MALDON Gig Rowing Club competed in the third race of the Harkers Yard Winter Series.

Twelve gigs took part in the women's, men's and mixed team races, off the coast of Mersea Island.

With high tide at 10.37am, there was an early start to get over the Strood.

The race was over a 1.5-mile course, with two gigs starting at a time at two-minute intervals.

The Maldon women in Record Reign had a great race, even though they broke an oar pin within sight of the finish and came back with only three rowing over the line.

They still managed to come first with a time of 15 minutes and 21 seconds, just 16 seconds ahead of the next gig and five minutes ahead of the last one.

The men's race was hard-fought, with only one and a half minutes separating all gigs from first to last.

Maldon's men finished in fifth place, with a time of 15m, after their rudder got caught in weed and debris.

They needed crew intervention to untangle the mess mid-race before they could continue.

Maldon's mixed team had an eventful start to the race, splitting an oar trying to move off from the pontoon.

They had to wait for a replacement from another club and then get a tow to the start line from a safety boat to make sure they were included in the race.

The mixed teams had only three minutes separating all the gigs and Maldon came in 11th place, with a time of 16m 29s.

To add a bit of extra interest and encourage communication and social interaction between clubs, Mersea ran an extra race for fun which mixed up all the club crews.

Out of the five gigs taking part, the gig from the Stone club called Fly came first, with crew members from Maldon, Mersea and Stone.

All the gig clubs are looking forward to the fourth race of the Winter Series, which will be hosted by Stone on Sunday, November 27.