Dover Rowing Club’s hard working Honorary Secretary and Treasurer Jacky Silk has taken over the Presidency of the Coast Amateur Rowing Association for the 2019/20 season from Deal’s Steve Duncan at CARA’s AGM this weekend.

Dover Rowing Club preseason got off to a winning start as Dover rowers took three wins at the Adur Head, Shoreham. The event is run as a time trial with boats being released at regular intervals to race the 3.5 km course.

There was a maiden win for the Ladies J16 age group crew of Sarah Jane Bamfield, Emma Oliver, Emma Spanton, Chantal Mayes coxed by Jo Johnston who were the first crew to start in their event. Rowing with the current, the crew headed off for the Railway Bridge. the first of three bridges to negotiate on the course. By the Norfolk Road Bridge Dover had gained time on the pursuing crews, which they continued to extend through the footbridge, to carry them home with a 44 sec winning margin, in a time of 16 mins 10 sec.

Chris Price competed in the Junior Men’s sculls event where he started as the second boat in the event. He set off in pursuit of the Bexhill sculler, steadily closing on his opponent. By the Norfolk Road Bridge, Price had closed down the lead boat before passing him by the footbridge. He eased out to finish with an impressive winning margin of 1 min 45 sec, in a time of 14 min 31 sec.

Nathan Peach also had his maiden win in a composite Folkestone / Dover Men’s Novice Four boat. Rowing against the tide the crew, rowing together for the first time, delivered an impressive win in 17 min 30 sec nearly 2 min up on their nearest opponents. Peach also rowed in the Novice Sculls, among a strong field, coming home 7th, in time of 15 min 1 sec.

Dover had 2 crews in the Ladies Novice 4’s event. Dover A crew Hannah Powers, Rosie Thorp, Rebecca Stothart, Jade Jordon coxed by Tony Burrows and Dover B, the ‘Day Family crew’ of Brogan Day, Ella Day, Denise Day, Kate Day coxed by Paul Scrivener. Dover A were first on the course and tried to put some distance between their rivals, the Day crew were unleashed to pursue their teammates a minute later. Both crews were passed during the middle stages by faster opponents. It was a close run finish on times between the local crew and Dover B who were separated by 3 seconds coming home 3rd in a time of 16 min 35 sec with Dover A coming home 4th in a time of 16 min 59 secs.
Jo Johnston, competing in the Ladies Sculls event, started in pursuit of the younger Eastbourne Sculler. Pushing to close the gap between the Rail Bridge and the Norfolk Road Bridge Johnston tried put pressure on the leading Sculler, but her opponent proved too strong leading her through the finishing line. Johnston secured second place in a time of 20 min 41 sec. Captain Tony Burrows, competing for Eastbourne, finished 2nd in the Veteran 50 race.

There was an excellent turnout for Dover Rowing Club’s end of season presentation meal. The first award presented was the Most Improved Novice Male Rower which went to Nathan Peach. Peach has worked hard in training, and has improved his sculling greatly, leading to the young rower competing in this event regularly this season for the first time.

The Most Improved Novice Ladies Rower was shared between Kate Smith and Jade Jordon. Smith has competed regularly in Novice crews and has rowed at the higher Junior category to allow crews to compete where she has performed well. Jordon has impressed in her first full season of rowing in both the Quad J16 and Novice races and secured her first win at Brighton. Jordon has also been willing to cox for various crews leading to her receiving the Coxswain of the Year.
The Captains prize went to Jo Johnston for her work as a coach and as safety officer at the club and for the Coast Amateur Rowing Association.
The Club Person of the Year went to Steve Woods for his work on boat repairs and coaching.

The Rowers Rower award, voted for by the clubs racing membership, was shared between Tom Stothart, Maria West-Burrows and Johnston. Stothart has improved greatly over the last three years and won his first sculls race this season. He was also half of the Men’s Junior Pairs crew that recorded several second places. West-Burrows and Johnston are leaders of the training sessions and as a pairing represented club and country for the second year at the World Offshore Rowing Championships.

The Dover Regatta prize went to Lacey Scrivener, which was picked up her father Neil,  for her hard work on shore during this year’s regatta. Toni Burrows picked up the Little Helpers prize.
DRC are hoping the recent arrival of new members will see an increase in racing crews for the coming season. The club is keen for new members, both male and female, and anyone interested should contact the club via the website or Facebook page.

Dover Rowing Club rowers Jo Johnston and Maria West-Burrows were in action at the weekend in the World Rowing Coastal Championship, held in Sidney near Victoria, Canada. Following the veteran rowers qualification at the British Offshore Championship earlier this year they were designated GBR03 in the Woman’s Double Sculls.

Friday’s qualifier saw Johnston and West-Burrows get a great start in their hired racing boat, managing to launch from the beach in the first three crews. They were competing with the lead boats when problems began to appear. Johnston quickly identified a gate holding one of the blades (oars) was loose and there was a real chance their race was going to be over before the first turn at 1.4 km of the 4 km course. At the turn Dover stopped, off the racing line, to attempt a fix whilst the field passed them. Recognising that the aim of the A final had now gone the ladies chased the field attempting to qualify for the B final in the hope of improving their world ranking from last years event. Gradually they closed on the tail of field and by the third turn at 2.9 km were able to slowly overhaul back markers, coming home in a frustrating 11th place in a time of 22 min 51.1 sec. Their efforts saw them grab a place in the B final.

Saturday saw an early start as the Johnston and West-Burrows stood ready in the calm clear waters of the bay. Another good start saw the Dover crew towards the front of the field. At the first turn they were fighting for 3rd with USA02, whilst GBR01 moved into the lead. By the second turn Johnston and West-Burrows found themselves in 4th with clear water behind. Pushing hard they were unable to close down on USA02 at the u-turn around buoys three and four but headed home to take 4th comfortably in a time of 22 min 26.6 sec. Their finishing position improved their event ranking from 23rd to 20th.

Dover Rowing Club were in competition at the South Coast Championship on a straight 2km course from Walmer Bandstand, through the pier, to Deal Rowing club.

Dover Captain Tony Burrows again joined Eastbourne’s Masters 50+ crew of Norwood, Guppy, Warland and coxed by Bishop. With no Championship category for the 50+ the top CARA crews competed in the final. Hastings took the early lead with Burrows’ crew slotting into a clear second place. Both crews showed great form through the pier with Hastings holding a little over a length lead. Burrows’ crew made their move with a third of the course to go gradually drawing level. Hastings caught a runner in the last 200m and the opportunity seemed to have passed until Burrows’ crew received a similar runner to inch ahead and grabbed the win by three quarters of a length. At the umpires confirmation celebrations broke out among the veteran crew.

The Ladies Junior Open Fours saw Jen Jordan, Chrissy Purvis, Maria West-Burrows, Kate Smith coxed by Jo Johnston competing in the first heat. A good start saw Dover’s top ladies crew move into second place early on and they qualified for the final just behind the heat winners. In the largest final of the day the Dover Ladies again were off the line well and moved into third place as they approached the pier. As they cleared the pier Christchurch moved to block their line and protect their second place. The chase was on as Dover tried to get by Christchurch, closing the gap to less than two lengths but Dover ran out of water finishing third.

In the Men’s Junior Fours a late seat change saw a crew of Chris Hall, Michael Ripault, Nathan Peach, Tom Stothart coxed by Paul Scrivener competing. A slow start saw the Dover crew at the back of the field but by the pier the team were in rhythm and were catching Eastbourne. Driving hard in the second half of the race Dover moved past Eastbourne and were rapidly closing in on 3rd place Shoreham moving to overlap but were unable to take the qualifying spot.

The Ladies J16 Quads Rebecca Stothart, Morgan Evans, Ella Day, Jade Jordon coxed by Burrows found themselves in a much larger field than they were used to in the shorter 1 km event. The young crew got a poor start and were chasing the field moving up slowly to compete for 6th place just missing out on the line. The same crew competed later in the Novice Ladies Four with Hall coxing this race. A better start saw the ladies in the mix during the early stages before starting to slip behind as they approached the pier. Hall steered the novices inshore searching for better water, clearing the pier they set off in pursuit. At the finish the ladies were left a canvas short of 5th place.

The Masters 40+ saw Scrivener, Ripault, Nick Bailey, Burrows coxed by T Stothart competing. The veteran Dover rowers were in 5th place at the pier but were having issues with their rhythm. Organising themselves they pushed on but were unable to improve their position.

Dover Rowing Club were in competition in the British Offshore Championships held over two days at Sandbanks, Poole. Differing from the normal CARA competitions the scullers start standing by their boats in the shallow water. At the ‘go’ competitors jump into their boats and, when ready, are pushed off by two boat handlers.

Day 1: Chris Price was on the water in Eliminator 1 Open Coastal Solo. Price got a good start and was off in pursuit of a Swedish former world champion in the straight 1km to the first buoy before turning parallel to the shore. Price was losing contact with the lead boats as he headed to the 3rd turn and was unable to close the gap further on the remaining turns of the 4 km course before sprinting up the beach to finish 7th in a time of 26:57.5.

Robin McCorkell was racing in Eliminator 2. A slow start left McCorkell blocked by the main field who were densely packed on the racing line, forcing him to row wide to get clear water. Between buoy 1 and 3 McCorkell worked his way patiently through the field to move into 5th place. After turn 3 he rapidly closed on the fourth place rower but was unable to take the last qualifying spot, running home in a time of 24:38.4.

Making their debut in the Open Coastal 2x Eliminator were Dover crew, Tom Stothart and Chris Hall. Starting in the middle of the field the 19 year olds rapidly caught up with the leading Jersey boat, clashing blades as the two crews turned at the first buoy. As the race progressed the Dover crew battled their way past the reigning champions to move clear. They extended their lead through to the shore before Hall ran home to win their heat in a time of 21.08.9.

Day 2: Saw the final of the Open Coastal 2x. Whilst adjusting his feet after the push-off Hall’s blade handle caught in his clothes preventing him from rowing. Once freed Hall and Stothart were left to pursue the field. Pushing hard at the first turn their blades caught on the buoy as a wave drove them sideways. With the finals being completed over 6km Dover’s crew worked hard to regain ground. After the 3rd turn they began the press the 3rd place Jersey crew and were able to close to the stern of their opponents boat, but were unable to overtake. The effort proved too much as Jersey’s crew managed to open a gap up as they ran to the beach leaving Hall to cross the line in 32:52.24 in fourth.

Dover left the best till last as the veteran ladies double were in a straight final for the Woman’s Coastal 2x. A good start for Maria West-Burrows and Jo Johnston, the event Safety Officer, saw them in the mix at the first turn. The Dover crew moved past Warwick’s crew to take 4th and were hunting down the Welsh crew in 3rd. Pushing hard from the 3rd buoy Dover were closing coming out of the 4th buoy. It looked like the catch was possible but a great turn by the Welsh crew at 5 gave them sufficient gap to hold off West-Burrows and Johnston’s final charge seeing them come home in 4th place in a time of 42:44.81.

Whilst frustrated to miss out on medals both West-Burrows / Johnston and Stothart / Hall finished in qualifying places for the World Offshore Championships.

Dover Rowing Club were in action at the Worthing Town Regatta at the weekend in the last of the regular season competitions. Club Captain Tony Burrows joined the Eastbourne boat of Norwood, Guppy, Warland, coxed by Bishop in the Veteran 50+ race. Burrows in the stroke seat set the rate as the boat shot off to an early lead taking a length within 150m. The boat continued to move away from the field and made a clean turn before running home for the win by three lengths. This was Burrows first win since qualifying for the 50+ category. The same crew also came home in 4th in the Veteran 40+ race.

The Men’s Novice Sculls saw Nathan Peach in the first heat. A good start saw Peach contending for the top four qualifying places. He was still in contention after the turn, but fell away towards the end to finish 5th. The second heat saw Burrows and Tom Stothart competing. The conditions were not in Burrows’ favour and a slow start saw him turn around, whilst Stothart got a great start and led to the buoys. After a clean turn he maintained a good lead to the line to qualify for the final. Stothart had a shaky start in the final, with a near capsize within ten strokes, which allowed the Herne Bay sculler to get away from him. He chased hard but a poor turn left him fighting to maintain 2nd. Stothart slowly moved clear in the later quarter of the race to secure the runner up spot.

Chris Hall was in action in the Men’s Junior Sculls where he was midfield after the start. Hall slowly moved through the field to lay 3rd with 500m to row. Hall started making rapid gains on the second place man, and looked likely to take 2nd place, but caught a late ‘crab’ to leave him 3rd.

Hall and Stothart combined for the Men’s Junior Pairs. The young pairing applied pressure to the leading Herne Bay crew from the start. At the turn the Dover boat looked good for 2nd but a fast finishing inside Southsea crew dropped them to 3rd.

Jo Johnston competed in the Ladies Sculls event. A steady start saw her in the battle for points, moving to 4th by the turn were she increased her lead over the 5th paced sculler. On the return Johnston was unable to meaningfully close on the top three, leaving her to finish in a comfortable 4th place.

Johnston and Maria West-Burrows raced in the Ladies Senior Pairs. Following a boat change the ladies crew were late to the line possibly impacting their start and leaving them towards the back of the field. As the race spread out the Dover crew slowly picked up places to move into the points. After the turn the ladies moved into 5th but were unable to improve further.

It was a tale of 2nd places for Dover Rowing Club at Herne Bay Regatta. Ladies J16 Quad Sculls crew of Rebecca Stothart, Morgan Evans, Ella Day, Jade Jordon coxed by Tony Burrows had a challenging race after Day caught a crab early shattering her blade shaft and trapping it under their boat. Despite the handicap the young crew fought on and held on to take 2nd place at the line.

The Men’s Junior Pairs saw Chris Hall and Tom Stothart get off to a strong start in pursuit of the Herne Bay pair that has dominated the competition this season. They reached the turn with a narrow lead before coming out level, but Dover fell to 2nd by the last 500m and came home in the runners up spot.

Sculls picture courtesy of Joel Dinning

The Men’s Junior Sculls saw Hall and Chris Price competing. Hall in the less favoured outside lane got a great start and was in the mix with the lead scullers. Price had a steadier start in the rough conditions. Hall followed Herne Bay’s former World Champion around the inside turn, and applied pressure on him in the rough conditions in the final quarter, but was unable to pass taking 2nd. Price came home in 7th. The results of the Junior Pairs and Sculls were sufficient to take 2nd place in the Men’s Junior Aggregate competition.

The Men’s Novice Fours saw Nathan Peach competing with an Eastbourne crew coxed by Paul Scrivener, and Jon Cook with a Worthing crew. Peach’s crew led into the turn but struggled to make a clean turn coming out 2nd with Cook’s crew 3rd. In the last 500m the conditions deteriorated but Peach’s crew cleared the worst of it and secured 2nd. Cook’s boat was swamped resulting in Dover rowers swimming out to help land the stricken boat and crew.

The Ladies Novice Four saw Dover enter two crews Dover A: Jade Jordon, R Stothart, Ella Day, Evans coxed by Jo Johnston and Dover B: Newton (Eastbourne) Jamie Jordon, Kate Day, Kate Smith coxed by Scrivener. There was extra interest in this race as Dover B contained two of the mothers of the young Dover A crew. The Dover crews were locked into a neck and neck race for 3rd and 4th with the ‘Mum’s’ crew taking it by a canvas.

Men’s Novice Sculls saw T Stothart, Burrows and Peach competing. Stothart got off to a great start moving with the lead group whilst Burrows and Peach were fighting for the remaining points. Stothart turned in 3rd and was unable to improve his position on the run home. Burrows and Peach just missed out the points coming across the line in 7th and 8th.

In the Ladies Sculls Johnston worked hard to run down the Worthing sculler finishing in 4th missing out on 3rd by less than a canvas. Johnston and Maria West-Burrows competed in the Senior Ladies Pairs but a slow start left them chasing the field and by the turn they were 5th. They were unable to improve their position by the finish line.

Veteran 40’s saw Scrivener, Matt Barnett, Nick Bailey, Burrows coxed by Jade Jordon starting well but rudder issues saw them come home in 5th. The Junior Men’s Four of Peach, Cook, Hall, T Stothart coxed by Jade Jordon finished 7th in a competitive field.

The annual coming together of CARA and Hants and Dorset ARA at Southsea, saw two Dover rowers braving the early start. Chris Hall and Tom Stothart were met with beautiful early sea conditions for the heats that roughed up for the finals. Despite racing in borrowed boats the boy’s overall results were the best Dover RC have managed in recent years at this event.

In the heats for the Men’s Pairs, Hall and Stothart had to appeal for a restart after a crash in the first few strokes stopped two boats. The restart saw them get off quickly, easing ahead of the field, with a comfortable lead at the turn, and they secured a place in the final by coming home in first. With the rougher conditions of the final pushing crews inshore, the Dover boys chose to move out from their inside draw. A coming together with Southsea at the three quarter point on the outside leg saw them drop to 5th at the turn. The young rowers worked hard to run down those ahead of them but by half way back they were in a three way tie for second before laying the power down to come home comfortably in the runners up spot.

In the Junior Sculls Hall moved easily off the start and established himself in a qualifying position before dropping his rate to come home in the 4th qualifying spot. Hall moved strongly off the line and was battling the leaders. By the turn he was chasing the Bexhill rower whilst keeping an eye on the inside sculler from Deal. Pushing as hard as the conditions allowed Hall was unable to close the gap coming home second.

Stothart competing in the Novice Sculls moved comfortably through the qualifying round coming home in 4th. In the final Stotahrt flew off the start and had established a good lead as he approached the buoy turn. Unfortunately a terrible turn saw him come out with less than a length lead. The run home saw Southsea and then two Hants and Dorset scullers come past him leaving him in fourth, the second of the CARA scullers.

Dover RC would like to thank Deal and Herne Bay rowing clubs for lending boats to allow Hall and Stothart to compete.