Twenty-six gigs made it to the start line for the Two Castles Gig Race, held for the second time this year.

What made the event really tasty was the presence of Caradon Gig Club, possibly the strongest club in the Gig Association, fielding three crack teams in the Men's, Ladies and Veterans' competition with Falmouth their nearest competitors also fielding three teams.

Caradon's Men's crew has dominated the World Championships over the last ten years with Falmouth's Men providing the most serious opposition over the last couple of years. In the Ladies event the reverse is true with Falmouth having the edge over Caradon.

The Two Castles is a real test of stamina and technique and if either of the current world champion crews faltered then their nearest rivals would surely seize their opportunity.

Just prior to the start last Sunday there was a minute's silence for Ben Cochrane, the Roseland rower who was tragically killed in a boating accident, and poignantly Ben's brother Fraser was on board the start boat to start the race.

Quality will also prevail and it was fantastic to watch Caradon Men's crew gradually pull away from the pack hotly pursued by Coverack (Manacle Belle) and Charlestown (Tormentor) and of course Falmouth (Irene 2).

The challengers fell away one by one until it became a straight head to head between Caradon and Falmouth but right to the finish the world champions held the lead and won by a couple of minutes.

Crew's don't dominate an event for ten years without having a rich pool of talent to draw upon and Caradon have a Veterans crew, including the legendary Steve Kent, which could easily compete in any Men's event.

Caradon's Vets were in at the finish with both the Caradon and Falmouth Men's crews and really underlined Caradon's dominance by pushing Falmouth Men's crew into third place overall.

The Ladies race was an absolute cracker with Caradon's Ladies crew seizing the initiative in the early part of the race with Falmouth in close attendance.

Approaching the northern arm of the Docks Falmouth mounted a strong challenge, drew level with Caradon and then powered past to win by a couple of boat lengths. Another champion performance from Falmouth with I suspect local pride proving a decisive factor.

In the Mixed event Mount's Bay (Taran) proved the class act and comfortably won, coming home alone.

All crews then came ashore for hospitality at Events Square with beer and food being provided by the sponsors, the Wooden Hand Brewery and A & P Falmouth.

Simon Hancock and Ellie Bradshaw ensured the onshore party went without a hitch and the Roseland Gig Club provided the stewards and staff to assist in the launch and recovery of all the visiting gigs.

Peter Mason and his team at the National Maritime Museum worked tirelessly to provide all the paperwork and information needed to ensure no one got lost and NMMC generously provided free parking for all competitors.

Launch and recovery slips were provided by the RNLI and Pendennis Shipyard with Ponsharden Park and Ride as a back-up.

The "Grand National" event for gigs was won by the odd-on favourites but on a glorious sunny day it was a brilliant event and compulsive viewing.