Dover Rowing Club sent a reduced squad to Southsea Regatta, the traditional coming together of Coast Amateur Rowing Association (CARA) and Hants and Dorset Amateur Rowing Association. Dover’s leading crew, the Woman’s Junior Four of Ella Cook, Nikki Leggatt, Holly Hannington, Emily Harvey coxed by Vanessa Ware, were entered in Heat 1 of the event. A good start saw Ware’s crew in the leading four boats. Comfortably through the turns, they consolidated a third qualifying place and progressed to the final behind Itchen Imperial and BTC. The final again saw Dover get a good start as they battled for the lead. After the first quarter of the course Ware’s crew were in fourth place chasing three Hants and Dorset crews. A sharp turn at the buoys set the crew up for the chase to the finish. Putting down their power, fourth became third, then third became second as they rowed through Poole and BTC crews. They hunted down the Itchen Imperial’s crew but were unable to pass them by the finish. Being the leading CARA crew means that they now have three wins in four regattas in the CARA Championship.
The Open Senior Pair of Will Coleman and Jasper Mallet started well and were in the fight for the leading places with Shoreham, Poole and Newport. By the turns Shoreham broke free leaving Dover in a three way battle for second. Poole were slightly ahead of Dover on the run back as they both gained separation from Newport. With 50m to go Dover completed the row through of Poole to secure second place behind CARA rivals Shoreham.

The Open Senior Four saw Mallet, David Powell, Coleman, Thomas Stothart coxed by Ware competing. The start saw Dover slightly hindered by another crew as they targeted the Pompy Grand Trophy. As the field started to spread out Dover’s crew were in the mix and moved to second through the turns. On the home run Shoreham moved clear in first and Itchen and BTC, in the more favoured lanes, rowed through Dover. By the finish Dover were unable to improve their overall position finishing fourth in the race and second amongst CARA crews.
The Woman’s Junior Pair of Cook and Harvey started cautiously and were a little off the pace. Through the turn they started on the return leg in fifth. Pushing hard they were unable to improve their position finishing in sixth; fourth amongst CARA crews.
The Open Senior Sculls saw Stothart hoping to repeat last weeks heroics where he won at Dover. A competitive start saw him in the mix of the top four places. At the turn, after being caught up in congestion, the Shoreham sculler had pulled clear. Having lost time, Stothart dropped to fifth behind Shoreham, Itchen and two Poole scullers, the position he held at the line. Stothart was second amongst CARA scullers.
Nikki Leggatt was seeking her second Novice win. In the heats she had a good run securing third place by several lengths. In the final there was a tough battle off the start with some of the scullers coming close to colliding. Leggatt avoided the problems and was away with a steady start, building speed as she headed into the second quarter of the race. Out of the turn she was slightly off the leading scullers pace and, despite pushing hard, could only manage fifth place overall at the finish; second amongst CARA scullers.
The Woman’s Double crew of Holly Young and Cook were going to need some luck in their race which featured strong Hants and Dorset and Shoreham crews. A fair start saw them in the points battle, mixing with the fifth and sixth place crews. Out of the turns Young and Cook had dropped to eighth, a position they held to the finish. This was an encouraging performance for the young crew.
Woman’s Novice Fours was Young, Evie Holland, Elizabeth Strong, Poppy Worthington-Taylor coxed Lee Stampton. They performed well in their heat where they started well and were fighting for a qualifying spot. Through the turn they were fighting for fourth place but were unable to hold on for a place the final.
Dover Rowing Club would like to thank Keir Tunca from Challenger Tyres for helping to get them back on the road.