The weekend saw Dover Rowing Club in action in Shoreham and Brighton Regattas. The opening event for both days was the Ladies J16 Quad Sculls with Taylor Warren, Antonia Reed, Megan Barter, Mary Newcombe coxed by Lizzie Foley at Shoreham and Tony Burrows at Brighton. In the 1st race the Astor girls started in heavy rain and were quickly in their flow pursuing Shoreham A down the course. The girl’s crew successfully held off a late charge to secure a brilliant 2nd place. On the 2nd day the young crew could only manage a disappointing 4th. Chris Hall’s performances in the Senior Sculls showed a degree of consistency finishing 5th and 6th on consecutive days in the top sculls event. In the Ladies Senior Pairs Final Maria West-Burrows and Jo Johnston had to fight hard on the 1st day after finding themselves well down the field at the turn. A determined effort saw the pair fight their way through the pack to secure 5th place, the same position they achieved on day two. The Junior Sculls race saw Hall and Chris Price in action on day one. Hall turned 3rd and maintained a lead over Price who was battling for 4th with a Herne Bay Sculler who was far out to sea with Price eventually finishing 5th. The 2nd day saw Hall as the lone entry. Congestion at the inside buoys led to him missing his intended turn leaving him down the field. Hall raced hard and fought off a Shoreham rower in a sprint finish to secure 5th. Ladies Junior 4’s of Foley, Amy Lewington, West-Burrows, Petra Matthews Crow coxed by Johnston had difficulty maintaining contact with the lead crews from the start. Establishing themselves in 4th place at the turns, a position they maintained to the finish. The Men’s Novice Sculls saw Dover sculler Burrows, Tom Stothart and Cameron Mackintosh struggling to gain points finishes. Burrows managed the only points with 5th and 8th leaving him the lead novice sculler with Stothart 7th and 11th and Mackintosh 10th and 12th. The Novice Ladies saw the debut of Claire Beaumont, with Lewington, Reed, Newcombe coxed by Foley. Barter subbed into a Herne Bay Crew for the event. Within 200 metres of the start Beaumont caught a crab slowing the boat, her quick recovery given her lack experience was excellent. Dover and Herne Bay turned in the top three and raced hard down the return leg with Barter’s crew pulling ahead only to lose out to the Deal crew on the line with the all Dover crew 3rd. Race day 2 saw Barter’s crew in 3rd and the Dover crew in 4th. Foley received the coxswain of the day award for her performance. Men’s Junior Pairs saw only Stothart and Mackintosh compete on day one finishing 11th. Day Two saw Hall and Austin Mills work hard to secure a point for 6th place in a competitive field whilst Stothart and Mackintosh improved to 10th after the event was re-run. Men’s Novice 4’s saw a great improvement from Andrew Bottali, Mills, Stothart, Mackintosh coxed by Hall on day 1 as the crew were leading at the turn but were eventually overhauled at 1500 metres to finish 2nd securing their first trophies. Day 2 the crew could only finish 4th with the effects of the earlier pairs re-run affecting their performance. Dover had two crews in the Ladies Double Sculls, Barter, West-Burrows and Johnston, Reed. Both crews showed consistent performances with Johnston, Reed taking 6th and Barter, West-Burrows taking 7th on day one and day two seeing a reverse of the result; Barter, West-Burrows taking the last points place in the more difficult conditions. The last race of both events was the Ladies Single Sculls where Johnston and Foley did battle for Dover. On day one Johnston could not compete with a Worthing rower having to settle for 2nd with Foley 5th. Day 2 saw Johnston take the initial lead only for her nemesis from Worthing to pass her at around 600 metres. Johnston’s pursuit paid off as she nailed her turn whilst her opponent initially missed her buoy leaving Johnston several lengths ahead. With the chase now on Johnston was hopeful of victory and managed to hold off the younger opponent until the last 50 metres finishing 2nd overall, with Foley securing 3rd to finish the day.