Shoreham, Eastbourne, Bexhill and Hastings rowers savour season’s first regatta

A dozen south coast clubs – from Poole in Dorset to Herne Bay in Kent - descended on a sunny Shoreham Beach to compete in over 20 races on the open water.

With the first regatta of the season offering teams a chance to size up the competition for the coming summer season, excitement was riding high.

And Shoreham’s youngest members didn’t disappoint. They got the day off to a sizzling start, with a clean sweep of the three children’s races; the J14 mixed quad sculls, J16 women’s and J16 men’s quad sculls.

The club’s women put on an impressive show of strength, taking first place in the women's double sculls and women senior pairs while taking both first and second spots in the women's junior four.

Shoreham also pulled off an audacious win in the master 40s race, beating a field of all-male crews with a mixed boat of women and men.

Meanwhile, the club’s men rowed to a strong victory in the junior/senior fours event, while Shoreham captured seven second places too.

The day’s outstanding performance secured Shoreham the overall regatta win, taking the Grand Aggregate trophy with a total of 49 points. Deal Rowing Club were second with 33 points.Shoreham Rowing Club chairman Ollie Lawrence said: "Shoreham has hosted its annual rowing regatta for over 150 years. We couldn't do it without the support of local residents and the wider community, who came out in force to spectate on the day. We hope they might even have beeninspired to give coastal rowing a go themselves!”

Adam Bates, President of the Coast Amateur Rowing Association, said: "It was great to see so many clubs travel to Shoreham Regatta for a fantastic event held on the sunniest day of the year. We saw 10 clubs winning events at the start of what promises to be an exciting summer of racing.”The next regatta of the season takes place in Worthing this Saturday, when another big turnout is expected.

Find out more about the club at www.shorehamrowingclub.co.uk

EASTBOURNE

The 2024 CARA rowing season kicked off in style in glorious sunshine at Shoreham Regatta – and Eastbourne Rowing Club took 23 competitors to the event.

Many of them were competing in their first regatta as the growth of Eastbourne’s oldest sports club continues, driven by the demand and support of the local community.

Both Eastbourne women's and men's crews represented the town with pride.

The Women's Four's crew of Tabitha McConnell, Koral-Lee Prodger, Mia Webb and Andrea Faulkner finishing first by three lengths, and Jon Osborn also winning the Junior Sculls Event.

The Men's Pair of Phil Grove and Gary Hammond recovered from a coming together with another boat to finish second.

Eastbourne provided representation across the majority of the 24 events on the day including floating three novice boats in the men's category, two boats in the novice women's event as well as Master 40+, and 50+ categories.

This provided invaluable time on the water experiencing racing conditions for all competitors.

The next regatta is at Worthing Coastal Rowing Club tomorrow.

Eastbourne Rowing Club is a club with community at the heart of its ethos aiming to involve anyone (experienced or new to the sport) who walks through its doors.

The club welcomes new members of all ages and abilities from juniors aged 14+ onwards.

The club offers training plans focused on improving fitness, strength, and flexibility, allowing members to progress at their own pace and ability.

Those interested in learning a new skill or increasing their fitness in an encouraging and inclusive environment, should contact [email protected]

The Eastbourne Annual Rowing Regatta is on Saturday, June 8.

Any generous local businesses or individuals looking to support the event should contact [email protected]

BEXHILL

Bexhill Rowing Club travelled to Shoreham for the first regatta of the season.

Choppy sea made the conditions challenging especially for the those rowing their first race. Bexhill secured two wins along with two seconds and multiple points scoring positions.

Win number one came in the Men’s Novice fours where Rowan Heynes in his first ever race teamed up with Herbie Molton, Chris Botha, Seb Ward and cox Darren Mitchell to lead from start to finish in a dominant display.

The second win came in the Men’s Junior fours where Seb Ward, Herbie Molton, Chris Botha teamed up with Byron Cramp and cox Phil McCorry. Whilst other around them had trouble at the halfway turns the crew came away victorious. Chris Botha and Byron Cramp went on to team up in the Men’s Junior Pairs to finish third.

Bexhill’s first of two second places came from the Boys Junior under 16 quad fours. Lorcan Hennessy and Noah Landau in their first ever race teamed up with Digby Cramp, Seb Ward and Cox Darren Mitchell. In choppy conditions this was a great first race together.

Bexhill’s next second place came courtesy of Nick McCorry in the Men’s Junior sculls. Nick was always up near the front and managed to go from third to second in the last 20 strokes.

In the Men’s Senior sculls it was a close fought inter club battle between Doug Holdaway and Phil McCorry with Holdaway finishing in third with McCorry only feet behind in fourth providing good points for the league.

In the Men’s Senior pairs Doug Holdaway and Nick McCorry were fourth.

And Bexhill’s last result came in the Ladies Novice fours. The crew of Lizzie Pannell, Amberley Connor and Sarah Reader in their first ever race teamed up with Emily Singh and Cox Darren Mitchell to come home in fifth place.

Bexhill also picked up the Junior Aggregate cup.

HASTINGS

Hastings Rowing Club also had success at Shoreham.

The first win for singl e sculler Cami was in Craig Richard, the commemorative boat of past Captain Craig Golding. The new m e n's novice crew romped home to take second place in t h eir first regatta under new c a ptai n Vicky Kidd.