Steve shares this latest report from Ryde Rowing Club. Ed
There was a much depleted team from Wightlink sponsored Ryde Rowing club for the last Regatta of the Hants & Dorset ARA Season, hosted by the BTC Rowing Club in Southampton on Saturday (20th August).
Switch to sheltered course
The high winds forecast led to the BTC Club making an early call to switch the Regatta venue from Western Shore, Southampton, a very open stretch on Southampton Water to the far more sheltered Coalporters Rowing club course on the River Itchen – but this meant a much earlier start and the cancellation of all but one of the small boat events – leaving the Ryde Club with just one crew to compete at the Regatta.
The Ryde Club are grateful to sponsors Wightlink IW Ferries who were able to switch the Club’s Minibus and trailer carrying Ryde and Shanklin Rowing Club’s boats to an earlier ferry to allow then to reach the Regatta in time for the earlier start.
A comfortable heat win for Junior Ladies crew
The one remaining Ryde crew still in the Regatta – the Ladies Junior crew – of Kristy Newnham, Lisa Murphy, Ayesha Russell and Catherine Murphy with Mick Jenner coxing, comfortably won their heat.
They finished second in the final narrowly loosing to the Hants & Dorset ARA Champions from Poole.
Exciting opportunity
However the strong performance from the Ryde Junior Ladies Crews since their promotion from Novice status earlier in the season led to the Hants & Dorset Rowing Association extending an invitation to the Club to represent the Association at the South Coast Rowing Championships at Herne Bay in September, if one of the other two South Coast Rowing associations fail to fulfil their quota – which would be the thirty-fifth time the Club has represented the Association at the Championships.
The Association Council meeting that extended this invitation also confirmed that Ryde Rowing Club’s three wins in the Men’s Novice Sculls this season made the Hants & Dorset ARA Champions at this status for 2016 and the two wins at Ladies Novice Fours gave them a share in the Ladies Novice Fours Championship – taking the total of Hants & Dorset ARA Championships won by the club since their first in 1962 to forty-one.
