Dover Rowing Club had a winning start to the Regatta held at Deal this weekend, when the J16 quad sculls crew of Bo Corby, Sebastian Steele, James Hale, Jasper Mallet, coxed by Tony Burrows got a great start in this 800m straight sprint race. The young crew pulled clear of the field steadily increasing their lead through to the finish line. Steele, Hale and Mallet would be joined by Sam Pile in the Men’s Novice Fours, again coxed by Burrows, where they would compete against Dover’s second crew Kevin Ulyatt, Matthew Neil, Eddie Briggs, Adrian Calland, coxed by Marianne from Folkestone RC. The younger crew charged off the line establishing an immediate lead and taking the first turn with a substantial lead. As they rowed to the second turn, Dover’s second crew battled up to fourth. The crews would pass each other after the second turn as the Steele, Hale, Mallet and Pile headed home to take their second win of the day. K Ulyatt, Neil, Briggs, Calland held onto their fourth place to the line.
Steele, Hale, Mallet and Pile coxed by Burrows then moved up a division to compete in Men’s Junior 4’s competing against Dover’s A crew of K Ulyatt, Matt Barnett, Calland and Jon Cook coxed by Chris Price. The young crew had another good start and were first to turn with Folkestone close behind. It looked like a third win was on the cards as the Dover’s crew came past the clubhouse, before disaster struck with a blade (oar) catching in the waves and getting dragged under the boat. As the crew regained control of the blade, they restarted now pursuing the Folkestone crew who had passed them. They were unable to catch them finishing second. The result clearly showing the strength of this crew. Dover’s A crew came home in third place.
J14 crew of George Martin, Alex McArdle, Josh Grassby, Beau Everington-Nee coxed by Burrows had a good race showing improvement from their first race as they chased Bexhill’s crew down the 800m course coming home in second.
Ladies Junior 4’s of Emmeline McArdle, Canelle Ulyatt, Maria West-Burrows, Krista Davis coxed by Burrows were Dover’s highest placed woman’s crew after fighting hard to move into third approaching second turn. They had to battle Bexhill all the way to secure third place at the line. In the Ladies Senior 4 Ruby Cockerell, Lorna Pile, West-Burrows, Davis coxed by Tyler Amos from Deal RC performed well as the crew was made up of Junior and Novice rowers. A good turn saw the crew move to fourth which they managed to hold through to the line. West-Burrows would join Barnett, Briggs, Cook coxed by Burrows in the Masters 40+. They were in the middle of the field from the start pulling clear after the turn and moving up to fourth on the run to the second buoy turn. They moved into a neck and neck race with Deal taking third place on the line.
The Novice ladies four of Marie Cockerell, Davis, Heather Corby, L Pile coxed by Burrows were in a tight race at the first turn before gaining clear water. The inexperienced crew pushed hard on the long run from the pier confirming a fifth place points finish.
