Last weekend saw 22 members of Monmouth Rowing Club compete at Gloucester Regatta which, with the unfortunate cancellation of Ross Regatta, will be out last local regatta of the season.
On Saturday in the Masters and Junior events, the competitors were blessed with some lovely sunshine but this was interspersed with some short, sharp rain showers - Roland had to endure one of these whilst sitting at the start waiting for his first ever 1x race!
Although the club had entered 19 crews over two days, four women's crews and a mixed crew were rejected due to no opposition, so the racing was mainly completed by the men's squad.
Division 1 began for Monmouth with the OpF1x (single sculls over 60), with three MRC members in the event. Tim E won first round race but was unable to repeat the winning streak in semi final losing to Holland from Bridgnorth by a length; Roland C in his first ever 1x race, came up against another MRC member, Dave B in the semi final. Unfortunately for Roland, Dave proved too strong & experienced winning by a good margin; Dave went on to compete in a very close final, winning by a mere 1 foot v Holland.
This was quickly followed by the OpJ181x where Archie C won his semi by 1 length to Dart Totnes athlete but lost final by the same margin to another Dart Totnes youngster.
Next was the turn of the crew boats with the OpF4+ of Nick H, Ian T, Paul B, Andy D & cox Denize A beating Greenbank Falmouth in the semifinal and followed this with a victory against Bristol Ariel by just under a length in the final. This gave Ian his first regatta win racing in the Monmouth colours.
The OpE4- of Colin L, Tim M, Paul B, James A had a straight final against an older age category from Bridgnorth. It was suggested that James wanted to race as an F crew, attempting to start at the same time as the opposition but the rest of the crew patiently waited for the 2nd 'go' before setting off! Despite the time handicap against them, the crew powered through in the last 150m to beat Bridgnorth by 1/2 length.
In Division 2 Nick H & Ian T came together for the first time to race in the E2- event beating their younger opponents from local club Ross by 3 lengths.
In the MxF2x MJ B & Tim E came up against Dave B & partner from Exeter. This proved to be an extremely close race which went to the line with the Exeter combination winning by just 3 feet.
Entered as an E crew the Mx8 of Colin L, Simon L, Ewart B, Tim M, Louise T, Bonita B, Paula N, Denize A, cox Liz L had to race as a D crew as their opposition from Bristol Ariel were mere youngsters in a B crew! With a 4 second head start, Monmouth pulled out to a length lead and rowed with determination and power to maintain the lead right through to the finish.
Division 3 began with the OpJ141x of Sebastian L moving through three rounds, wining all his races convincingly; the final by two lengths against Jack from Worcester.
Races then came thick and fast for Monmouth with all crew boats boating at the same time to race in the same round. The OpF8 of Tim E, Nick H, Ian T, James A, Colin L, Dave B, Andy D, Paul B, cox Liz L beat Bristol Ariel H crew (which included MRC rower Harry B) by a length in semi final and followed this with a comfortable victory against Guildford in the final.
Coach Tim M paired up with Simon L in the OpD2x. The crew had 2 good races, beating Guilford with relative ease & pulling out the stops v Greenbank Falmouth winning by over a length in final.
OpE2x Julian S & Tom (from Exeter) had a tentative start and unfortunately were unable to make up the ground lost on the Bridgnorth double, losing by 3 lengths.
The only all women's crew of the day for Monmouth was the WE4x of MJ, Louise T, Denize A & Bonita B who came up against a set G crew from Upton in the final. With an 8 second handicap against them, the Monmouth crew worked hard but were unable to make up the distance taken off the start.
Win or lose, the crews all had a great day and there were smiles all round throughout the day. Some individuals who were only racing once or twice were there for the whole day involving themselves for the club by encouraging, cheering, carrying equipment, photographing etc for crews. As has been the norm for all events this year, this was a fantastic club event both on & off the water. Well done all!
Our thanks go to:
Paul and Colin for leaving Monmouth early to tow the trailer; Nick & Tim E for transporting ergs to the event; those who coxed or steered crews; Tim M for his time & effort in preparation of everything prior to the event and his enthusiasm and expertise given to all crews during the day.
Following the Masters & Junior regatta on Saturday the the Open Regatta was held on the Sunday.
George K and Ben M joined together again in the Op2x and beat both Loughborough & Hereford to make it through to the final. Unfortunately the experience of Black Sheep RC shone through in the final, with the Monmouth crew losing by 3 lengths.
In Division 2 Archie C once again raced in is 1x but this time in Open category and was beaten in the quarter finals by Wynter from Hereford by a length.
The three youngsters joined forces along with Harry D to race in a straight final in the Open4- . Not having been in this crew before, the lads put in a good performance, only losing by 3/4 length to a Hereford crew.
Thanks to Dan for towing the trailer for day two.
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