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Brighton and Hove Regatta, Saturday 7th June 2008 |
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Following on from the good results of the Viking Shield Regatta at Herne Bay and then the cancellation of Shoreham 2 weeks ago, the season proper finally kicked off at Hove. After leaving Herne Bay shrouded in cloud and drizzle it was encouraging to arrive to a South Coast bathed in sunshine. To start with, a northerly wind meant a flat sea as well, however by the end of the days racing this had swung round to south westerly making for more challenging conditions for the later events. On the beach I made copious notes - however these have been mislaid (oops) so I'll do the best I can for the moment and fill any gaps in later (feel free to send your corrections...). Senior pairs saw the closest race of the day with Andy Cooper and Ashley Epps missing out by a quarter of a canvas (official verdict) to Bexhill. Ryan Hosking and Mark Symonds came 4th . Both pairs combined and coxed by Sam competed in the senior 4's race, however the outcome was disappointing for Herne Bay. Firstly the hastily assembled B crew (John Cox, Paul Monroe, Stuart Webb, Mark Davies coxed by George) managed to collide with both our A crew and Folkestone within the 1st 20 strokes - this was at the end of the day and the sea was fairly bouncy by then. However the A crew recovered and were looking good until taken out by Bexhill and losing their rudder on the turn - leading to the race being red flagged. At the restart the starter opted to avoid start line collisions by starting the race while the outside crews (including both Herne Bay Crews) were still 4 lengths short of the start line, unable to hear anything the starter said due to a coastguard helicopter practising nearby. Again Herne Bay A were involved in a collision at the turns but the race went on as they had not yet fully regained the 4 length deficit from the start. The B crew avoided collisions but suffered compromised flotation issues at the turn due to a faulty bailer and had to head for the shore to empty the boat - luckily George had practiced his swimming in similar circumstances during training the previous week. Despite this we managed to accumulate enough senior points to take 2nd place in the Senior aggregate. The lady's senior 4 (Liz Taylor, Nicky Towner, Amanda Monroe and Sue Cox) came third - same position as their last race in the Viking Shield Regatta but they were closer to the 2 crews ahead than the following pack and may get closer still as the season progresses. In Junior Senior 4's there were only 3 entries, 2 of them from Herne Bay but disappointingly victory went to Dover. Congrats however to the Herne Bay B crew (comprising our Junior 'A' crew Jamie Ross Cumming, Simon Mount, Alex Farrant and Will Mehr for beating Herne Bay A (aka the veteran crew with Bob Shilling instead of Stuart Webb) with a combined age double their own. The Junior crew came 3rd in their proper event, while the vets (last years cara runners up - Harry, Mark, Stuart and Trevor coxed by Sam.) came 4th in their own event. Jamie Ross cumming and Will Mehr made a strong start in Junior Pairs (despite going for a swim just before the line), they were leading up to the turns but fell back a few places by the finish line to finish 3rd. The days 3rd second place was achieved by the ladies Novice 4 of Phoebe Shilling, Sam Epps, Amanda Waters and April Towner - not quite repeating their victory at the Viking Shield Regatta. They also achieved 4th place in the ladies Junior 4s Next events in 2 weeks time Eastbourne and Bexhill for a double weekend. |
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