Ryde Rowing Club competed successfully in the 1st Hants & Dorset Championship Regatta of the season at Milford-on-Sea on Saturday 29th April.
1st afloat for the Club was the J16 Coxed Quad, consisting of Joe Bird, Isaac Gibson, Charlie Watts, Lars Groothuis and Harry Watts coxing, and this was racing debut for Joe Bird and the young, 11-year-old cox, Harry Watts. The crew performed really well to finish a very close 2nd finishing just a canvas behind the winners.
Next afloat was the club’s mixed J14 Coxed Quad in a composite crew with Southsea, consisting of Ryde’s Mai MacKay, Lottie Roland and Joe Bird with a Southsea Junior and coxed by the experienced Joel Smith. This was the 1st race for Mai and Lottie, and they did really well to finish in 3rd place.
They were followed afloat by the club’s Ladies Coastal Junior Pair of Chloe Hughes and Stella Baisley, who were leading at the turn, but a mix-up allowed Poole to get ahead – but they still finished in a very credible 2nd place.
The Clubs Coastal Junior Coxed 4 of Matt Chalmers, Bradley Whiting, Will Hunt and Paddy Kearney, with Mai MacKay coxing, will be slightly disappointed with their 3rd place in the final – but Will and Paddy then went on to convincingly win the Men’s Coastal Junior Pairs event.
Finally, there was a fine performance by the young men’s Novice Four of Dan Sanderson, Isaac Gibson, Charlie Watts, Lars Groothuis, with Joe Bird coxing who, after finishing 2nd in their heat to gain a place in the final, which they won with comparative ease after a fine racing turn by cox Joe Bird.
