Shoreham Rowing Club continue 2016 success in Brighton

Hove seafront was the setting for an exciting day of racing as crews from across Kent and Sussex descended on the city for Brighton & Hove Coastal Rowing Regatta.

With Brighton and Hove Rowing Club closing in 1994, the historic event is now organised by nearby Shoreham Rowing Club which counts a number of Brighton & Hove residents among its members. The regatta was the fifth event in the 2016 Coast Amateur Rowing Association racing season, contested by clubs along the Sussex and Kent coast from Southsea to Herne Bay.

Although the sun was shining and sea conditions were calm, the stiff northerly wind made racing challenging, with crews struggling to keep their boats tucked into the more-sheltered waters near the beach, and to line up on the start.

It was the home club Shoreham which took home the lion’s share of the day’s wins – an impressive 10 in total as the club extends its dominance in the Coast Amateur Rowing Association Grand Aggregate, awarded to the club with the most wins across the 13-regatta season.

Once again Shoreham’s ladies crews performed extremely well, dominating the women’s events throughout the day and winning every ladies’ status race – winning the ladies novice fours, taking first and second in the ladies under-16 quad sculls, first and third in the ladies junior fours, first and second in the ladies senior fours, first and second in the ladies senior pairs, first in the ladies junior pairs and first, second and third in the ladies double sculls.

The club’s men’s squad also continued their return to form. A convincing victory for Shoreham’s men’s junior four of James Tilley, Max Huxtable, Cian Kennedy and James Mouland coxed by Sally Hills edges them ahead of Deal in the 2016 CARA junior fours championship and the club’s Novice Four of Alex Apps, Matt Randall, Alfie Scott and Eamonn Wilkinson coxed by Max Huxtable won their second race of the weekend to progress up to the higher Junior status in coming regattas.

The club also took home the Ladies Aggregate and the coveted regatta Grand Aggregate trophies at the end of the day, and saw young member Isobel Tugwell named the regatta ‘Cox of the Day’ for steering a fantastic course in two of her races.

In other events one of the most exciting races of the day was the men’s senior single sculls, where a full-on sprint for the line saw Bexhill and Deal neck and neck, with Bexhill the eventual winner by just a couple of inches.

Shoreham Rowing Club’s vice-captain Sarah Faith says “We’d like to extend our thanks to our main regatta sponsor Marval Marine Services, our other sponsors and all the volunteers who gave up their time this weekend and without whom it is not possible to run the event.

“For Shoreham, this weekend has been one of our most successful in recent history – the well-deserved result of months of hard training, and a fantastic club spirit which is buoying up all of our crews, at all levels.

“We’re excited to see where this season will take us”.

Results from the day can be seen below:

Event Distance 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Time
Men’s Novice Sculls 2 Lengths De Bx De Dv HB Bx 7.58
Men’s Junior Sculls 2 Lengths Bx De Bx Bx Dv Sm 7.50
Men’s Senior Sculls 1/4Cvns Bx De Sm Bx Dv HB 7.50
Ladies Double Sculls Easy Sm Sm Sm HB Bx Dv 8.18
Ladies Junior Pairs Easy Sm Bx So De Bx 8.33
Men’s Junior Pairs 3 Lengths Bx So De De Sm Dv
Ladies Senior Pairs 2 Lengths Sm Sm De W Dv W 8.02
Men’s Senior Pairs 3 Lengths Bx F De De HB Bx 6.56
Ladies Novice Fours 1 Length Sm De HB Dv Sm W 8.49
Ladies Junior Fours 3 Lengths Sm Bx Sm Dv De 7.45
Ladies Senior Fours Easy Sm Sm De Sm W Bx 7.55
Men’s Novice Fours Easy Sm W Bx Dv Bx 7.46
Men’s Junior Fours Easy Sm De So Bx Sm HB 7.13
Men’s J/S Fours Easy De De HB Bx De 7.03
Veteran 40+ Fours Easy Bx Bx E Sm De 7.10
Veteran 50+ Fours 2 Lengths Bx Sm 8.04
Men’s Senior Fours 2 Lengths De Bx HB De De Sm 6.39
For more information about the Coast Amateur Rowing Association visit http://ww.coastara.org.