Dover Rowing Club hosted their home regatta at the weekend where they secured four wins and some close second places. The first win of the day came from Tom Stothart in the Open Senior Sculls competing against his teammate Jasper Mallet. Both scullers started well with Stothart moving into second place behind a Deal competitor. Deal led through the turn with Stothart in close pursuit and Mallet not far behind in fourth. On the run home Stothart accelerated closing on Deal and, with less than 200m to go, he rowed through Deal’s sculler establishing a length lead and taking the win. Mallet finished fourth.

In the Woman’s Junior Four Dover had two crews Ella Cook, Nikki Leggatt, Holly Hannington, Emily Harvey coxed by Vanessa Ware were competing against Janice Bradford, Alex Henchy, Zara White, Rhiannon Castree with Lee Stampton as cox. Ware’s crew had the better start and were soon leading the race and pushing away from the rest of the crews. Leading through the turn, and pursued by Eastbourne, Ware’s crew continued to pull away securing the win by a margin deemed easy by the umpires. Stampton’s crew would come home seventh.
In the new CARA league Junior Senior Woman’s event, Dover entered their first ever boat, featuring Camelia Hunga, Lily Stafford-Edwards, Leyla Abbasova, Ware coxed by Mallet. A steady start from the new combination would grow into a pursuit of the leading Herne Bay crew. Into the turns it was Herne Bay, Dover and Herne Bay B but things would change on the return leg as everything clicked in the Dover boat. Rowing through Herne Bay, they powered away finishing 13secs ahead at the line.
In the Mixed Pairs Dover entered three crews E Cook / Will Coleman; Hannington / Stampton; Harvey / Mallet. There were mixed fortunes off the start with Harvey / Mallet suffering a broken footplate, whilst the Cook / Coleman paring were fighting for the lead. A strong Folkestone pair led into the turn followed by Cook / Coleman with Hannington / Stampton a little behind. Pushing hard on the return leg Cook / Coleman clawed back the gap to go stroke for stroke with Folkestone with the Dover crew edging it by a canvas for the win. Hannington / Stampton were fourth.
Woman’s Junior Pairs saw E Cook / Harvey competing against Hannington / Leggatt and Z White / R Castree. Cook / Harevy were impeded at the start so were a little off the pace with the other two Dover crews starting well. At the turn it was Herne Bay first and second and Dover in a tight third and fourth between Cook / Harvey and Hannington / Leggatt. Accelerating on the run to home, Cook / Harvey were overlapping Herne Bay by the line, finishing second. Hannington / Leggatt were fourth and White / Castree were sixth.
In the Open Junior Sculls Dover had Coleman and Paul Scrivener competing. Coleman had the better start but didn’t feel he was fully firing. At the turn Deal were leading with Shoreham, Folkestone and Coleman in close order. On the return leg Coleman moved strongly towards the Shoreham leader as Deal drifted back. At the line Coleman secured second place and P Scrivener was seventh.
There were two Dover crews in the Open Junior Fours Harley Scrivener, Ollie Scrivener, Jack Castree, Sonny Varnes-Stone coxed by Charlotte Cox, faced off against Oliver White, Henry Cox, Peter Regan, Jon Castree coxed by Purvis. A great start from Cox’s crew who had been promoted from Novice last week saw them battling for the lead on the outward leg. Maintaining momentum through the turn they came out in second to Shoreham who started pulling away. Cox’s crew took a comfortable second place at the line. The Purvis Crew finished eighth.
The Mixed Fours race saw five Dover crews Hanga, Harvey, Coleman, Stothart coxed by C Cox; Rachel Bailey, Stampton, Hayley Crocker, Nick Bailey coxed by P Scrivener; Jess Clements, Oliver White, H Cox, Elizabeth Strong coxed by Purvis; Evie Jones, Evie Holland, Mallet, Varnes-Stone coxed by E Cook, the fifth crew was a family affair with Hollie Castree, Lucy Castree, Jack Castree, Jon Castree coxed by Rhiannon Castree. It was the C Cox coxed crew which had the best start and was part of a four way battle at the turn with Folkestone and two Eastbourne crews. C Cox’s and Folkestone broke the Eastbourne crews early in the home leg with Folkestone eventually taking the win and C Cox’s crew second. The Purvis crew had a good sixth place finish with the P Scrivener crew in seventh, Castree’s in tenth and Cook’s crew in eleventh.
The Woman’s Senior Four crew was a reunion of Dover’s dominant woman’s crew of the 2000’s; Ashleigh Stevenson, Kayleigh Stevenson, R Bailey, C Cox coxed by Ware They had a great start and were in a battle at the turn with Deal for second place. On the home run Deal managed to hold them off in a tight contest. The crew split into pairs for the Woman’s Senior Pairs. Bailey / C Cox finished third with the Stevenson boat in fourth.
Woman’s Novice Sculls saw Nikki Leggatt finish third after a tight battle with Herne Bay.
Woman’s Novice Fours saw a mixed Southsea / Dover crew of B Doick, Abbasova, Hanga, F Barcley coxed by Ware third in the final after winning their heat with Coleman as Cox. Aine Baines, Michelle Meakins, Crocker, Alex Tilley coxed by Chris Purvis also qualified finishing ninth. The following crews narrowly missed out on the final Young, Jess Clements, Strong, Holland coxed by Ware; Louise Fitzsimmons, Zara Meakins, Rosie Minkler, H Castree coxed by Coleman; Fiona O’Neil, Lucy Castree, Amy Wren, Anna Gordon coxed by Purvis. Chrissy Purvis won Cox of the Day for an excellent turn showing awareness of other crews in the Novice Fours Heat
Open Novice Fours O White, Regan, H Cox, Jack Castree coxed by Purvis were third with Paul Scholes, Hanga, Chris Wong, Damion Napier coxed by Stampton in ninth.
Open Senior Pairs featured Coleman and Stothart finishing third in a tight finish. Jack Castree and Varnes-Stone were third in the Open Junior Pairs; both rowers missed out on the Novice Sculls final finishing fifth and seventh in the heats.
Open Senior Four of Stampton, Mallet, Coleman, Stothart coxed by Ware were third.
Jon Cook, Scholes, Wong, Napier coxed by Purvis finished fourth in the Open Masters Four 40+. Bradford, Purvis, Z White, Leggatt coxed by Mallet were fourth in the Women’s Masters Four 40+.
J16 Open Quad Sculls saw Riley Danko, O White, H Cox, and A Biddle (Southsea) finishing fourth coxed by Stampton. J16 Girls Quad Sculls saw two crews Strong, H Castree, Young, R Castree coxed by C Cox fifth; Izzy Vickers, Holly Dunham, Zara Meakins, Jess Clements coxed by Purvis were sixth.
Open Masters Four 50+ P Scrivener, Steve Woods, Stampton, Nick Bailey coxed by Purvis were seventh.
Open Double Sculls saw Stothart and Danko finish seventh. Woman’s Double Sculls saw E Cook, / Young finish seventh, Jones / Holland finish ninth and Strong / Bradford in tenth.
Captain Will Coleman and Dover Rowing Club would like to thank all our sponsors and helpers that made the regatta possible.