HIGH winds caused the cancellation of the annual Guernsey to Herm race, the championship event instead moving into the sheltered confines of Havelet Bay for three clockwise laps around Moulinet Beacon and three turn buoys. First to start were the singles including the only fixed-seat rower in the club, Karl Guille.
Karl Pederson joined Guille as the only male rower in the sliding equivalent class, but competition was fierce on the water as female rower Paula van Katwyk clung to Pederson. Eventually, van Katwyk secured her third win of the season, just one minute behind Pederson with Carol Le Page finishing in second place.
The pairs are an exciting class to watch, with new pairings galore this season.
Former CI Ceramics crew members Sharon Collenette and Lois Rawlins-Duquemin rowed an excellent course despite the threat of being pushed out around Moulinet by a women’s fours crew.
Collenette remained strong to reaffirm their rightful position around the beacon, ensuring that any overtaking was done correctly via an outside course.
Ben Byrom and Simon Marley, otherwise known as Brewin Dolphin, were racing well until they clipped a turn buoy. Despite this minor setback, they managed to hold their position, securing second place behind current class leaders Ozannes.
BTS struggled to produce a good time after being forced to row without a skeg, which helped make their race all the more challenging. They finished fourth behind rivals P & O Cruisers leaving newcomers Ship & Crown settling for fifth place.
Men’s fours Nova again produced the fastest time of the day, with club captain Tim Prout standing in for Matt Harradine on this occasion.
Thames River produced a solid row, finishing in second position, but it was the battle for third place that caused spectators by the finish line almost to fall off Havelet wall with excitement.
The Close Fund’s Green Boat and MS Fitness Factory battled with one another for the majority of the race and there was barely a moment when bow and stern were not clashing together.
Close were expecting to race the much straighter course of Guernsey to Herm and as such had reduced the size of their rudder. With their manoeuvrability not as accurate as they would have liked and with a last-minute tangling with the BTS pairs, They found themselves trailing behind the MS Fitness Factory crew on the last leg of the course.
However it was not an easy leg home for the Fitness Factory as Close edged their way back into the race and pushed for the finish line with incredible determination.
In the end, a tough call was made by timekeepers and just a one-second margin was declared in favour of MS Fitness Factory.
Elsewhere in the men’s fours class, the White Hart had an eventful time when their bow rower came off his seat.
Unfortunately for them, this occurred right in the middle of a jostle with rivals Price-waterhouseCoopers who in turn held the advantage to secure sixth position.
Geomarine topped the women’s fours class with another excellent row.
Article posted on 26th May, 2007 - 12.00am
Loading ...
Most Commented: