The crew's arrival on the Isles of Scilly marks the end of their "epic row" along the Cornish coast in a pilot gig they built themselves.

19 April

The crew of the pilot gig, H4H Valiant, started their epic row on 2 April from the National Maritime Museum Cornwall in Falmouth. It was the first leg of their eight stage journey to the Isles of Scilly.

On 17 April, the crew of the pilot gig left Sennen to row more than 23 miles to Tresco in the Isles of Scilly. The made the trip in just eight hours and eight minutes, smashing their target of nine hours.

H4H Valiant approaches Tresco's New Grimsby harbour, and the finish line

H4H Valiant approaches Tresco’s New Grimsby harbour, and the finish line. Photo credit Tresco Island/Facebook

 

The team of veterans was made up by an amputee and Post Traumatic Stress sufferers.

The Epic Row is the culmination of eight months of hard work by the oarsmen as part of The Great Big Cornish Gig Project, which has been funded by the Armed Forces Community Covenant Grant scheme.

A Help for Heroes team will use the boat to compete in the World Pilot Gig Championships in Scilly, which starts on 29 April.

5 April 

The Epic Row crew celebrate finishing a leg of their journey

The crew of H4H Valiant left from the National Maritime Museum Cornwall in Falmouth on 2 April on the first leg of their eight stage journey. Throughout the row, they will be escorted by representatives from local gig clubs.

The crew finished the first day at the Helford Passage before rowing to Coverack on 3 April  and Cadgwith and Mullion on 4 April.

The rest of their journey, between 5 April and 8 April, will take them to Mullion, Porthleven, Marazion, Penzance and Sennen, before the final leg to St Mary’s on the Isles of Scilly.

The Epic Row is the culmination of eight months of hard work by the oarsmen as part of The Great Big Cornish Gig Project, which has been funded by the Armed Forces Community Covenant Grant scheme.

22 February 

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Veterans building a traditional Cornish pilot gig row boat will row the craft from Cornwall to Scilly to deliver it to the Help for Heroes charity team competing in the World Pilot Gigs Championship in May.

In a collaborative project run by the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, wounded, injured and sick veterans and serving personnel (WIS) are working with a team of expert boat builders led by Andrew Nancarrow to build the traditional row boat.

The Veterans Gig Project is funded by the Armed Forces Community Covenant Grant Scheme and the Help for Heroes (H4H) charity has collaborated with the Maritime Museum to bring awareness to veterans wishing to participate.

According to the Great Big Cornish Gig Project Facebook page, “Each week our WIS volunteers work with our staff team to build a Cornish Pilot Gig. When built, the Gig will be rowed by our veterans to the Isles of Scilly in time for the 2016 Pilot Gig World Championships, and handed over to the Help for Heroes Gig team, who will compete in the championships.

“We are currently planning the EPIC ROW when our newly launched Pilot Gig will be rowed along the Cornish Coast in stages to the Scillies, fund raising for Service Charities along the way.”

cornish-gig-boat-6

According to a spokesperson for Help for Heroes, the row along Cornwall’s coast will run from 2-9 April. A number of wounded veterans and others will participate in the various stages, with two H4H beneficiaries who were wounded in service involved in the longest, and final, nearly 40-mile stint from Cornwall’s western reaches to the Isles of Scilly.

The boat will become the property of the charity once it’s been finished and has made the trip to Scilly, where a team of H4H veterans will race the boat.

The Pilot Gig World Championships have taken place in the Isles of Scilly over the May Day bank holiday weekend since 1990 and bring in teams from around the world.

The event only allows a handful of new boats to enter each year, and the 2016 championships will be the second year a team from H4H has participated. The 2015 H4H team used a borrowed boat to compete.

The boat-building veterans group does work in the boat building workshop on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and uses Wednesday as an Activity Day, for activities such as sailing, gig rowing, and rock climbing.

Help for Heroes is a registered charity dedicated to wounded veterans from the UK’s armed services.

See more pictures of the project below.

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