Regattas

Dover Regatta was, after cancellations, the 6th regatta in the 2015 season, it was held on the 27th of June 2015 in sunny conditions but with choppy water and stiff westerly breeze. Most clubs attended, the exceptions being Southsea and Hastings.

Some great races were held with some very close finishes with rowers all pushing hard to ensure they weren’t caught out by the stagger on the finish

Deal were the best club on the day, taking the Grand Aggregate by a huge margin and winning 6 events, S4+, JS4+, LJ4+, J4+, and a dramatic last gasp sprint finish past Bexhill in the Senior Sculls which thrilled spectators.

Shoreham’s Ladies also had a good day with wins in the Senior Fours, and Senior Pairs and 1,2 finish in the Single Sculls as well as a second place in the Junior Pair and Double Scull.

It’s always good to see the host club doing well and that was the case case at Dover; they took two wins, in the Junior Pairs, and the Ladies Double Sculls.

The J16 league is becoming somewhat one sided in both the Girls and Boys events with Deal dominating in the Boys and Shoreham in the Girls both with 100% win records so far. It’s is sad, that so far this year the J14 event has failed to attract enough entrants to run.

At the halfway point in the season Deal are looking hot favourites for the most prized CARA trophy, the Grand Aggregate for the club with the most wins in a season. Bexhill are, as has been the case for a number of years now, leading the way in the CARA league for the club with the most points from finishing in the top 6 in all events.

Four CARA juniors joined over 900 juniors from across the country last weekend at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham, racing at the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta 2015.

Beth Buchanan and Phoebe Mercer from Shoreham RC, and Abigail Little and Charlie Cooper from Bexhill ARC were selected to represent the Wessex region in the J16 coxless four.

Despite limited training time and never having raced a coxless four before, the girls rose to the challenge. Strong winds made things tricky at the start of their fist heat, however they found their stride as they lined up again in the B-final. A fabulous row saw the girls not only take a well-deserved second place, but also knock a whopping 55 seconds off their heat time. Well done!

A big congratulations to all four girls from CARA – we’re very proud to see our juniors representing Wessex on the national stage.

Full results can be found on the JIRR website: http://jirr.britishrowing.org/