Last weekend (20th-21st May 2023) saw the “Island double header” of Ryde and Shanklin Regattas with Ryde on the Saturday and Shanklin on the Sunday.
Saturday saw Ryde Rowing Club host their home Regatta under a beautiful blue sky but a gusty North Easterly wind which had the Wightlink sponsored Club concerned that once again, as last year and following two years lost to Covid, the Regatta would succumb to the weather.
However, although the conditions remained a challenge and there were a few capsizes in the small boat events the Regatta was completed with just the loss of the J16 Quad Fours – as the tide ran out.
Coastal Junior Fours
The men’s Coastal Junior Fours was the race the whole Ryde club had been looking forward to after last week’s mishap where the crew collided with Christchurch and our A crew were looking to show what they are capable of.
The crew of Matt Chalmers, Ben Sanderson, Will Hunt and Paddy Kearney with Mai Mackay coxing started as favourites for the race with Southampton crew not available and they did not disappoint winning comfortably by four lengths.
Ryde’s B crew
Behind them Ryde’s B crew of Lars Groothuis, Charlie Watts, Isaac Gibson, and Alf Scott coxed by Joe Bird had an excellent battle with good crews from Coalies and BTC.
All three were neck and neck for most of the race, but in the final push to the line BTC gained a second place by 2ft from Ryde’s B crew with Coalporters about a length down.
Junior Pairs race
In the Junior Pairs race Ryde’s, A crew of Paddy Kearney and Will Hunt managed a second place behind Southampton in a close race.
The Ryde Club’s B crew of Matt Groothuis and Dan Sanderson got off to a good start, but equipment failure meant they were unable to finish the race.
Women’s Junior Pairs
In the Women’s Junior Pairs Chloe Hughes and Stella Baisley had a collision on the buoys with another crew and unfortunately turned over ending their race.
Women’s Novice sculls
In the Women’s Novice sculls Stella, having a first race on the sea, started well but fell off her seat and capsized in the difficult conditions and was unable to finish her race.
Men’s Coastal Junior sculls
In the Men’s Coastal Junior sculls Ben Sanderson had a good start and was in contention when he was caught by a wave which capsized him. There was better news in the Novice sculls race where Ryde was represented by Bradley Whiting and Dan Sanderson.
After a somewhat nervous start both completed the course with Bradley coming a respectable third and Dan fifth out of 12 crews entered.
Our J16’s crew was unable to race as the tide had sadly dropped too much for the race to be completed.
Shanklin regatta
Sunday, at Shanklin for the part two of the “Island” weekend a blustery wind saw conditions very difficult to get off the shore and after six races it was decided that conditions were not getting any better and so the Regatta was sadly cancelled.
The only person to get afloat was club captain Ben who put yesterday’s disappointment behind him to get a good second place in the Junior Sculls event.
Ryde Regatta Results
- Men’s Senior Fours. 1st BTC, 2nd Coalporters, 3rd Christchurch.
- Men’s Coastal Junior Fours. 1st Ryde, 2nd BTC, 3rd Ryde.
- Men’s Novice Fours. 1st Shanklin, 2nd Poole/Ryde Composite, 3rd Southsea.
- Ladies Senior Fours. 1st Shanklin, 2nd BTC, 3rd Coalporters.
- Ladies Junior Fours. 1st Southsea, 2nd Lymington, 3rd Shanklin.
- Ladies Novice Fours. 1st Coalporters, 2ne Christchurch, 3rd Southsea.
- Master’s 40/A Fours. 1st BTC, 2nd Southampton, 3rd Poole.
- Master’s 50/B Fours. 1st Poole, 2nd Southsea.
- Ladies’ master’s 40/A Fours. 1stPoole, 2nd Coalporters, 3rd BTC.
- Men’s Senior Pairs. 1st Poole, 2nd BTC, 3rd Southsea.
- Men’s Coastal Junior Pairs. 1st Southampton, 2nd Ryde, 3rd Southsea.
- Ladies Senior Pairs. 1st Shanklin, 2nd Poole, Southsea.
- Ladies Junior Pairs. 1st Southsea, 2nd Shanklin, 3rd Southsea.
- Men’s Senior Sculls. 1st Gibbs of Poole. 2nd Barnes of Lymington.
- Men’s Coastal Junior Sculls. 1st Chivers of Itchen, 2nd Hoyland of Poole.
- Men’s Novice Sculls. 1st Chivers of Itchen. 2nd Hoyland of Poole. 3rd. Whiting of Ryde.
- Ladies Senior Sculls. 1st Faithfull of Shanklin, Merritt-Smith of Southsea.
- Ladies Junior Sculls. 1st Mann of Southsea, 2nd Florence of Southampton.
- Ladies Novice Sculls. 1st Reeve of Southsea, Peny of Southsea.
News shared by Steve on behalf of Ryde Rowing Club. Ed
