Paignton Amateur Rowing Club

Paignton Amateur Rowing Club (PARC) is situated in Paignton, England.

PARC is both a Fine boat and Gig rowing rowing club. In 2010 PARC became the first rowing club in the country to offer four types of rowing; fine, gig and two types of coastal. The club owns a selection of single, double and quad fine boats. One plastic gig (Evans Above) and two wooden racing gigs (Top Catch and Storm). The most recent addition to the club is a coastal rowing boat named Wave Dancer.

Competition

In 2008 the club won;

  • For fine boats the senior C championship for mens 4+
  • For gigs it has won several events at both mens A and B and also a trophy from the world pilot gig championships for a group F win putting them 60th overall.

In 2009 the club won;

  • 8 August-Paignton Regatta; Junior Men's under 14 4+(Tom May, Lewis Bayley, Jack Wills, Lewis Lyden and Charlotte Lane[coxxon])[Poppy Disney]
  • 8 August-Paignton Regatta; Mens under 18 single sculls(- Steven Marshall)

In 2010 the club won;

  • 10 July-Exeter Regatta; Junior Men's under 14 2+(Tom May, Jack Wills)
  • 26 August-Dartmouth Regatta; Junior Men's under 14 2+(Tom May, Jack Wills)

Every August sees racing for the fine boats and gigs at our home regatta. The fine boat regatta is part of the 10 meeting series of the West of England Amateur Rowing Association (WEARA). During Paignton Rowing Regatta members of the public are more than welcome to come and watch and cheer on their home team or just sit back and relax. Paignton is situated on the south coast and rowing therefore takes place on the sea and for Paignton Rowing Regatta all crews launch from the beach. The beach however is still open to the public for normal use but the club reminds the public to try and stay away from where a majority of boats launch.

For the first time in August 2010 Paignton also hosted a FISA Regatta to celebrate the arrival of our coastal boat Wave Dancer. The 8 km race around Tor Bay took place between crews from Paignton, Torquay, Plymouth Mayflower and Exmouth in 4 events; mens, women's, mixed and juniors (3 km race). Pictures of an enjoyable days racing can be found here . It is hoped that the event will be expanded in 2011 with more clubs invited.

Junior Fine Boat Rowing

Under 18's rowing has been a tradition at Paignton for quite a while now and seems evermore popular each year. The head coach of the junior fine boat rowers is Joan Whittle.

  • Weather dependent, boat training takes place either in Paignton or at Totnes where some boats are stored to be used on the river where the water conditions are not so rough. If they are not boat training land training takes place which consists of ergo work(rowing machines), weights (age dependent), running and core stretches.

Junior rowing takes place after school every Monday and Thursday.

Senior Fine Boat Rowing

Senior rowing sessions coached by Jane Perry usually take place at:

  • Tuesday at 6pm
  • Thursday at 6pm
  • Sunday at 9:30am.

Gig Boat Rowing

The gig side of the club was formed in 2007 with the arrival of Evans Above. This side of the club has grown steadily over the last 3 years and regularly puts 3 boats out on training nights. More information can be found on the gig website.

Club colours

Paignton blade colours.
  • The club colours consist of old gold (yellow) and blue.
  • The racing colours are old gold with a diagonal blue stripe.
  • The fine boat blade colours are yellow with a blue triangle.

Social

There is a well supplied bar situated above the boathouse at Paignton Harbour. The bar is for both members of the club and other visitors too. The bar includes a large projector TV, Skittles, Pool, seating and of course the bar. The trophy cabinet and club photos dating back over 60 years are also located here. For both rowers and bar users there are both separate male and female toilets to the rear of the club (still on the first floor.) Next to these are both separate male and female changing facilities including benches, warm showers and mirrors.