The annual Cornish pilot gig mixed and vets championships have been hosted by Caradon Pilot Gig Club for a number of years now and they have got the organisation down to a fine art.

The course is rowed from Saltash, up stream, round the usual kite-shaped course.

The mixed crews raced on Saturday in fine weather but with strong cross winds which made for interesting buoy turns.

Dart fielded one mixed crew and one mixed super vets crew. The mixed crew had to wait until the heat 11, the last of the mixed round. Rowing in Samphire, they had a good draw in lane four.

The crew needed to get in the first two to get through to the next round. Mounts Bay A took an early lead and Dart soon pulled clear of the rest of the heat to come home in a good second place.

The mixed supervets race followed the mixed juniors. Dart were drawn in lane two, rowing in the Millers Daughter. Clubs are always unsure of who the opposition will be with supervets.

There are not so many of the over 50s and you never know who will be available to row.

Dart guessed their main opposition would be Helford and this proved to be the case, with Dart having another straightforward race to come home second behind Helford.

In the quarter-finals the mixed crew had a tough heat, drawn against three top crews, rowing in Lantic.

They rowed their hardest, but the more experienced crews soon took the lead, with Dart coming in last. For most of the crew, it was their first time in the championships, so they enjoyed their experience.

The mixed supervets went through to the final, against Helford, Bridport, Ilfracombe, Falmouth, Lyme Regis and Rame. Dart were drawn in lane two in Jupiter and approached the first mark in fourth place.

By this time the tide had turned and with wind over tide it made the marks quite tricky. Dart had to fight hard on all three marks to keep Bridport behind them.

Unfortunately Bridport had a little bit of extra energy and they managed to overtake Dart on the final leg of the race with Dart coming home in fifth position.

Sunday, the day for the men's and ladies' crews, dawned grey, and by the time Dart arrived in Saltash, it was raining.

The Dart ladies' vets crew were out in the first race of the day. They were drawn in lane two in their own boat Lightning.

They had a good work-out, rounding the mark in second position, which they maintained to the finish of the race.

The ladies' supervets, four of whom also rowed in the vets, were out in Top Catch in the second heat. They were drawn in lane one on the Plymouth side. The crew didn't have quite enough weight to get past Tamar Tavy and the cox tried to manoeuvre the boat into a better position, but to no avail, so the crew came home in third, place taking them through to the plate final.

In the quarter-finals of the ladies' vets the crew, rowing in Isambard, had a tough draw so they were unable to make it through to the next round.

The ladies were no sooner out of the boat when they had to turn round and get in Samphire for the final of the supervets plate race, in which they rowed a tidy race to come home in first, well ahead of the rest of the fleet.

A great weekend was had by all and even Sunday's weather proved kinder than forecast, with the rain turning to drizzle before the racing was finished.

The club members taking part were Ella Chivers, Chloe Gardner, Kate Cooke, Jonny Holmes, Jamie Philips, Paul Kunert, Jo Hayden, Peta Chivers, Clare Thorp, Michael Bryant-Mole and Stan Bray on Saturday, and Jo Hayden, Peta Chivers, Clare Thorp, Wendy Jones, Maggie Trubshaw, Maggie Russell, Paula Hyne and Karen Harvey on Sunday.