Dover Rowing Club had a successful weekend at Eastbourne and Bexhill with wins in the Open Senior Fours and the Open Junior Sculls. The crew of Jasper Mallet, Will Coleman, Chris Hall, Tom Stothart coxed by Vanessa Ware had a powerful start at Eastbourne and were able to ease away from the rest of the field. An excellent turn saw the gap widen over their opposition and Ware drove her crew on as they opened up a large lead securing an impressive win. Bexhill regatta proved more challenging for Dover’s crew as a tight race developed with Deal. Rounding the buoy turns the crews remained close with no clear leader. On the race to the line, Dover just missed out by a narrow margin. The results mean that Dover can level the number of wins with Deal next week but would lose the CARA title on count back, they have however qualified for the Championship race in the South Coast Championship in Plymouth.
The friendly rivalry between Mallet and Hall which has secured the Junior Sculls CARA title for Dover made for a exciting race, with the fast starting Mallet taking the lead off the line at Eastbourne. Working hard he maintained his lead through the turn but was gradually hunted down by Hall who would row through him taking the lead with around 500m to go. At the line it was Hall followed by Mallet in Dover’s one / two punch. It was a similar start at Bexhill with Mallet ahead of Hall but Hall had the better of things through the turn and moved a way from his teammate who was now battling for second with Shoreham. Hall took the win with Mallet coming home third.
Woman’s Junior Four crew of Ella Cook, Rosie Crosbie, Holly Hannington, Emily Harvey coxed Ware started well at Eastbourne and were locked in a battle with Shoreham for the lead. Through the turn Shoreham maintained a lead over Dover’s crew who pushed hard but had to settle for second at the line. Dover’s B crew were novices Alex Henchy, Antya Markin, Lucy Castree, Lily Stafford-Edwards coxed by Mallet came home in twelfth. At Bexhill Crosbie, Leggatt, Hannington, Harvey coxed by Ware had a good battle with Bexhill for second with the local crew taking the honours at the line.
The J16 Girls Quad of Holly Young, Hollie Castree, Rhiannon Castree, Cook coxed by Ware performed well in the straight 1000m race at Eastbourne. In a good field Dover’s young crew came home in fourth. At Bexhill a better start had the youngsters fighting for first place as they battled the other leading crews. A strong push moved Dover’s crew into second place, a position they held to the finish. Erin Sanders in a Shoreham crew finished in seventh.
Open J16 at Bexhill had Ella Cook, Henry Cox, Sonny Varnes-Stone , Jack Castree coxed by Ware. The crew had a solid start and built momentum which saw them move into second, pushing hard they were unable to catch the leading boat at the line.
Woman’s Novice Sculls saw Harvey and Leggatt competing. Leggatt got the better start and was hunting for the lead following recent second place finishes. Leggatt was second through the turn with Harvey in eleventh. At Bexhill, on the run home Leggatt couldn’t catch the lead boat securing her third second place with Harvey finishing twelfth.
Hall and Stothart entered the Open Senior Pairs for the first time this year. Starting well they fell behind the lead crews on the outward leg turning in third. On the run to the line they were unable to pass the second place Shoreham crew.
Hannington and Harvey raced in the Woman’s Junior Pairs at Eastbourne. The pairing had a steady start and where initially in the mix for second but lost ground at the turn. On the push home they fell back to fourth at the line.
Open Double Sculls had two Dover crews Hall and Varnes-Stone completing against Stothart and Cook. Hall’s boat got the better start and were in the mix on the outward leg with Stothart a little further back. Hall and Varnes-Stone were unable to pick off the leading crews finishing in fourth and Stothart and Cook finishing in seventh.
In the Open Junior Fours Varnes-Stone, Cox, J Castree, Crosbie coxed by Mallet raced. They were amongst the leaders off the line and were battling for second place at the turn, on the run to the line they would finish fourth.
Open Novice Fours at Bexhill had Varnes-Stone, Cox, J Castree, Paul Scholes coxed by Ware racing. A slower start saw the crew chasing the field working hard moving to fifth at the turn and maintaining this place at the finish.
Stothart competed in the Senior Sculls event at Eastbourne and had a tough run where he was unable to hold onto the leading boats in the conditions, finishing in fifth. At Bexhill Stothart would finish sixth.
Woman’s Novice Four of Henchy, Markin, Castree, Stafford-Edwards coxed by Ware had a good start in the heats and were just behind the leading crews fighting for third. Through the turn they moved into a clear third place and held that position to the finish. The final would see them in a more difficult field coming in sixth. In a straight final at Bexhill the Novices crew, with R Castree replacing Markin finished eighth.
In the Woman’s Double Sculls Harvey and H Castree would finish seventh.

Dover Rowing Club had a successful weekend at Herne Bay and Folkestone Regattas where DRC secured 4 wins and one CARA Championship. The first win saw Ella Cook, Holly Hannington, Nikki Leggatt, Emily Harvey coxed by Vanessa Ware compete against a second Dover crew of Lily Stafford-Edwards, Zara White, Rhiannon Castree, Janice Bradford coxed by Lee Stampton in the Woman’s Junior four. Ware’s crew got a fantastic start and were able to move ahead of the field. An excellent turn further enhanced their lead which stretched to a commanding multi length as the crew took the easy win. Stampton’s crew of novice rowers acquitted themselves well at the higher level just missing out on points in eighth place. At Folkestone, Dover entered one boat and Bradford replaced E Cook in Ware’s crew. They came home in third place.
Jasper Mallet competed in the Open Junior Sculls at both regattas. Drawn in an unfavoured outside lane at Herne Bay, he started well and worked hard to overcome the disadvantage. Through the turn Mallet was in third but quickly moved into second and started to close on the leading sculler. Sprinting hard he came up short by a couple of inches. Folkestone was a different story, Mallet flew off the line and was in control from the off. He navigated the turn and comfortably held off the Eastbourne Sculler to take his third win of the season. The result secured DRC the CARA Junior Sculls Championship when combined with teammate Chris Hall’s two previous wins.

Open Novice Four saw Sonny Varnes-Stone, Jack Castree, Oliver White, Paul Scoles coxed by Nick Bailey have a steady start into the middle of the field going to the turns. They would eventually come home fifth. At Folkestone Henry Cox replaced Scoles and Ware coxed the crew, which consisted of the Open J16 crew that had finished second in the earlier Quad Sculls event. The young crew charged off the start in the Novice race and were immediately ahead of their rivals, dominating the race they led through the turns. On the return leg the crew continued to extend their lead resulting in a comfortable multi length win. A second Dover crew of Alex Henchy, Steve Bradford, Paul Scoles and Alex Sutherland coxed by Stampton came home seventh. Varnes-Stone, J Castree, O White were joined by E Cook in the Open Junior Four coxed by Bailey finishing eighth.
Woman’s Novice Four saw two crews compete at Herne Bay; Stafford-Edwards, Z White, R Castree, Henchy coxed by Ware and J Bradford, Lucy Castree, Antya Markin, Debbie Thomas coxed by Stampton. Both crews performed well with Ware’s crew finishing fourth and Stampton’s coming home in ninth. At Folkestone J Bradford replaced Stafford-Edwards in Ware’s crew whilst Stampton coxed a crew of Jo Matcham, Thomas, L Castree, Louise Fitzsimmons. Ware’s crew started well and slowly moved into the lead. A sharp turn saw them pull clear of the chasing crews and they drove hard all the way to the line taking the win. Stampton’s crew would finish ninth after a steady performance.
The Novice wins were family affairs as mother and son combination of Z White and O White were joined by siblings J Castree and R Castree in taking the top spots.
Leggatt continued her improvement in the Woman’s Novice Sculls. In the Herne Bay event she had a good start and was well placed. Safely navigating her turn Leggatt was pushing the Herne Bay Sculler over the last 200m but was unable to take the win finishing a close second. The pattern was repeated at Folkestone where Leggatt was chasing down a Shoreham sculler only to miss out on the win by less than a canvas at the finish.
Mallet was joined by Will Coleman in the Open Senior Pairs. Starting well Dover’s pair found themselves chasing the Deal crew. Through the turn Dover’s pair couldn’t close the gap, only beginning to catch Deal in the later stage of the race. They ran out of water coming home second. At Folkestone there was a three way battle for the lead but over the course the Dover pair couldn’t overcome their opponents finishing third.
In the Open Senior Fours in Herne Bay Jon Cook, Coleman, Mallet, Tom Stothart coxed by Ware started well but couldn’t hold onto the two lead crews from Herne Bay and Deal. Despite a good turn, Ware’s crew remained comfortably in third, unable to reel in the leading crews at the line. At Folkestone the venerable Bailey, who at 70 is mixing with top tier coastal rowing, replaced Cook. The crew had a good start but again found themselves dropping to third as they came out of their turn. Closing on the second place Shoreham crew they were not able to come through again finishing in third place.
J16 Woman’s crew of R Castree, E Cook, Hollie Castree, Holly Young coxed by Stampton finished third at Herne Bay, with H Castree securing second in the J14 with Shoreham only missing out on the win at the line. In Folkestone Holly Dunham replaced E Cook in a crew coxed by Ware and they finished fourth. In Folkestone H Castree, Young, Dunham with Alex from Herne Bay coxed by Stampton finished third. Open J16 had H Castree, O White, J Castree, Varnes-Stone coxed by Stampton finish third in their race at Herne Bay.
Stothart competed in the Open Senior Sculls finishing fourth at Herne Bay and third at Folkestone.
Woman’s 40+ had J Bradford, Debbie Thomas, Z White, Leggatt coxed by Stampton finish in a strong fourth place, a performance they would repeat at Folkestone. In the Open 40+ at Herne Bay, S Bradford, Scoles, Markin, J Cook where coxed by Mallet to fifth place.
Leggatt and Hannington competed in the Woman’s Junior Pairs at Herne Bay and Folkestone finishing fifth and sixth respectively.
Stothart and Varnes-Stone finished fourth at Herne Bay and Stothart would repeat the performance with J Castree at Folkestone. Varnes-Stone joined Cox at Folkestone finishing ninth in a promising row from young pairing.
The Woman’s Double Scull races Harvey and Young finished sixth at both regattas, with Z White and R Castree finishing seventh and fifth with Leggatt and H Castree coming home eight at Folkestone.

Rough conditions met crews racing at Deal with the Novice Woman’s four getting the worst with the addition of torrential rain. Dover’s crews were Ella Cook, Lily Stafford-Edwards, Zara White, Emily Harvey coxed by Vanessa Ware, and Antya Markin, Lucy Castree, Rhiannon Castree, Evie Holland coxed by Lee Stampton. Ware’s crew had the better start and were leading through the first turn. A three way battle developed down the charge to the second turn with them falling to third. However, a great turn and hard push saw Dover roar to the line, rowing through both the leading crews, to take the win by over a length. Stampton’s crew put in a solid performance in a large field coming home twelfth.

The Open Senior Four saw a Deal heavy entry to compete against the Dover crew fresh from winning at Hastings last week. Jasper Mallet, Will Coleman, Chris Hall, Tom Stothart, with Ware coxing, got a great start and were initially neck and neck with a Deal crew heading to the first turn. Entering the turn first Dover’s crew opened a gap over Deal and led the field to the second turn. Another great turn and a big push carried Dover through the chasing pack leaving them with a comfortable lead at line.
Open Junior Sculls saw Hall and Mallet competing. Mallet had an excellent start and took the initial lead. Hall’s steady start saw him build speed as he moved to the first turn where he took the lead. Rowing long and steady Hall increased his lead ahead of a three way battle for second which saw Mallet fighting hard. After a good second turn, and a moment to sight a clear path to the finishing line, Hall came in for an easy win. Mallet would come home in fourth.
Woman’s Junior Four of E Cook, Nikki Leggatt, Holly Hannington, Harvey coxed by Ware were competing with Janice Bradford, Holland, Z White, Stafford-Edwards coxed by Stampton. From the start Ware’s crew were battling Shoreham’s A crew for the lead, with Stampton’s fighting for points. Through the first turn Ware’s crew were a little behind the leading Shoreham. Moving through the second turn close on the tail of Shoreham, Dover were forced wide by another Shoreham crew costing them the chance of the win. Stampton’s crew came home in eighth.
The Woman’s and Open Pair races had good performances from both crews with Hannington and Leggatt putting in a strong row. Overcoming an early collision with an errant Eastbourne crew, they competed hard to the second turn, but were unable to improve on third. New pairing of Cameron Mackintosh and Jack Castree had a great first race also overcoming a brief collision to close down on the leading crews. Finding real speed, which indicates a strong future, until a couple of deep strokes disrupted their progress. Closing hard on Eastbourne heading for the line they finished fourth.
Under 16 girls race saw Holly Young, R Castree, Hollie Castree, E Cook coxed by Stampton securing a good third place whilst Jess Clements came home fourth with a Herne Bay crew.
Leggatt had another good performance in the Novice Woman’s Sculls securing third place as did the pairing of Coleman and Mallet in the Open Senior Pair.
Masters 40+ of Jon Cook, Steve Bradford, John Castree, Paul Scoles coxed by Stampton would also finish third. Masters 50+ saw Jon Cook, Stampton, Nick Bailey, Roy from Herne Bay coxed by Mallet take Fourth. Masters Womans 40+, J Bradford, Markin, Z White, Leggatt coxed by Stampton finished fourth.
Open Senior Sculls saw Stothart finish fourth.
Open U16 had Riley Danko, Oliver White, Henry Cox, Jack Castree coxed by Ware come fourth after a tight fight with Shoreham. In the open U14 Danko, Jess Clements, Holly Young, Holly Dunham coxed by Stampton were eighth.
E Cook and Harvey took sixth in the Woman’s Double Sculls.
Open Novice Four crew of Jack and John Castree, Cox, O. White coxed by Stampton finished seventh whilst Scoles was eighth with Shoreham.
Bailey coxed Open Junior Fours of O White, Jack Castree, Cox and Mackintosh to tenth place.