Sunday saw Dover Rowing Club’s Regatta held in glorious conditions within Dover Harbour. Despite the works currently taking place the regatta was over the full course, thanks to the assistance of Dover Harbour Board.
The first race saw the Dover J14 crew of Will Crickson, Rebecca Stothart, Ty Young, George Burrows coxed by Tom Stothart in their first ever race. The youngsters worked hard against older crews as they fought for 2nd place before eventually settling for an excellent 3rd.

Dover’s Men’s Novice Four were the next crew to race. Jon Cook, Toby Scrivener, Guy Hadfield, T Stothart coxed by Cameron Mackintosh got a great start and soon locked in pursuit of the strong Bexhill four. The novices were unable to close the gap at the buoy turn so they pursued Bexhill on the return leg, but were unable to overhaul them coming in comfortably 2nd.
The Ladies Open Sculls saw Jo Johnston, Lizzie Foley and Antonia Reed competing. The race was dominated by the Folkestone Sculler from the off which left the Dover rowers fighting within the pack for 2nd. The Scullers were all close at the turn but as they rowed the return leg they fell to the middle of the field; Johnston finishing 4th, Foley 5th and Reed 8th.
Ladies Novice Four saw Claire Beaumont, Reed, Jodie Lott, Amy Lewington coxed by Mary Newcombe. A slow start saw the ladies towards the back of the race and, although the crew fought on to try and improve their position turning in 7th, they were unable to improve their placing on the return leg.
Men’s Junior Sculls saw Chris Hall and Chris Price competing. An eventful start saw Hall having to stop after a collision blocked his path leading him having to chase the field. Price’s start was more straightforward and he led Hall through the mid course buoys but was overhauled at the turn by the younger rower. Both scullers were unable to break into the top three on their return runs and had to settle for 4th and 5th respectively.
A strong and experienced crew competed in the Open Veteran Fours 50+ race; Johnston, Tony Burrows, Nick Bailey, Andrew ‘Oily’ Bryant coxed by Foley. Dover’s crew shot off to an early lead holding off Herne Bay’s boat. They turned first but came under pressure in the first half the return leg where Herne Bay rowed through, leaving Dover to take 2nd place.
The Men’s Novice Sculls saw three Dover rowers enter the qualifying heats. In heat one T. Stothart rowed a controlled race to maintain a qualifying position and conserve energy coming home 4th. In the second heat Mackintosh and T Burrows both struggled to maintain qualifying positions finishing 7th and 8th respectively. In the final Stothart was in the mix on the outward leg before falling back after the turns to finish 6th.

The Ladies Senior Pairs crew of Johnston and Maria West-Burrows found themselves in a straight battle with a strong Shoreham pairing from the off. Dover’s crew quickly fell into chase mode with Shoreham maintaining their early advantage. After the turn they tried to apply pressure but found Shoreham too strong.
The Men’s Junior Pairs saw T. Stothart and Hall in action again. The pair had a good start and were in the fight with the leading crews. At the buoys the Dover boat turned 2nd with three other boats on their heels. In the dash back the lead boat consolidated their advantage while the Dover crew dropped to 3rd at the line.

Ladies Junior Fours crew of Foley, Chrissy Purvis, West-Burrows, Newcombe with Johnston as cox had a rough ride from the start. With a large field crews bunched to get a clear run through the mid course buoys. The ladies found themselves clashing blades with two crews before being hit at the turn leaving them in 9th on the return. A clear run and rowing strong and long saw the Dover crew row through 5 boats to secure 4th place in a very challenging race.
With 3 novice rowers making up the Men’s Junior 4’s boat it was going to be a challenge for the crew to be competitive. Cook, Scrivener, T. Stothart, Hall coxed by Johnston had a good start and were in the middle of the field on the outbound leg. It was only in the last quarter that their challenge fell away leaving them in 6th.

Dover left the best to last as they put out three crews in the Ladies Double Sculls. Regular crew of Johnston/Newcombe were competing with new pairings of West-Burrows/R. Stothart and Lott/Reed. Johnston/Newcombe in the outside lane went out strongly with West-Burrows and J14 Stothart also moving toward the front of the field. Johnston/Newcombe turned first and found themselves racing a ferry back across the harbour as they completed an excellent day for Johnston taking the win by several lengths. West-Burrows/Stothart completed a points finish in 6th place with Lott/Reed all smiles as they finished 7th.

Dover Rowing Club would like to than its sponsors and supporting organisations:
A&S Self Storage Ltd, Andy Tibbles – A.T. Garage Services, Dover Marine Services Ltd, Dover Sea Sports Centre, Dover Water Sports, K.R. Gavin Removals, Kent Stonemason, Mariner III – Malcolm, Sharp and Enright, Riverside Catering Services, David Newman & Julie Hall,Mrs J.M. Bailey, Mr N.J. Bailey, Best Godmother Ever, George & Toni Burrows, Mr N.J. Cooke, Mr W Darlington, Mr K.C. Goodwin, Mr G Johnings, Mrs M Johnings, Mrs M. Squibb, Jane Forryan, Mr R Purvis, Mr C Townley, Miss S Walmsley-Preece, R Newcombe.

Press Coverage: Dover Express and East Kent Mercury

Thanks to Dover Harbour Board and Dover Lifeguards Club for their cooperation

The weekend saw Dover Rowing Club in action in Bexhill for the Hastings and Bexhill Regattas. Conditions for the Hastings regatta were extremely challenging and the event was cancelled after 9 events. The only Dover Rowers to race were Chris Price and Chris Hall in the Men’s Junior Sculls. Price, a light weight rower, struggled to make progress and abandoned early, whilst Hall pushed on making the turn in 3rd place despite waves breaking over his shoulder. Hall then caught a runner out of the turn pushing him a length ahead of the home rower, an advantage that he maintained to secure 2nd place.

The Bexhill Regatta, on Sunday, had calm conditions throughout the day. Dover’s first crew to compete was the Men’s Junior 4’s featuring disabled rower Jon Cook in his first CARA regatta where he rowed with Austin Mills, Tom Stothart, Hall and Jo Johnston coxing. The crew, containing 3 novice rowers, competed well and overhauled a number of crews after a slow start. At the turn the crew moved into 4th place which they comfortably held to the finish.
Hall’s Junior Sculls race was not without incident. The young rower was preparing to make his push with 400m to go when the rower in front of him capsized forcing him to stop and manoeuvre around and leaving him in 5th overall. Hall then raced with Stothart in the Men’s Junior Pairs but issues with a foot plate slowed them off the start leaving them chasing the field. By the buoy they were battling for third with the Herne Bay pair on their inside. The race was neck and neck with the boys missing out finishing in fourth.
Dover’s Ladies Junior 4’s crew was Jen Jordan, Chrissy Purvis, Maria West-Burrows, Mary Newcombe coxed by Johnson. The Dover boat got off to a fine start from an outside lane and shadowed the strong Shoreham crew until the turns where Shoreham extended their lead with Dover 2nd away from the buoys. The tougher outside water gradually took its toll as the ladies crew could not hold off the boats on their inside dropping back to 4th by the finish.

Dover’s Ladies Senior Pair of West-Burrows and Johnson were surprised by the quality of their field as they struggled to make headway on the outbound leg leaving them in 7th after the turn and despite their best efforts were unable to improve their position. Johnson was Dover’s last Rower on the water as she competed in the Ladies Single Sculls. Johnson, who had campaigned for this event to return to full CARA status, got off to an excellent start battling a younger Shoreham opponent for the lead. Disaster struck at the 800m mark as Johnson capsized gifting the race to the Shoreham sculler. Johnson regained her poise and set off in pursuit of the other scullers moving up to 3rd after the turn but was unable to row down the 2nd place competitor.

The weekend saw Dover Rowing Club in action in the traditional preseason regatta, the Viking Shield, hosted by Folkestone RC. With new crew combinations formed in the off season this regatta gives them their first opportunity to compete.

The Men’s Junior Pairs saw new partnership of Tom Stothart and Chris Hall starting well. They found themselves fighting for second place on the outward leg as the buoy turn approached but the leading Shoreham boat over shot their turn and the young Dover crew seized the opportunity making a tight turn and springing out to a couple of lengths lead. They fought hard and held on to take the win by a clear length.

Novice Sculls saw Dover scullers Stothart, Tony Burrows and Paul Scrivener comfortably come through qualifying rounds. In the final P Scrivener flew off the line to take the lead which he held for most of the first leg with Stothart mid field and Burrows at the back. P Scrivener struggled to maintain contention after the turn dropping back to finish 7th a little ahead of Burrows who was 8th, with Stothart leading them and taking 5th.

Men’s Junior Senior 4’s saw P Scrivener, John Cook, Guy Hadfield, Neil Scrivener coxed by Olly Scrivener. The crew had a strong start and were fighting for places until Cook in his first race caught a monster crab springing his blade from the gate and leaving them to trail behind the field finishing 5th.

The veterans race had P Scrivener, Burrows, Nick Bailey, Jo Johnston coxed by Mary Newcombe competing against a strong Folkestone crew on home water. In a tight race the Dover crew were unable to force their way into the top two places finishing in 3rd place.

Ladies Junior 4 featured Jen Jordan, Chrissy Purvis, Maria West-Burrows, Newcombe coxed by Burrows. Dover’s crew found themselves in a battle with the three Folkestone boats. After the turn Dover repeatedly clashed blades with the inside Folkestone boat until Dover’s ladies managed to pull clear finishing the race in 5th.

Stothart, Cook, Hadfield, Austin Mills coxed by O Scrivener raced next in the Men’s Novice 4’s. An unfortunate foot injury hampered Cook in this race that featured one of the largest fields of the day leaving the Dover crew coming home in 7th.

Experienced crew of West-Burrows and Johnston competed in the Ladies Senior Pairs. The ladies crew pursued the Shoreham boat from the start and maintained contact after the turn but were unable to overhaul their opponents, finishing 2nd.

In the Men’s Junior 4’s Dover had a mixture of Novice and Junior rowers. Stothart, Hall, Hadfield, Mills coxed by O Scrivener worked hard to stay in contention on the outbound leg but lost ground after the turn coming home in 4th.

Chris Price and Hall both qualified for the Junior Sculls final. Hall suffered from being in the previous race and was unable to defend the Keith (Butch) Thomsett Memorial Trophy he won last year coming home in 5th with Price in 7th.

The last race of the day had Johnston and Newcombe compete in the Ladies Double Sculls race. The lead Shoreham boat leapt out to an early lead with Dover’s crew caught in a three way battle for second. The turn proved crucial as Dover lost ground and had to settle for 4th.

Dover Rowing Club ran a full Capsize Drill on Saturday at Dover Leisure Centre for its members and our friends from Deal, Folkestone and Herne Bay Rowing Clubs. The importance of water safety was emphasised by Dover Captain Tony Burrows in his welcome speech before the rowers were divided into groups to participate a variety of different drills.

The event activities included:
• Recovery using throw line
• Treading water
• 100 metres swim
• Capsize and recovery
• Buddy rescue

Well done to everyone one that completed the Capsize Drill. Thanks go to all involved in organising and assisting in the event particularly Jacky Silk, Tony Burrows, Maria West-Burrows, Jo Johnston and the boys in the deep end Thomas Stothart and Chris Hall

This week saw Dover Rowing Club members involved in international and county indoor rowing competitions. Dover’s diminutive powerhouse Chris Price was in action in the Senior men’s light weight 2km, 30 – 39 years, in the European Indoor Rowing Championships held at Stade Sebastian Charlety, Paris. Price was hoping to improve on his time from the British Championships but found himself off his desired pace. After initially hitting his early split times he fell behind his target finishing in 7 minutes 16.7 seconds, securing 14th place.

Earlier in the week Dover’s Junior section was in action in the Kent School Games. Dover’s DGSB contingent of Cameron Mackintosh, Thomas Stothart, Austin Mills and Chris Hall had qualified 2nd in the relay for the Boys U18 competition, 20m behind the King’s School Canterbury team they had beaten narrowly in 2016. Hall and Mills also qualified for the individual 2km finals with Hall highest placed in 5th. Mary Newcombe qualified in the relay event for the Girls U18 competition in the history making first girls team to represent the Boy’s Grammar School at rowing.

In the finals Hall managed to improve 2 places to take 3rd in a personal best time of 6 minutes 54 seconds with Mills also setting a personal best of 7 minutes and 4 seconds. Stothart, having narrowly missed out on the individual competition final, formed part of the team combined event with Hall and Mills. Stothart posted a personal best time of 7 minutes 8 seconds helping to secure a DGSB victory for the Dover District Team. Newcombe also posted a personal best of 8 minutes 12 seconds in the team combined event with her team to taking 3rd place.

In the relay sprint Mackintosh stepped aside to allow a higher ranked DGSB rower take his place in the team as they looked to overcome the strong King’s team. In the frantic 4 minute race sharp changes and a determined effort saw the DGSB squad complete 1349m securing an 8m winning margin for their 2nd team victory. Newcombe’s relay squad secured their 2nd medal taking 3rd overall.

Dover Rowing Club would like to congratulate all Dover District Rowers for their performances in the Kent School Games.

Dover Rowing Club held their end of season meal and awards ceremony at Cullins Yard. There was a good turnout from the active rowers at the club for the awards that covered both the 2015 and 2016 seasons. The Sarah Goodwin Trophy for Most Improved Novice Male Rower was awarded to Robin McCorkell for the 2015 season and Thomas Stothart for 2016. Both young rowers had performed well in Dover’s Novice crews whilst successfully learning to scull to a competitive level. In the Ladies division Most Improved Novice trophy was awarded to Lisa Burnett in 2015 and Mary Newcombe for 2016. Burnett won her two Novice races in successive regattas with different crews whilst Newcombe scored the only win for a novice lady in 2016.

The Cox of the Year Award was presented to Chris Hall for 2015 and Cameron Mackintosh in 2016. Hall, possibly the tallest cox in CARA, drove several crews to victory and worked with new Canterbury Christ Church University crews in training whilst Mackintosh worked to safely develop younger rowers in training and has shown willingness to cox any crew at short notice.

The Captain’s Award for winner 2015 was David Newman with the 2016 award being shared between Jo Johnston and Maria West-Burrows. Newman took on the Press Officer role for the Club at the start of the 2015 season. Johnston has worked as Junior Co-ordinator, West-Burrows has taken on the Vice Captain’s role this season and they have both worked hard for the club through the year. Johnston and West-Burrows also took the Club Man Award for 2015 and 2016 respectively for their overall contribution to the club.

The popular Rower’s Rower award, the only one selected by club wide vote, was shared between Mackintosh and West-Burrows. The Loyal Supporters award went to Toni and George Burrows and the Dover Regatta Prize was awarded to Ollie Scrivener who coxed his families Men’s Novice Four crew to victory on home water.

Anyone interested trying out rowing for the first time, or who are looking to return to the sport, should contact Dover Rowing Club using the details on the Club’s website.

The weekend saw Dover Rowing Club compete at the British Indoor Rowing Championship held at the Lea Valley VeloPark. Dover entered 4 competitors, Chris Price, Guy Hadfield, Chris Hall and Robin McCorkell, and there was also a strong representation from the Coast Amateur Rowing Association in an event featuring several Great Britain Rio Olympic medalists.

First to perform were Price and Hadfield in the Masters 30-39 Light Weight Men’s 2km class. First time competitor Hadfield went off strongly rating at 35 strokes over the first quarter, completing it in 1 minute 41.9 seconds pulling ahead of Price who managed a respectable 1 minute 48.8 seconds. During the mid 1000m Hadfield slowed a little whilst Price maintained consistent splits. Hadfield pushed hard in the last 500m pushing his stroke rate to 36 and finishing off with a 1 minute 43.1 second split to complete the race in a personal best time of 6 minutes and 56 seconds in 10th place. Price improved in his last sector to finish in 7 minutes 13.6 seconds, taking 15th overall.

Chris Hall was next up in the highly competitive Sixth Form Boy’s 2km race. Hall had broken his personal best representing Dover Schools Area in the Kent Schools Games qualifying rounds earlier in the week and completed the first sector in 1 minute 42.3 seconds. He felt his third sector had dropped behind his target for the day but pushed hard in the last 500m to break his personal best finishing in 6 minutes 55.8 seconds, 6th in his heat and 27th overall in one of the largest fields of the day.

The final competitor was McCorkell racing in the Under 23 Men’s 2km. The Gonville and Caius student started comparatively slowly to the rest of the field leaving him in 11th after the first 250m but moved up the field steadily with his first sector split of 1 minute 36.8 seconds. He moved into 5th by 1250m where he entered a battle with a Royal Navy Rower switching between 4th and 5th place. Eventually McCorkell finished 5th in Dover’s fastest time of day, 6 minutes 28.1 seconds.

Four young Dover RC rowers completed their 24 hour rowing challenge in aid of Cancer Research UK and Dover Rowing Club. Tom Stothart, Cameron Mackintosh, Austin Mills and Chris Hall exceeded their distance challenge by 3320 metres with a grand total of 337,920, the equivalent of 210 miles.

Using a 30 minute rotation they started at 17:00 hours on Friday with Stothart, rowing in memory of his father who he lost to cancer recently up first, Mackintosh then took over with Mills followed by Hall finishing each round. The group set off strongly and received good support from both Dover and Deal Rowing Club members. The early hours brought their own challenges including a short blackout during which Mackintosh had to row torchlight. Having survived the challenges of the night the four rallied as the morning brought fresh food supplies and visitors.

The last rotation saw the Dover Grammar School sixth formers give everything as each in turned finished. Between the four of them they used over 21,000 calories and are very close to achieving their target of £1000 from the Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/dover-rowingclub and cash donations. They would like to thank everyone who has supported their efforts through help and donations with a special mention to Jacky Silk who stayed overnight and made the challenge possible.

The Charity Row was supported by:

Support Team: Jacky Silk, Mary Newcombe, David Newman and Julie Hall

Food provided by: Alison & Darren Mackintosh and Joy & Tony Whiting

Special mention to Paul Scrivener for the inflatable bed!

Dover Rowing Club’s Cameron Mackintosh, Austin Mills, Chris Hall and Tom Stothart will be aiming to complete 334,700 metres which is 208 miles (roughly the distance of London to Manchester) in a 24 hour row from 5pm on Friday 11th until 5pm Saturday 12th November. They will be rowing on a Concept 2 rowing machine and are not allowed to let the flywheel stop spinning at any point.

The Dover Grammar School Boys are donating 2/3 of the money they raise to Cancer Research UK as this charity means a lot to all members of the crew; especially as one of the young rowers has recently lost his father to the illness. The other third will be donated to DRC who are kindly letting them use their facility to complete this challenge. DRC is the oldest rowing club on the South Coast and is a big part of their lives. Donations can be made via JustGiving.com searching Dover Rowing or by using the following web address https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/dover-rowingclub

The sixth formers are aiming to raise £1000 and are very thankful for any donations. The boys welcome you to come down and support them at Dover Rowing Club situated in Dover Sea Sport Centre on the beach.

Sunday saw Dover Rowing Club in action on the River Medway in the Maidstone Autumn Head. Dover entered 4 scullers in the competition, Chris Price, Robin McCorkell, Nick Bailey and Jo Johnston. With Dover rowing in their shorter, heavier coastal sculls it was always going to be a challenge racing against the sleeker river boats, but as Price and McCorkell lined up in consecutive places in the Men’s Novice event they were determined to give coastal rowing a good showing. Price started first in the race’s time trial format and started hunting down the rower ahead of him. By the first bridge he had closed on the Gravesend sculler ahead of him and had stretched away from McCorkell. The diminutive Price showed his experience as he passed both the Gravesend and the Globe rowers ahead of him by the 2nd bridge where he easily dealt with the challenging dog leg before laying down the power to finish in 10 min 34 sec. McCorkell in his first outing on the Medway was a little more tentative but caught the Gravesend rower and was closing on the Globe rower who started three time slots ahead of him to finish in 10 min 49 sec. Price’s time was good enough to place 3rd with McCorkell 4th in a competitive division. Had Price been in a river scull it is likely he would have been competing for the win.

Veteran rower Bailey was entered into the Masters F1 category and found himself in the same division as Johnston the sole entrant in the Ladies Novice. Bailey was two time slots behind Johnston and he tried to chase his younger teammate down. Johnston pushed hard to maintain her lead over the wily veteran and by the second bridge it was clear that Johnston was holding her own with Bailey only managing to close the gap slightly. By the end of the course Bailey had moved to 2nd in his category with a time of 11 min 35 sec and Johnston, the defacto winner of her category, finished in 11 min 45 sec; 3rd amongst the adult women rowers beating a number of intermediate rowers on the day.