It was a winning return to competition for Dover Rowing Club as they took two wins in the first CARA regatta of the season, held at Folkestone. The Men’s Novice Four of Sebastian Steele, Sam Pile, James Hale, Jasper Mallet coxed by Emma Oliver got a great start and established a good early lead. After the buoy turn, the lead had grown to over 100m and the crew would continue to pull away as the charged to the line for a comfortable win. The second Novice crew of Kevin and Brendon Ulyatt, Eddie Briggs and Adrian Calland coxed by Cameron Mackintosh were swamped at the turn and were unable to finish.

Steele, Hale and Mallet were joined by Bo Corby in the J16 Men’s Quad with Oliver at Cox. In the shorter 1km race the young crew ground out a lead over the first half of the race to see them go over the line in first place. In the J14 Men’s Quad B Corby was joined by Josh Everington-Nee, Beau Grassby and Alex McArdle coxed by Oliver. They worked hard to chase down their rival crew in the straight 1km race and came home in second.

The Men’s Junior Fours saw Cameron Mackintosh, Matt Barnett, Eddie Briggs, Jon Cook coxed by Tony Burrows, recovering from a bad start to move into a clear second at the turn. On the run home they were unable to close down the leading crew coming in second. The Ladies Junior Fours of Maria West-Burrows, Canelle Ulyatt, Heather Corby, Krista Davis coxed by Oliver would be up against it as the crew three of the crew were novices in their first race. The crew got off to a good start and were moving well. By the turns the stronger opponents had moved clear leaving Dover’s crew still in the points coming home in sixth.
In the Ladies Novice Fours race new rowers H. Corby, C. Ulyatt, Emeline McArdle and K. Davis coxed by Chris Price worked hard as they gained vital experience. The crew pushed hard and were able to secure a point coming home sixth.

In the Veteran races K. Ulyatt, M. Barnett, E. Briggs, J. Cook coxed by Oliver raced in the Vet 40 plus. A bad start left them in a hole chasing the field working hard to close the gap. The veterans turned in 5th and were unable to improve their place when they crossed the line. Nick Bailey came home 4th in the Veteran 50 plus whilst racing in a scratch crew made up of 4 different clubs.

In the Novice Sculls C. Mackintosh toiled in vain trying to take points for the club coming home in 8th place.