Head of the Weir

At the inspiration of Esther Martin, a group of Gloucester Gig Rowers made the trek down to Hull, MA a week ago (Saturday October 18th) to row hard and strong with no excuses in a highly contested international competition. The Head of the Weir is a 5.5 mile race from West Corner (on the Hingham-Hull line) to the Windmill Point Boathouse at Hull Gut. The Weir draws boats of all sorts, from coxed gigs, ocean shells, livery and workboats, currachs, to kayaks and canoes. Our team of 7 in the sturdy Siren Song jockeyed for position at the muddle of a starting line and made headway out the narrow estuary and onto open water, past Bumpkin Island, and across Hull Bay to a slight beach at the Hull Lifesaving Museum’s Windmill Point Boathouse.

Using a “head of the river” format, boats set-off from the so-called starting line in flying-starts at one-minute intervals, and times were collated at the finish to determine the race winners. This year was particularly rich with some 28 odd coxed boats showing their mettle. Our Siren Song team came in second with a time of 53:33—beating all the Saquish teams, a Dutch women’s crew, a Dutch men’s crew, as well as boats from the Vineyard and Lake Champlain.

Check out an album of photos from the event here: Head of the Weir flickr album.

Gloucester Gig Rowers: Bill, Bart, chip, Ellen, Esther, JC, Donna