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Rowers from a landlocked club say it will be "amazing" to take part in the world championships for sea-going Cornish pilot gig boats.
Midland Cornish rowing club is based at Staunton Harold reservoir in Derbyshire – which is only 10 miles from the point in Great Britain furthest from the sea – but competes against crews from places with long traditions of coastal rowing.
The team row Cornish pilot gig boats, which are six-oared fixed-seat vessels, measuring 32ft (9.7m) and based on a design for a working craft dating back to the late 18th Century.
Midland Cornish will be heading off to the world championshops in the Isles of Scilly, from 30 April to 2 May, which attract about 2,000 rowers.
Rower Katie Baines said their opposition was often taken aback to see a crew from the Midlands.
"They're always quite shocked," she said.
"They say 'oh, you're the furthest away from the sea you can possibly get'."
The boats are still a familiar sight in harbours in the South West of England because, according to the Cornish Pilot Gig Association, there are over 90 clubs and more than 8,000 active gig rowers nationwide.
But only one of those clubs trains on a reservoir more than 60 miles from the nearest stretch of open sea.
Midland Cornish was founded by Chris Baker, who moved from Cornwall to Derbyshire 35 years ago, but only got back into rowing in the past decade.
Baker said his rowers were under no illusions about the challenge they faced.
"I don't think we embarrass ourselves when we turn up," he said.
"We try and coach the right way, so even if we're not at the front, we at least look tidy and that's half the battle.
"It feels like quite an achievement to take a club from here and row against Cornish and Devon clubs that have been rowing for decades."
Midland Cornish has around 30 regulars, while many clubs in the South West have hundreds of competitors to choose from.
However, what the Derbyshire team does have is a former multiple world champion as coach.
Martin Pezzack, also from Cornwall, won his titles in the mid-to-late 1990s across a variety of traditional Cornish rowing disciplines.
He said teaching people who rarely got to see the sea was even more rewarding.
"It's strange," he said. "It's brought a new joy to it."
"It's more of a sense of achievement this time because it's not just me – you're doing it with a bunch of people.
"I'm helping people to develop and hopefully become champions in their own right."
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https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/landlocked-rowers-making-waves-sea-070737938.html
