Herne Bay & Deal Regatta Reports

Bexhill RC put on strong performances at last weekend’s double header at Herne Bay and Deal to remain it top stop the league. Over the weekend the club notched up 4 wins, 14 second places and 7 third places. For the first time this season they also picked on the Ladies Aggregate at Deal.

The Veteran crew of Dave Jones, Clive Bingham, Andy Wilson, and Marc Cowling, notched up two wins in Vet 50’s and two 2nd places in Vet 40’s to secure 22 points for the club. The men’s Senior Pairs has traditionally been a strong event for the club in recent years, over the weekend the club gained 14 points with Doug Holdaway and Matt Hellier picking up a 2nd and 3rd and the B pair of Greg Anderson and Phil McCorry getting their best result of the season with a 2nd at Deal. The C pair of Josh Green and Nick McCorry came 7th at Herne Bay just outside the points.

The Ladies continued to row well, with juniors stepping up to compete in senior events. This provided some extra points for the club and the younger rowers gained some vital experience rowing with more experienced rowers and against tougher competition. The Ladies Senior Four of Rachel Garland, Annable Laity, Charlie Copper and Abbie Little came home in 2nd on sat, then with a crew change on Sunday of Claire Cahill, Katie Skelton, Rachel Garland and Alex Wyren the crew picked up their first win on the season in impressive style rowing through the undefeated Shoreham Ladies in the rough conditions. The B crew consisting of the Abbie Little, Charlie Cooper, Laura Quinn and Georgina Pepper rowing their first race in senior ladies as a crew picked up a 4th place and 3 points. In the smaller pair boats the ladies picked up 2nd and 3rd on Sunday and a 3rd and 4th on Saturday. In total across the Ladies Senior events the combination of different crews picked up 30 points which means they out pointed the Senior Men in the equivalent events, as they could only manage a 3rd and 2nd in the fours and two 2nd’s and a 3rd in pairs totalling 23 points. Well done ladies.

The junior men of Will Knapp, Martyn Matt, Lewis Sealy and Tom Green came 3rd on Saturday, with Adam Baker coming in to replace Tom on the Sunday the crew repeated the position, also achieving a 4th in the Junior Seniors. Knapp and Matt continue to press the leaders in Junior pairs just missing out on 2nd in both days coming 3rd.

The Junior ladies of Abbie Little, Charlie Cooper, Milly Jones and Katherine Pickup came 4th on Sat with Georgina Pepper and Laura Quinn stepping in for Jones an Pick up the crew came 5th on Sunday. In the junior pairs, Cooper and Little, picked up an impressive 2nd on Saturday with Little and Pepper 4th on Sunday. The ladies junior quad picked up a 2nd and 4th. In the final race of the day at Deal Little and Pepper, sculled the conditions impressively just slipping back from 2nd to take 3rd.

In the Novice events, the men picked up a 2nd and 4th with Theo Hall taking part in his first ever race. The Ladies crew of Charlie Cooper, Christiana Braun, Milly Jones and Katherine Pickup came 4th on Saturday with Annabel Lever taking part in her first race on the Sunday the crew just missed out on a point in 7th.

Finally in the singles. In the Junior Sculls final on sat, the club picked up 2nd (Anderson), 5th, (Matt), 6th (McCorry) but improved on the Sunday to claim a 1-2 with McCorry and Anderson gaining 11 points for the club. In the Senior Sculls, a return from Injury for Mark Mitchell just missing out on the win on Sat with club mates Holdaway and McCorry dead heating for 6th place. On the Sunday the return of Kezman challenged for the lead but could only pick up a 2nd, with McCorry 5th and Mark Mitchell disqualified for missing his turn in the worsening conditions.

Josh Green qualified 2nd in the Novice sculls heat, looking to build on a 5th place finish on sat, but unfortunately took an early bath capzing and getting rescued on the Sunday.
The club now has a week off before heading to the rescheduled Worthing Regatta on the 2nd August.