Ryde Rowing Club, sponsored by Wightlink Ferries, completed the 2014 Coastal Season on a high on Saturday with two wins in the Open Events at the 2014 South Coast Rowing Championship Regatta held at Swanage in Dorset – although their was disappointment for their Men’s Junior Senior Crew in their Championship event.
The Junior Senior Crew of Stephen Johnson, Adam Edwards, Ollie Gove and James Cleary with Sam Brading coxing had already been confirmed as the Hants & Dorset ARA Champions heading into the weekend and were selected to represent the Association in the Championship event, but they were never entirely comfortable in the difficult conditions and failed to settle into their usual rhythm finishing in 3rd place – a disappointment after such a successful season.
However, the Clubs entries in the Open events met with some success especially from the Men’s Senior Four of Mick Jenner, Nick Pike, Ben Ade and Sam Cocker with Jodie Cocker coxing, who took an early lead in their final – which they never looked like loosing – eventually winning by several lengths. Their was a similar margin of victory for the Ladies Senior Open crew of Steph Kissick, Jodie Cocker, Lou Maidment and Maddie Dunn with young Matt Brading coxing – all the more impressive as Steph is still a Novice and Jodie only a Junior Oarswomen – unlike the Men’s Senior Crew who were all previous Senior Champions.
There were further strong performances from the Clubs other open entries – the Men’s Junior Four of Calum Lockhart, Sam Brading, James Smith and Will Ford – with Matt Brading coxing once again – raced well within themselves to qualify for final where they finished in 4th place – a strong performance from a crew that only gained promotion to this status at the end of the season.
The Men’s Novice A crew of Tom Kearney, Steven Soal, Jacob Redstone and Joe Groves with another young Ryde coxswain – Paddy Kearney steering did exceptionally well to reach their final where the finished in 6th place – while the Novice B Crew of Ben Toms, Dom Douglas, Joel Smith and Matt Jeacock with Austin Smith coxing also had a good row but just failed to make the final.
These two Men’s Novice Crews were scheduled to compete again in the Junior Regatta on the Sunday in a variety of boats – but the forecast of wind in excess of 26 mph correctly lead to the organisers cancelling this Regatta and in attempt to make the most of Saturdays marginally better conditions they switched the J16 Coxed Quads to the Saturday – racing after the conclusion of the Championship and Open events.
As a result the Clubs Novices squad, who are all actually J15 oarsman, took to the water once again to compete in the Boys J16 Coxed Quad event but in slightly different formats. The A Crew of Jacob Redstone, Dom Douglas, Joel Smith and Joe Groves with Austin Smith coxing comfortably qualified for the final, where in a freak incident they were hit by a rogue wave causing a rigger to bend leading to the crew needing assistance from a safety boat, which had to remove a set of sculls to allow the crew to proceed to the finish and complete the race, all be it in last place. The B Crew of Ben Toms, Steven Soal, Tom Kearney and Matt Jeacock with Paddy Kearney coxing had just failed to make the final.
Photographed L-R: Back – Maddie Dunn, Steph Kissick, Micky Jenner, Nick Pike, Ben Ade and Sam Cocker. Front – Coxswains – Matt Brading and Jodie Cocker – and Lou Maidment.
