this year’s Jurassic League.
Our U-25s crew put in another stellar performance to win their race, beating Swanage, and
Langstone did themselves proud, coming second on
the day and moving up a position to finish fifth in
the league – a fantastic finale to a great series.
Moving our annual regatta from Chichester
Harbour to the seafront was quite an undertaking,
the event was a resounding success, and we already
have our sights on Hayling Bay Regatta 2027.
We would like to offer our thanks to event supporter, Hayling Island Lions, long-term club supporter Niche Coffee, and our race sponsors - Estate
to Garden, SWR Architect, The Coastal Rowing
Academy, Meadow Bay Villages, Anytime Fitness
and The Salon Company.
To close, I know I speak for all club members
when I say a huge thank you and congratulations
to everyone on the organising team and to all those
who got involved on the day to make it such a great
event.
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