58' Pirsch 8-Person Rowing Shell (1928) - RENNGIGACHTER HAGEN

The “Renngigachter” is a coxed rowing eight a bit wider than a normal racing eight. 120 years ago they were very common in Germany and many of them were build.
Our eight “Hagen” was build in 1928 by the boatyard Friedrich Pirsch. It is a clinker build boat. The six planks on each side are made out of cedrela on oak frames. In 2012 it was given to us by the “Südbayrischem Schiffahrtsmuseum” (south bavarian maritime museum) which no longer existed. We thought for a long time but before it was getting burned we drove over in the deepest winter and brought it home. Because our storage is not long enough for this boat we entered a cooperation with our local school rowing club (SRV Karl-Ziegler-Schule) over a period of time we restored the whole eight together with students from the school. Everyone had fun and learned a lot. When we got ready we planed a race against the school rowing club next door, like it has always been in the good old times… Somehow we organized an other eight of the same type and in 2018 we realized the race. We rowed three races: first the young students, than the older students and afterwards former students of those schools. “Hagen” won the first two races and only the last was won by the other school in “Linde”, the other eight from 1963. This boat was one of the last boats build of this type. Sadly both boats are not used regularly, but if they are on the water it is always a lot of fun.
Find out more about our club and boats on Instagram and on our website and feel free to ask any question.