A sunny morning promised a good day of racing - certainly compared to last year.

|Ladies Round 1|

The ladies’ St Agnes race was probably the quickest lineup the championships have seen since more than 50 gigs have been attending. Within a minute, the flag was up and down - signalling the start of the ladies’ championships.

Irene Too started very strong, and continued to pull ahead of the field, and stayed there finishing a very convincing first. A closer battle was fought for second between the Miller’s Daughter, Killigerran and Kensa - the former two being caught by the Kensa in the later stages of the race. Miller’s Daughter lead the pack chasing the Irene Too. The Killigerran had slipped to sixth by the end of the race.

|Mens Round 1|

The Irene Too, again, was an early leader in the mens’ St Agnes race. In slightly cloudier weather, the Falmouth gig could not hold on to it’s lead when the Miller’s Daughter started fighting hard to catch up. She eventually overtook the Irene Too finishing first. Her fellow Caradon gig, the Mary Newman, was almost disqualified after nearly venturing the wrong side of one of the marker buoys. The mistake was corrected at the last moment, when the Newman was rowing almost perpendicular to the other gigs in order to stay the right side. Despite this, they managed to finish fourth.

|More info|

http://www.pilotgigs.info/wpg/ has pictures from the first day, full results from round 1, plus up-to-date photos of the results boards (updated 10:20 am Sunday).

Full report published later today.

Ladies’ vets race ended with Irene Too leading my several lengths. Mary Newman, Morlader and Double Dutch were fighting closely until towards the second half, when their positions were decided by a couple of lengths each.

Mens’ vets race was fought very closely between the Kiligeran, Tregarthen’s and the Millers Daughter. Little more than half a length separated the three of them for the entire second half of the race. The Irene Too snuck up at the very end when the three leading gigs went away from the shore, Tregarthen’s pushing the other two out to get an advantage in the bend. The Killigerran managed to catchup with the Tregarthen’s, who were leading, to finish first. Second was taken by the Irene Too on the inside. Tregarthen’s finished third.

For full results see: http://www.pilotgigs.info/wpg/results.php.

The championships are only hours away now, with over 100 gigs on the Islands (only 98 of which are registered to row), this will be the largest World Pilot Gig Championships ever seen. Again!

This year officials have been recruited from the mainland to help with the every growing task of monitoring the vast number of gigs and their relative positions.

This evening will begin with the coxswains meeting and final registrations. This will be followed by the veterans races (over 40s) from St Agnes to St Mary’s.

|New teams|

Boscastle and Crackington Haven are the oldest newcomers to the Championships, established in early 2005, they have waited until this year to start competing against the world in their gig ‘Torrent’.

Appledore and Instow, a new team from Devon, are also competing in the Championships for the first time this year in their gig, the ‘Verbena’.

There is a new team rowing an old gig, the HMS Raleigh crew will be rowing the ‘Jupiter’, which was built in 2001 (likely to be the ‘Odin’ renamed).

A crew from St Martin’s that has often unofficially raced alongside the world championships will be rowing in a legal gig this year. The ‘Dauntless’ crew will be rowing a permissably sized gig, the ‘Iron Maid’, leant to them by a private owner.

|WPGC Update|

Don’t forget, stay up-to-date with our new up-to-the-minute service, WPGC Update.

The first event to be covered will be the veterans races this evening.

Click on the image below to check it out.

For the World Pilot Gig Championships 2006, keep up to date with Scilly News. We will be regularly updating our main pages along with a trial up-to-the-minute WPGC Update page.

To access the WPGC Updates from the Isles of Scilly’s biggest sporting event, click on the image at the bottom of this article.

The Update page has times in local summer time of the Isles of Scilly, BST.

|The Schedule of Events|

Friday

5pm BST - Coxswains meeting and registration
6:30pm - Ladies vets
8pm - Mens vets

Saturday

12pm - Coxswains briefing
1pm - Ladies Round 1
2:30pm - Mens Round 1 (inc. Punchbowl Trophy)
4pm - Ladies Round 2
5:30pm - Mens Round 2

Sunday

10:30am - Ladies Round 3
12pm - Mens Round 3
2pm - Ladies Final
3:45pm - Mens Final
5pm - Presentation of trophies
9pm til 1am - Barbecue, Porth Mellon

Monday

10am - Pilot Widows Gig Sail Race briefing
10:30am - Gig Sail Race
10:30am - Rugby international

|Competitors|

The World Pilot Gig Resource has got a list of all competitors registered in the starting lineup of the 2006 WPGCs. Visit http://www.pilotgigs.info/wpg/competing.php.

|Gallery|

First gallery has gone up on WPGR. See http://www.pilotgigs.info/wpg/gallery.php?g=20.

|Championship clothing|

Championship clothing is available from Sports Mode, near Holgates Green. Proceeds go to the upkeep of Isles of Scilly gig racing.

|Scilly News: WPGC Update|

Irish runner Dara O’ Kearney took top spot in Sunday?s 7th Tresco Marathon.

He won the race, which involves seven and a half laps of the island, in 2hrs 55min 32secs.

Linda Huxley was the first female to finish with a time of 3hrs 45mins 38secs.

The popular marathon took place on the same day as the Flora London Marathon, which was won by Kenya?s Felix Limo in a time of 2hrs 6mins 39secs.

108 people braved grey skies and drizzle to finish the 26 mile course. Daily Telegraph journalist Jim White finished in sixtieth place and author Blake Morrison 31st.

Travel writer Bill Bryson ran one lap of the course and acted as race starter, whilst other celebrities running or lending their support included Tina Baker, Mark Richardson, Jenny Agutter, Alan Hinkes, Dr David Bull and Charlie Dimmock.

The Marathon has raised in excess of ?300,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Applications are now being received for 2007.

Ckeck out the results at http://www.tresco.co.uk/about_tresco/Marathon/2006_marathon_results.asp.

Grey Scilly skies on Sunday weren’t enough to stop people braving the Tresco Marathon - or taking a boat trip out to St Martins and beyond. One reader passed on these pics of seals snoozing on the rocks around the Eastern Isles.

seals1.jpg

stmarts.jpg

The Isles of Scilly has been identified as having potential for the construction of a commercial wave park. But surfers shouldn?t get their hopes up - this is all about renewable energy, not riding the big one.

WAVE energy parks are to be set up off the coast of Britain to generate eco-friendly electricity by harnessing the power of waves.

An area to the southwest of Scilly has been selected as a possible site along with two others, one to the west of Orkney and the other to the west of the Isle of Lewis.

A Scottish company, AWS Ocean Energy, intend to test their first Archimedes Wave (AWS) machines off Orkney in 2007. Each AWS is designed to produce one megawatt of “green” energy, enough to power 2000 homes.

Of course wave power is free, but the project will not be cheap. Each machine will cost ?2.5m and there will be an expensive maintenance program. But despite a cost of up to ?250m, a 100 AWS wave park producing 100 megawatts would be pound-for-pound less expensive than an equivalent nuclear power station - without the hazardous by-products.

?It is very early days. Any development off Scilly will be at least 5 to 10 years away and we have absolutely no clear plans at present,? Simon Turner from AWS Ocean told ScillyNews.

?But AWS is a technology that could be acceptable out there. Visual impact is non-existent and power density is high ? three times that of our competitors ? so we will take up a third of the space for a given megawatt. This is obviously great for other stakeholders such as fishermen.”

And he added that a visit from the company may be on the cards: ?In due course we would be very happy to come down to Scilly and tell people about AWS!?

The Government - who aim to provide 10% of the country?s electricity by renewable energy by 2010 and 20% by 2020 and are currently scraping 4% - seem enthusiastic. A spokesman from the Department of Trade and Industry has said: ?We expect wave and tidal energy to feed into the grid in the coming years. The UK has tremendous potential.?

The Islands are suitable because they are situated near deep water. Wave power increases dramatically as the sea becomes shallower, the same principle as squirting water through a small hole.

The wave parks could generate up to 4000 jobs as well as low cost “green” energy. The initial construction could generate a sizable income for the Islands, though maintenance is most likely to be based at a mainland port.

Though each wave machine is 39 by 98 feet, the 800-ton cylinders are tethered to the seabed and will not be visible from the surface.

However, everything is not rosy in the garden. The National Federation of Fishermen?s Organisations claim the parks could have a significant effect on fisheries.

But with Government backing and the ever-present threat of global warming, wave parks are likely to become more common after the 2007 pilot scheme. It is anticipated that by 2010, wave power will generate enough power to light up a number of small towns. And the Isles of Scilly may be at the forefront of this “green” revolution.

http://www.awsocean.com/
http://www.waveswing.com/home/index.html

A beach on St Martins has been named as the best beach in England in a controversial new travel guide.

But the new Rough Guide to England describes the country in general as a nation of “overweight, alcopop-swilling, sex-and-celebrity obsessed television addicts,” where talking to strangers in London could be seen as ?tantamount to physical assault.?

Far from the image of shingle-covered English beaches with brown or grey sea, the book praises their natural beauty - and says they could compare with those in the Mediterranean and Caribbean.

Second and third are Porthcurno and Polzeath, both in Cornwall. Par Beach is described as having “perfect sand” and a lack of visitors which keeps it quiet and pristine.

Tourist body Enjoy England has criticised the book as “unhelpful”.

“Visitors who come here frequently comment on how, rather than stand-offish, the English are extremely helpful and welcoming,” Elliott Frisby told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

But the guide praises England as a nation of “animal loving, tea-drinking charity donors who thrive on irony and Radio 4″.

The Daily Telegraph has continued its preoccupation with the Isles of Scilly with the fifth article in three weeks.

This time it follows journalist Jim White as he prepares for Sunday?s 7th Tresco marathon in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

The 26-mile race, seven and a half laps of Tresco, is the world?s smallest official marathon and takes place on the same day as the Flora London Marathon.

Travel writer Bill Bryson will be acting as starter for the marathon for the second year running. Other celebrities running or lending their support include Tina Baker, Mark Richardson, Blake Morrison, Jenny Agutter, Alan Hinkes, Dr David Bull and Charlie Dimmock.

The Tresco Marathon began seven years ago when Peter Hingston and then Island Hotel manager Philip Callan decided they would like to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, as Peter?s daughter Jade is a sufferer. Total funds raised to date exceed a quarter of a million pounds.

After a sunny Saturday, drizzle is forecast for race day.

The Daily Telegraph?s Jan Moir published damning reviews of the catering at the Island Hotel and New Inn on Tresco and the Hell Bay Hotel on Bryher, and there have been recent articles about rambling and gig racing.

Writer Jim White will be one of a maximum field of 125 runners in the race, starting at 9.30am.

No doubt Ms Moir will have advised him to take a packed lunch.

The Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust has been welcoming a new arrival on Bryher. A pedigree calf was born in mid-April, the first of three expected in the next few months.

The new calf brings the size of the Red Ruby conservation herd to seven.

Red Ruby, said to be one of the earliest breeds of domesticated cattle in the British Isles, are described on the Wildlife Trust?s website as ?of an easy-going and gentle nature, easy calvers, good mothers and able to exist on the most sparse forage making them ideal for conservation grazing schemes.?

Check out a video clip of the calf nuzzling at http://ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk