GRR: London’s Other Marathon

The Great River Race approaches Hammersmith from Putney, passing the former Harrods Repository on the right.

Here is Tim Koch’s report on this year’s Great River Race, GRR:

The Great River Race took place on London’s River Thames on Saturday, 7 September, on a 21-mile course from London Docklands to Richmond in Surrey. While it is certainly ‘great’ with more than 300 boats from the UK and around the world, it is not (officially) a ‘race’. In my report on the 2011 GRR, I summarised the event thus:

The rules of the event say that the boats must be rowed, sculled or paddled and most boat classes must carry a coxswain plus a passenger (who may take turns at the oar or paddle). The ‘passenger rule’ comes from the Watermen’s historic responsibility to carry passengers on the Thames (small children are often favoured for this role). Also, no sliding seats or riggers are allowed and each boat must fly a flag. A huge variety of boats take part and this is coupled with the inclusive atmosphere of the event which attracts men and women, the young and the old, the competitive and the leisurely.

A race or not, the GRR is an event that is best left to pictures, not words.

Visitors from the Netherlands in a lifeboat or, in Dutch, reddingboot. I do not know how many boats came from what foreigners tend to call Holland, but I seem to have photographed a number of them.

An entry from the Royal Netherlands Naval College, an officer training establishment, the equivalent to Newport in the United States or Dartmouth in Britain.

I think I am correct in saying that this is a currach, an ancient design of boat from the west of Ireland (St. Columba is said to have used one). There is no one standard design but they are a very light, wood framed boat with a canvas (or at one time, skin) covering. Several years ago I had the opportunity of seeing several such boats close up and initially was not very impressed. They seemed very crudely made and the oars had no spoons – they were simply long poles! However, I changed my mind when several elderly, small and wiry gentlemen put down their glasses of stout, took off their jackets, rolled up their shirt sleeves and made the currachs seemingly fly across the water. It was later explained to me that the oars, about ten-foot in length, have no spoons as they would be caught in rough seas. The trick is to dig perhaps half the length of the oar into the water to give it a large surface area to work against. The oar locks are block and thole pin.

A boat flying the flag of Scotland, Saint Andrew’s Cross or the Saltire, passes under Hammersmith Bridge.

Women from Helford River Gig Club in Cornwall pass under Hammersmith Bridge. The club writes about them here. HTBS has previously written about the remarkable revival and worldwide spread of Cornish Gig Racing.

Proving the worldwide popularity of Cornish Pilot Gigs, this one is from the Netherlands club WSV de Spiegel based in Nederhorst den Berg in the province of North Holland.

Another Cornish Pilot Gig, this time from Langstone Adventure Rowing who are based in Hampshire in the South East of England. They say that they are a centre for traditional fixed seat rowing and that they ‘...coach teams and individual rowers to reach their goals, be it to row across the English Channel.... to take part in events such as the Great River Race... or to raise money for charity’. They also run team building sessions and ‘gig rowing for fun, fitness and friendship’.

They keep on coming.

Who are the Poplar Dockers from Gravesend?

I know even less about this boat and crew than I do the Poplar Dockers!

More people I cannot tell you about apart from the fact that they look like they are having fun.

The Thames is never quite wide enough. A lifeboat crew from the Netherlands club AVR Avira, based in Duiven in the east of the country, clashes with a Great River Race self-build ‘jolly boat’.

I would love to know more about this boat – or even why the crew is dressed as monks. It looks like a very traditional design.

Is this the same type of boat as the one above?

The end of a long day.

The Currach - A Symbol Of Ireland

The Irishman Greg Denieffe sends greetings for the new year:

“Athbhliain faoi Mhaise Duit!”

Greg got a very nice gift for Christmas. He writes:

My very good friend Seamus Keating and his wife Margaret gave me a beautiful Celtic Wood Carving for Christmas. Above you can see a picture of it in its presentation box and I thought the HTBS readers may like to know a little bit more about this boat type, “The Currach”.

According to Currach.org “Currachs are heritage, culture, history, and athletics all in one; and the history of the Currach is as old as Ireland itself. The first written record comes from Julius Caesar in 100 BC and early Gaelic accounts speak of large ocean going sailing Currachs roving the North Atlantic. However, such a light and graceful craft were not only used on the sea and it is recorded that in 1602, O’Sullivan Beare, the Irish chieftain, quickly assembled Currachs to cross the Shannon to escape from the Earl of Thomond and his army.

“The origin of the Currach may be lost in the mists of time, but their traditional construction has changed little over the centuries. Now made from tarred canvas they were originally built by craftsmen using animal skins, stretched over wooden slats or laths and rowed with bladeless oars. Although flimsy-looking it is perfectly adapted to the local seas. Irish legend has it that it was in a Currach that St. Brendan journeyed across the Atlantic 900 years before Columbus and 400 years before the Vikings! He speaks of his visit to a vast land across the Western Ocean (Newfoundland) and a great impassable river (the Mississippi?). If true, the first European to arrive in America (in a Currach, no less) was an Irishman! The Currach is a one of the most romantic Irish symbols, familiar to tourists all over the world.”

A model representing St Brendan’s currach.

It would seem that the gift was a precursor for me to look into the history of the Currach at a very momentous time as it is been reintroduced to the east coast of Ireland today, 7 January 2012.

As reported on thejournal.ie on Wednesday 4 January this year:

Two hand-built currachs to be launched into the Irish Sea this weekend

TWO HAND-BUILT CURRACHS will be launched in to the Irish Sea this weekend after being built by a team of volunteers in Dublin’s East Wall. The boats were built as part of a month-long currach workshop in East Wall, where artist and boat builder Mark Redden led a team on what’s involved in the ancient Irish technique of boat building. Currachs are traditional Irish boats, which used to be covered by animal skins, and are often found on the west coast of the country. “As a physical thing the currach represents something more than a simple water craft. It stands for the quality of ancient design, a legacy left to us by our forebearers, and a resourcefulness applicable to today’s life,” said Redden.

The team behind the new currachs hope that they will be able to compete in regattas off the west coast. The boats were built in the East Wall Water Sports Centre in Dublin’s docklands, right beside the river Tolka. In a piece of good news for the currach team, Met Eireann says that the weekend is going to be relatively mild and less cold and blustery than the last few days have been – which should mean less choppy waters for launching the currach.

There is a page on Facebook "East Wall Currachs" with more information and pictures of the boats being built.

The Aran Boatmen by Islandcraft Studios.

“The Currach, a traditional west of Ireland rowing boat has been used for centuries on the Aran Islands by skillful fishermen. It is covered in tarred canvas and is very light, graceful and sea worthy. This product is made by a process known as Intarsia which is the ancient art of making pictorial mosaics by laying precious and exotic woods onto a solid wood surface. Seven different woods are used to make these Celtic designs.”