Category: Interviews

CPGA Chairman Jason Nicholas :: GigRower Interview

I would like to thank Jason Nicholas, the new CPGA chairman for answering these questions.  Jason takes over the helm from Norma as chair of our governing body and I wish him all the best in taking the sport forward.

Age?
37

Profession?
Left school and went to sea for 11 yrs fishing, have been flat roofing for last 10 years. Served 14 years on the padstow lifeboat.

Where you live?
Padstow

When did you start rowing?
1987

Do you still row/compete and in which crew?
I have been mainly coxing for the last few years but fill in for any of our mens crews, vets excluded! However have been working on fitness this winter so hoping to make one of the crews this season.

Why did you start gig rowing?
I was 15 when Padstow first started raising money for the boats, and because we all had our own punts it seemed like a good idea to be involved. When I first started there were six of us all best friends, and the idea of all being in a crew together was appealing. The Padstow Crabbers were born! Unfortunately when I was 17 two of the boys were lost at sea so the end of a crew and the end of an era.

Do you, personally, have a rowing ambition, say winning at Scillies?
I have had many ambitions so far and have been lucky enough to say that I have achieved alot of them.  Scillies is not high on my list of ambitions as being a proud Padstonian, our Mayday festival normally coincides with Scillies so it is not often I get a chance to go.  We went in 2008 and I also went at the beginning of the 90’s when we were the 13th gig from the mainland!  I would like to be in a Newquay mens final whether rowing or coxing, the latter being the more likely given the average age of our a crew was 17 in 2008!

Originally the CPGA was set up to oversee the standardisation of a set of measurements for the Cornish Pilot Gig for fair racing but its role is now much more varied.  As the sport continues to grow what would you like to improve or develop in your time as Chairman?
Obviously one of the main things to improve is the relationship between member clubs and the CPGA, the last twelve months were a bit of an eye opener as to some members discontent towards us. Hopefully with some honest and open discussions things can start to go forward.

As the sport grows, it could be argued that some of the top A crews are training to an almost semi professional level, the same level as semi-professional paid athletes in other sports.  At present their is no significant commercialism or sponsorship, do you see this changing?
I hope not, it’s good to see how some of the crews have been able to really push forward . Some of the achievements in the last few years have been extraordinary in both the mens and the ladies crews. I feel that commercialism or big sponsorship deals would change the face of gig racing beyond recognition of the great sport we have today.

The sport of Gig rowing struggles to get taken seriously by the media, on both a local and national level.  Do you feel the CPGA has a role to address this ?
I feel that during the last season gig racing was publicised ten times more than the season before. The World and Newquay champs were covered on TV and covered by local radio stations, each week local news papers had event details and results. Now with web sites available i dont think there is a lot more the CPGA can do to address this.

Can you tell us a little bit about what the CPGA is doing to improve coaching techniques in the sport ?
The CPGA has been working very hard with the ARA to achieve a good standard of fixed seat coaching for CPGA clubs. Hopefully 2009 will start to see some of these courses going out to the member clubs.

Do you see a super vets category developing at any major events this year?
A super vets catagory at a big event could be a possibility, however these events as they are getting bigger each year are starting to take longer and longer to run through. Are there many clubs that have super vets? I don’t know, but as i said earlier with the age thing there will be a time that this has to be looked at.

Do you have any other thoughts or comments about the sport and how you would like to see it improve?
As with all sports there is always going to be room for improvement, and with the right communication and support from rowers maybe by the end of 2009 we might see some!!