Dover Rowing Club’s Chris Hall and Tom Stothart were in a Championship row off decider for the Men’s Junior Pairs competition on Saturday at Deal. Since returning from University mid season the Dover boys have been battling the Perry-French twins, Lewis and Bradley, from Herne Bay for the title. The two crews have maintained a good sporting relationship through the competition this season.

The twins got the better start and the Dover crew set about chasing them down. At the buoys the Dover crew’s better course had given them a couple of lengths lead. The gap closed on the return leg and lead alternated with every stroke, one crew in front of the other. At the line it came down to who took the last stroke to drive them forward and sadly for Dover it was Herne Bay who took the win by less than a canvas at the line. Hall and Stothart would like to congratulate the Perry-French twins and also thank the club members and officers who have supported them this year.
It has been an excellent season overall for Dover RC with 15 wins coming from 8 crews across all competitions leading to 5 boats gaining promotion.
Anyone interested in learning to row, or returning to rowing, should contact the club via the website or Facebook page.

Dover’s Novice Fours crews gained promotion to the Junior ranks at the Worthing Regatta weekend. The Men’s Novice crew of Cameron Mackintosh, Nathan Peach, Matt Barnett, Jon Cook coxed by Rebecca Stothart got a great start and gained a length on the other crews. Driving on they extended their lead at the turn pulling away from the Worthing crew on the return leg to secure their progression to Junior status. The crew also competed in the Men’s Junior Fours races coming home in 5th place place both days. The Ladies Novice Fours of Emma Spanton, Brogan Day, Kate Day, Ella Day coxed by Tony Burrows were quick off the line and were neck and neck with Southsea as they headed up the course. Southsea gradually pulled clear and were able to hold Dover off at the finish. Day 2 saw the same crew with a last minute cox change of Emma Oliver in for Burrows. Another good start saw the Dover crew pulling away from Shoreham on the inside. Oliver kept a consistent line to the turn before steering her crew more inshore. The Novice’s drove on gaining a larger lead to take their 2nd win for the Day family.

On Saturday the Men’s Junior pair of Chris Hall and Tom Stothart got a good start and set about chasing down the fast starting Herne Bay crew. They overhauled them before the buoy and a sharp turn saw them move a few lengths clear. They gradually extended their lead to take their 4th successive win. Day 2 saw Herne Bay lead to the turn were Dover were affected by the wash from a passing boat dropping them further behind. Unable to catch Herne Bay they came home in 3rd. Hall and T Stothart will now have to row off for with Herne Bay to decide the championship.

The Men’s Junior Sculls saw Hall, Peach and T Stothart compete. Hall and Peach comfortably qualified for the finals both days with T Stothart only making the final on Day 2. Hall and Peach both started well in the first final fighting with the leading boats up to the turn. Both scullers were dropped on the way home with Hall finishing 3rd and Peach 4th. On Day 2 and in worse conditions Hall came home 4th, Peach 5th and Stothart 7th.

In the age group races the J16 Ladies Quad Sculls crew of Oliver, Spanton, Morgan Evans, E Day coxed by Jo Johnston battled hard to secure second place. Day 2 saw a nasty incident where Oliver was hit in the face and a rigger was bent. Despite being reduced to 3 rowers the Dover youngsters held off the home crew to take 3rd. The J16 Men Quad Sculls of Sebastian Steele, Jasper Mallet, Peach, George Newman coxed by Oliver were competing well for a top two place until a heavy ‘crab’ saw one of the blades jump out of its gate dropping the young crew to 3rd. On Day 2 R. Stothart replaced Steele. A clean row saw the young crew improved to 2nd at the line. Mallet also finished 2nd in a Worthing composite in the J14 Quad race.

The Ladies Double Sculls saw Dover enter 3 crews on Day 1; Johnston / R. Stothart, Maria West-Burrows / Oliver, E Day / Spanton. The Johnston boat had the better start and were in the leading group, whilst West-Burrows and Day boats were a little behind. A good turn had Johnston boat in 4th place and hunting for 3rd but they were unable to improve their position at the line. West-Burrows boat came in 5th place and Day’s 7th. West-Burrows / R. Stothart completed the race on day two in difficult conditions coming home 4th

Men’s Novice Sculls saw Newman progress through his heat showing how much the youngster had improved since coming to the club whilst Mackintosh just missed out. In the final Newman struggled at the turn which saw him drop down to 7th. On Day 2 Newman qualified comfortably whilst Mackintosh also qualified despite a capsize at the turn. Mackintosh got a fantastic start and was leading for the first 500m. After the turn he had dropped back, coming home in 4th place whilst Newman was again 7th.
The Ladies Junior Fours of West-Burrows, B Day, K Day, E Day coxed by Oliver had a good start but were unable to stay with the stronger crews after the turn coming home 5th.

The Ladies Open Sculls saw Johnston cope well in an eventful race to come home 5th on Day 1 and 6th on Day 2. Johnston and West-Burrows competed in the Ladies Senior Pairs coming in 7th.
In the trial event, Men’s Quad, the crew featuring Newman, T Stothart, Cook, Mackintosh coxed by R Stothart finished 3rd.

Dover Rowing Club’s Tom Stothart and Chris Hall continued their winning ways at Deal Regatta securing their 3rd consecutive win in the Men’s Junior Pairs. The pair moved into 2nd off the line chasing the fast starting Herne Bay crew. Coming out of the first turn in close 2nd before rowing through their opponents by the half way point. At the 2nd turn the Dover boys had eased out to a three length lead which they maintained to the line. The win and other results helped Dover secure 2nd place in the Junior Aggregate competition.

The two Novice fours races saw strong performances from Dover’s crews. The Men’s team of George Newman, Matt Barnett, Nathan Peach, Cameron Mackintosh coxed by Rebecca Stothart found themselves chasing Southsea on the 1st leg and were forced to follow them round the 1st buoy. Trailing by a few lengths coming to the 2nd buoy the crew executed a fantastic turn to close the gap. Raising their stroke rate they closed to overlap but run out of water as they were charging towards the line taking 2nd in one of the tightest races of the day. Sebastian Steel came home 3rd as the bow man in a Herne Bay crew. Dover had two crews in the Ladies event Emma Spanton, Brogan Day, Kate Day, Ella Day, coxed by Tony Burrows and Chantel Mayes, Rosie Thorp, Izzy Godden, Hannah Power coxed by Mackintosh. The Day crew had the better start and were battling for 1st at the turn slotting into 2nd on the run to the 2nd turn. The hard push from the turn saw them close to gap but Southsea were able to hold on. Mayes crew had a good race coming in 5th collecting points for the club.

In the Men’s Junior Sculls Hall, Peach, Chris Price and T Stothart competed in the heats with Hall and Peach progressing to the final. A strong final saw Hall and Peach in a four way battle with the Herne Bay scullers at the first turn. Hall was holding 2nd on the return run and Peach in 4th. Herne Bay took control through the 2nd turn leaving Hall 3rd and Peach in 4th.

The J16 Quad Sculls saw the Ladies crew of Mayes, Godden, SJ Bamfield and Spanton coxed by Jo Johnston having a good start before dropping back to 3rd on the run to the line. The Men’s crew of Steele, R Stothart, Peach, Newman coxed by Mackintosh were 3rd off the line and were unable to close down the leading crews on the shorter course.

Dover had 3 crews in the Ladies Double Sculls, Johnston / R Stothart, Maria West-Burrows / Thorp and Spanton / E Day. Johnston’s crew got the better start reaching the turn in a battle for 3rd on the return leg they fell to 4th which they held to the finish. The West- Burrows and the new pairing of the Spanton crew were neck and neck for the last points place with West- Burrows taking 6th and Spanton 7th.

Nick Bailey came in 5th in a Herne Bay composite Masters 50+ and 6th with Paul Scrivener coxed by R Stothart in a 2nd composite in the Masters 40+.

There were mixed results in the remaining Sculls races with Johnston coming home 6th in the Ladies Sculls, Bailey was 9th in the Men’s Senior Sculls. Mackintosh, Newman and Scrivener narrowly missed qualifying for the Novice Sculls final.
Ladies Senior Pairs crew of Johnston and West-Burrows came home in 7th.